Feedback: your letters

In the end the engines are not the source of F1’s woes but rather the aero nonsense. This is motor racing – not aircraft development!

Formula 1’s real problem isn’t the engines…

Much as I dislike the current F1 engines for all the reasons mentioned endlessly, I do appreciate the manufacturers’ concerns re development costs if there were to be a revised engine spec. As the current engines must have ameliorated much of their initial development costs and (contrary to early suspicions) turned out to be super-reliable (too reliable?!), then there may be a case for retaining the current engines with some cost saving/parity/development-freeze solution.

In the end the engines are not the source of F1’s woes but rather the aero nonsense. This is motor racing – not aircraft development! I’d rather see the engines remain similar and the aero issue addressed aggressively. Get rid of all external aero aids; restrict front and rear wings by area (free location – within reason) and number of elements; as long as the cockpit complies with all safety tests, allow free location; slash downforce and make the cars intense to drive and watch. Guy Dormehl Garden Route, South Africa

Villeneuve’s view

So, Jacques Villeneuve thinks Williams is “dead”. Is this a) a sober analysis of the grave situation Williams faces, or b) desperate headline-grabbing by a perennial self-publicist who adores the sound of his own voice and threw away a promising career at the end of 1998? Or a bit of both… Eliot Wilson Sunderland

Deliberate acts need proper punishment

Fifth Column (June 28) produced much debate about driver penalties and I concur with some of what Messrs Lauda and Roebuck said. I do think that racing incidents should not face a penalty; however, if it is deliberate, the driver should be severely penalised. Surely the driver representative on the stewards panel can decide if it’s a racing incident or deliberate? For example, the Vettel and Raikkonen incidents at Paul

Ricard and Silverstone were racing incidents; Vettel in Azerbaijan last year was deliberate – he should have been disqualified or received a race ban. One could also make a case re Vettel in Singapore last year as he clearly knew he had made a poor start and could have backed off.

I also think penalties should be consistent – in France Vettel was penalised five seconds and at the British GP Raikkonen 10 seconds for virtually the same infringement. Graeme Lovell Snitterfield, Warwickshire

Learn a lot from Lowndes

I was sad to hear that Craig Lowndes (above) was retiring from full-time driving at the end of this season. Apart from the fact that he’s a superb driver, he is a brilliant ambassador for Supercars and motorsport in general.

Even when it all went pants, he still managed to have a positive outlook. I have no time for drivers who throw the teddies out of the pram and have a face like a slapped arse when it doesn’t go their way. A lot of them could learn from how Craig puts himself across to the public and media. Gary Sutton By email