Liberty defends future F1 vision,

Formula 1’s new bosses insist they will press on with changes aimed at bringing unpredictability back to the sport, and have refuted claims from some teams that they are homogenising the formula.

Amid heated talks about F1’s new engine regulations from 2021 onwards, Liberty Media boss Chase Carey said last week that the group would continue to pursue pushing through rule changes that would help to even out the field and promote healthier competition.

Liberty outlined a new set of engine rules recently, which were met by a backlash from three of F1’s biggest manufacturers.

The initial plans involve retaining the current 1.6-litre turbocharged engine, but increasing the rev limit by 3000rpm to tackle issues of low noise and replacing the fragile heat-based energy recovery design with a more powerful Kers-based system in a push to trim engine costs. A cost-capping system has also been suggested to further limit teams’s development resources.

Those plans were met with criticism from Mercedes, Renault and Ferrari, with the former two suggesting the changes would create a new ‘arms race’ as manufacturers would still have to develop an entirely new engine to operate around the new set-up. Ferrari chairman Sergio Marchionne then claimed the rules risked removing the “powertrain uniqueness” and issued a fresh threat that Ferrari could walk away from the sport if an agreeable solution could not be found. Marchionne also accused Liberty of wanting to “play NASCAR globally”, referring to the use of spec engines across the grid.

In the face of the backlash, Carey said Liberty still held the team’s best interests at heart, but insisted the sport needed to change.

“I don’t think we have a differing view to Ferrari,” said Carey. “I’m not trying to be derogatory to NASCAR, but we don’t plan to be NASCAR either.

“We don’t want to standardise cars. We don’t want 20 identical cars going round the track and the only difference is the driver.

“F1 is unique, and it marries up competitive state-of-the-art technology. We want teams to have the ability to create cars that are unique to them – unique engines to them, unique bodies to them.

“But we want to make success dependent on how well you spend your resources within some constraints, versus how much you spend. I think that’s a healthier sport.”

Carey added that improving the level of competition across the grid was also high on the agenda with the new rules set. Liberty wants to even out the performance deficit between the factory and the customer squads.

“We want teams to compete to win, but we want all the teams to have a chance,” Carey said. “It’s never going to be equal, there are going to be favourites that evolve, but we want the teams to feel that they have a fighting chance.

“Sports are built on the unexpected, and we do want a sport that can have the unexpected. If somebody wins every race every weekend, at the

Sebastian Vettel says that Ferrari isn’t prepared to coast through the remainder of this season, insisting that the final races can be a vital roadmap to success in 2018.

Despite having his world title hopes dashed last time out in Mexico, Vettel fired back with victory in Brazil last weekend, and says Ferrari will keep pushing to win the season finale in Abu Dhabi next weekend to use as a springboard into 2018.

When asked how he and Ferrari could stay motivated for the rest of the season, Vettel said: “In the first moments [after losing the title] it’s difficult to go back to business as usual, but that is why it’s good to have more races. The moment you get back in the car the musing of the ‘ifs’ and the ‘buts’ stops and the focus is on the driving.

“Maybe losing out is easier to come to terms with when there are races left as opposed to losing the title in the last race and going home with defeat.

“There are no rule changes for next year, and the car that ends 2017 on top should be able to carry this over into 2018. Everything that we learn in Brazil and Abu Dhabi is a good step to next year. So lifting off the throttle would be the completely wrong thing to do.”

Ferrari has now switched focus to 2018, and there were suggestions that it was trialling radical development parts in Brazil.

“There are rumours wobbling through the paddock that there are massive parts on the car for 2018… the fact is the whole season is a preparation for 2018 as there will not be big changes, other than the halo. So everything we’ve learned this year will find its way onto the 2018 car. We’ll see another hard-fought race in Abu Dhabi. If that is a foretaste for 2018 I would dare not to make a prediction. There is still the possibility to design a new car over the winter and maybe one gets it a bit more right than the other – who knows!? But one thing is for sure: the tighter it gets the more fun it is in the car – and the more fun it is to watch!”