SEPTEMBER 28, 1998

F1 Commission achieves little

THE new Formula 1 Commission met for the first time at the Nurburgring last week to discuss the matters of the moment in Grand Prix racing.

THE new Formula 1 Commission met for the first time at the Nurburgring last week to discuss the matters of the moment in GrandÊPrix racing. But after hours of talks we understand that very little was actually agreed, with most of the ideas discussed being diverted to a variety of committees to be developed further.

There were discussions about the new technical regulations and tires, and there were attempts to cut back on testing. This was defeated because team owners do not want testing to fall under further FIA control, as they want to be free to test where and when they choose. An attempt was made to have the Sunday morning race warm-up moved to 11am but this was defeated because teams argued that there would not be enough time to change engines if they suffered a problem in the warm-up session. It was however agreed that the Drivers' Briefing be moved from Sunday morning to Friday, so that any changes to the track could be discussed before the cars run.

It was agreed that British American Racing will be allowed to change the name of its cars next year but the decision to ban teams using cars in different color schemes will be a big blow to BAR.

We understand that no progress was made on the calendar but team bosses were told that the season will begin in Melbourne on March 7.