FIA scraps plan for standard gearboxes in 2021

22 comments on “FIA scraps plan for standard gearboxes in 2021”

1. 

   BasCB (@bascb)
   24th May 2019, 19:21

   RaceFans understands from team sources the FIA is also reconsidering whether to introduce single suppliers of wheel rims, brake systems and brake friction materials in 2021.

   Very interesting.

   I guess that since teams showed that they could do it themselves for not much more extra, and showed their internal calculations, we now have a few areas of the cost cap structure in place to be easily policed, or rather capped at the benchmark level, eliminating the need for introducing an external company into the mix.
2. 

   Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
   24th May 2019, 19:23

   The technical data provided revealed that gearbox technology in Formula 1 has largely converged and that, as a result, there is little performance differentiation at present. It was also noted that, due to the complexity of the components, gearboxes remain a sensitive matter in terms of reliability, and this was factored into the evaluations of the FIA Technical Department

   .

   I don’t understand. Is that a reason not to go standard? Seems like the opposite is being argued here. If so, there’s only a financial implication for not going this way.

   I mean if its not a differentiator and it’s sensitive in terms of reliability, those are good arguments to use a standard apec across all teams, no?
   1. 

      anon
      24th May 2019, 22:37

      @fer-no65, the first point does seem to be a slightly strange one, as surely part of the reason why the FIA wanted to introduce a spec gearbox was to discourage heavy spending on an area where there was little to gain due to convergence in design.

      I suppose that one concern over reliability would be what happens if that single gearbox manufacturer was to suddenly have a problem with reliability – say, for example, if one of their suppliers encountered production issues. It would not look good for the FIA if that did happen and then suddenly multiple drivers had gearbox issues at once – it is probably a fairly unlikely event, but those rare events can result in disproportionately large negative repercussions.
   2. 

      ruliemaulana (@ruliemaulana)
      24th May 2019, 23:00

      Yeah, it’s weird. If it helps reduce expenses why canceled it? If they’re only going for bigger differentiation, why not standard PU and chassis?
      1. 

         Concerned fan
         25th May 2019, 8:34

         The convergence of design aspect to my understanding means that there’s no real incentive cost wise in making teams re-engineer their cars to fit a standard gearbox cartridge when there’s no real development that’s going to happen in that area in the foreseeable future.

         My apprehension towards standard parts is that you create a monopoly of supplier. Whose to say that the costs will be lowered in that situation in the subsequent tenders. Say for instance Brembo wins the contracts for the next 10 years, in the following years,competitor companies will have a higher barrier of entry/ re-entry and Brembo is free to raise prices to their hearts content.
   3. 

      Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
      27th May 2019, 0:01

      I read the convergence part in conjunction with the finance part, and believe the teams showed it wouldn’t save much money, if any, from doing a single supplier, and that the differences in technical spec were not only important, but too subtle for the FIA to feel confident about specifying requirements to a supplier without skewing things in favour of one team by accident.
3. 

   Jon Bee
   24th May 2019, 19:58

   A gearbox is one of the major mechanical components of a F1 car. Only a couple of years ago, Mercedes had issues with their gearbox, they have been making them for decades. If Mercedes hit problems, how can an outside company be guaranteed to make over 150, from scratch, up to the level of reliability and quality, required in F1? It would appear Ross Brawn’s grand plan has fallen at the first hurdle.
   1. 

      anon
      24th May 2019, 23:03

      Jon Bee, there are some independent motorsport oriented companies that might have been capable of doing it.

      One company that announced it would submit a bid is Xtrac – they have traditionally been a component supplier to F1 teams in the past, and I think that they might even have a legacy F1 gearbox design which they could possibly have have updated and put back into production (the P1044 series gearbox).

      Another logical option may have been Hewland, another company that has experience with high powered single seater cars (especially after winning a supply contract for Formula 2 in 2018). Again, as a company that likely already features in the supply chain of some F1 teams, they would already have some of that capacity in place to then scale up production.

      With that in mind, I think that the “outside companies” that the FIA were looking at were those companies which are already integrated into the supply chain of most of the teams. Rather than starting from scratch, they probably could have used some of the components they were already producing, and if they were already supplying multiple teams, it probably would have been less of a stretch to then scale up to supplying the rest of the grid.
   2. 

      Ad Lee
      25th May 2019, 8:50

      I wish Ross brawn’s aero changes for this year fell at the first hurdle as well….
4. 

   Koopa
   24th May 2019, 21:00

   Shame, F1 has one last chance to save itself in 2021 and this is not looking good at all…
   1. 

      Roger Ayles (@roger-ayles)
      24th May 2019, 21:40

      Going down the path towards been a spec formula would not save F1 it would have killed it.

      If teams want to buy an off the shelf part then allow them to but they should never be forced to by the regulations as that simply isn’t F1.
      1. 

         @HoHum (@hohum)
         25th May 2019, 1:17

         @roger-ayles, except, that is, tyres, but of course tyres are so inconsequential.
         1. 

            juan fanger (@juan-fanger)
            25th May 2019, 15:55

            Cheeky.
5. 

   Roger Ayles (@roger-ayles)
   24th May 2019, 21:38

   Good, There should be as few mandated spec parts in F1 as possible.
6. 

   Robert McKay
   24th May 2019, 22:29

   It is example #1045 in F1’s ability to announce some sort of rule change and then end up ultimately backtracking on it because nobody can agree on anything, even if it would save the teams money without changing much in the way of performance differentiation.

   If the reasons given for not making the change are so sound, why bother trying to make the change in the first place?

   A brilliant sport idiotically run.
   1. 

      Ads Lee
      25th May 2019, 8:54

      It wouldn’t save money though. Alfa Romeo currently get gear boxes supplied from Ferrari but under the new rules alfa would get the gear box but would have to build the gearbox casings themselves. So teams who currently get a gear box supplied would have to start spending more money.
7. 

   DAllein (@)
   24th May 2019, 23:12

   First – WOW! Looks like they hired an accountant!

   Second – Why on Earth did they do it only NOW?!?!
   It should have been the first step of any planning or consideration, not the last AFTER posting a tender! *facepalm*

   Of course the decision gives some hope, but it is clear management is lacking at the moment… and with 2021 around the corner… I fear it might be too late not to harm F1.
8. 

   JohnH (@johnrkh)
   24th May 2019, 23:49

   A bit off topic. I would like to see F1 go back to manual gearboxes. Even though these would no be as relevant to Rd cars in as the current type. I feel they would ad to the spectacle, they may also reduce complexity.
   1. 

      Rhys Lloyd (@justrhysism)
      26th May 2019, 0:24

      It would be awesome, but simply can’t see it happening; the H pattern is gone from top-level racing. It’s just too slow and problematic.
9. 

   Tor
   25th May 2019, 1:04

   The thing about these spec parts is: Whatever top teams save by not having to develop X or Y part will be spent elsewhere.
10. 

    RP (@slotopen)
    25th May 2019, 3:08

    Politics kill a good idea. The gearbox is a great part to standardize.

    It isn’t a sexy part for the manufacturer to show off. So it doesn’t detract from the engineering part of the show like a spec engine would.

    But it is complicated and expensive. Every gram removed from the rotating parts is gained power, so they are engineered light, strong, and for a set lifespan. A spec gearbox could use cheaper materials and more robust design. It would impact all teams the same and save money.

    Except the really rich teams, and any team with an unusually good gear box, would lose an advantage.
    1. 

       Koopa
       25th May 2019, 10:50

       Agreed! They could do the same with 80-90% of the other parts and I don’t think anyone would even notice, let alone care.

       I bring in standard front and rear wings too and let the teams design the middle bit.

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