Who wants standard ECU’s in Formula 1 ?
February 22nd, 2006
ITV are reporting that the introduction of standard ECU’s into Formula One has come 1 step closer to reality. Max Mosley’s dream of removing driver aids or ‘gizmos’ from F1 cars has got the ball rolling. The FIA have now put the creation of standard F1 ECU’s out to tender - meaning any company who can convince the FIA that they can do the job and for a reasonable fee will get the job of providing every F1 team with the ‘brain’ of the car that controls everything electronic.
Now I am torn between 2 lovers here. That’s usually a good thing if there’s whipped cream and jelly involved but when it’s the future of the world’s premier motorsport series I really can’t decide.
On one hand we have to understand that the raison d’etre of F1 is as a showcase for technological advancement in the automotive industry. Get your car going as fast as you possibly can. It is not a charity where the poor get helped out. It is and always was a cut throat industry. Bernie Ecclestone himself has often been heard saying that anyone who can’t stand the heat should get out of the kitchen.
On the other hand though, technology or rather its progress has led to the driver becoming the weakest link in the car’s performance. Missing gears, getting timing wrong, too much throttle, yadda yadda. Technology was brought in to remove the mistakes, and it has - but at the expense of the show. And if you don’t have fans you don’t have advertisement revenue and you ultimately can’t sustain the series, so there IS a need to remove the driver aids and make it primarily a DRIVER racing a fast car once again - rather than a fast car taking a driver for a spin. The Machiavellian nature of motorsport, as I’m sure Weltmeister will attest to, is that you can not trust anyone to abide by the rules. Any advantage that can be got will be got, and will be covered up expertly by leaders in their respective fields. Memory metals, code that deletes upon execution, fuel tanks within fuel tanks, it has all been done. The point being that the ONLY way for the FIA to guarantee to the fans that no-one is cheating is to remove the ability for them to create their own controls.
My quandry is that I realise my position can not be totally satisifed. I want the fastest cars with the best technology but I want the driver doing all his own work. So based on the premise that this can never be achieved, I have to pick a compromise that I think best suits F1. My problem with standard ECU’s is that it is too drastic - it is making F1 dangerously close to a single-make series. OK they’ll design their own chassis’, bodywork and have their own engine, but without the ability to control the engine the way they want, how can they optimise their package ? I am sure there are answers to some of my questions because how could you create a single ECU that will optimise all system on 11 different teams in an equal way.
How and ever, the question still needs to be answered by the powers that be, and until it is, I will be against it. As it stands, I would rather the driver be helped by those technologies that can not be ‘policed’ by the FIA rather than dilute F1 to the point where it is merely A1GP on steroids.
Entry Filed under: Formula 1
8 Comments Add your own
1. Keith | February 22nd, 2006 at 11:26 am
You’ve hit the nail on head, here - technological perfection vs. driver skill.
I think a worthwhile comparison can be drawn with ground effect aerodynamics in the late seventies/early eighties, which were ultimately banned on safety grounds but could just as easily have been thrown out for reducing the importance of the drivers’ skill.
Traction control seriously reduces the demand on the driver, to the point that it becomes harder to call F1 a ’sport’ as long as it’s there. Would FIFA allow football boots that electronically adjust to better strike the ball? I don’t think so…
2. Bealzbob | February 22nd, 2006 at 12:45 pm
Thanks for the response Keith and I agree with you about the FIFA analogy and the ground effect, but I don’t even have a problem with design features making cars go quicker. The only thing I am against is electronic aid, artificial aid.
If Newey sticks a wing on his car that makes his car go quicker than any other designers then I say kudos to him, and the driver is still being helped within the limit of the laws of the sport.
Let’s face it, the only reason these ECU’s are being considered is because the participating teams can not be trusted to play by the rules and will sneakliy cover their tracks. That’s a diplorable situation to be in from the start. I can’t think of another sport where the governing body had to compromise their series because they couldn’t get teams to play by the rules.
So in the end it is the constructors, only in F1 to benefit financially, that could ultimately lead to its downfall - and we wonder why Mosley wants more privateers ?
Bealz
3. Don Speekingleesh | February 22nd, 2006 at 1:58 pm
The privateers will try to cheat just as much. The only reason Mosely wants the manufacturers out is because it’ll be easier for himself and Bernie to bully the indie teams around.
The reason other sports don’t change things to prevent cheating is they’re even more incompetent that the FIA - there’s not much chance of the muppets in FIFA fixing the cheatfest that is the transfer market.
4. bluenose | February 22nd, 2006 at 2:33 pm
If done right, standard ECU’s will do exactly what some of us want: get rid of electronic driver aids, while allowing teams to explore the full range of engine performance parameters. It’s a very, very big “if”, but it’s also quite straightforward to achieve. FIA has potentially done more to hamper engine performance by the new limitations on intake plumbing.
I agree with Don that the privateers, particularly the well funded ones, will exploit any loopholes they can.
I don’t like “standard parts” for cost control, but I think it almost becomes a necessity where policing is an issue. One problem I see is that the distinction between the two, which on paper are very easily distinguished, will blurr in the implementation, and that FIA will exploit this to “dumb down” F1 more broadly..
5. The Racing Blog&hellip | February 22nd, 2006 at 10:08 pm
Standard ECUs for Formula 1
Cost saving goes beyond just the engine. The FIA also want a spec ECU (electronic control unit) from 2008 and today put out a tender for the supply of such a unit having many functions. The electronics are another area that is very expensive with many,…
6. BlogF1 - A Formula One De&hellip | February 23rd, 2006 at 1:36 pm
[...] I have just read a really good post over at F1 Links Heaven which asks if standard ECUs in Formula One is a good thing. One quote which I must share really stood out from the page. On one hand we have to understand that the raison d’etre of F1 is as a showcase for technological advancement in the automotive industry. Get your car going as fast as you possibly can. It is not a charity where the poor get helped out. It is and always was a cut throat industry. Bernie Ecclestone himself has often been heard saying that anyone who can’t stand the heat should get out of the kitchen. … My quandry is that I realise my position can not be totally satisifed. I want the fastest cars with the best technology but I want the driver doing all his own work. So based on the premise that this can never be achieved, I have to pick a compromise that I think best suits F1. [...]
7. Phil Haigh | July 7th, 2006 at 10:47 am
Yesterday the FIA annouced that Microsoft has been awarded the contract to supply ECUs for the 2008-2010 seasons. I’d expect Microsoft to subcontract to an established manufacturer and then simply brand the box - like Mercedes do with the F1 engine they pay Ilmor to develop. However, talking toa Microsoft buddy they may well insist on that manufacturer using Windows Embedded… cue jokes about Blue Screen of Death, CTRL-Alt-Delete and other Microsoft foibles…
8. Bart de Boer | March 24th, 2008 at 12:01 am
I personally don’t care about the drivers. For me F1 is all about cars, brands and improving car technology. I couldn’t care less if the driver is drinking a cup of tea while finishing his race. I think it’s a great thing if F1 technology advancements would lead to self-driving production cars. By forcing all the manufacturers to use the same ECU, all technology advancements in this field are stopped. And what’s worse: Considering F1 is used as a testbed for technology in production cars, Microsoft is wedging itself into the car industry. And history teaches us Microsoft is not a company you’d want holding monopoly positions. A sad day for technology.
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