F1: run whatever engine you want...
 

At the same time, Mosley has also revealed that the FIA are considering a revolutionary new format for 2011 and beyond. This would no longer mandate cubic capacity of the engines, instead a free-for-all formula would be introduced, with teams simply given a specific allowance of fuel for each grand prix race weekend and being left to their own devices to come up with a power unit that combined sufficient horsepower with the best fuel economy.

"All kinds of motors will be allowed," Mosley said, "but every car will get an equal amount of fuel. So it will be based on (fuel) consumption. Who wins will be the one who uses (the fuel) best. It is something that we will talk about at greater length on a later date."

That would be very interesting. If they are trying to control costs that definitely is not the way to do it...but that's ok with me. F1 is supposed to be the pinnacle of technology so let'em have at it.

F1..unrestrained excess. I love it:)

That would be awesome - I've always believed that F1 should be about posing a (rather general) problem and letting the competitors have at it in terms of proposing their own solutions to it, come what may. By starting to micro-manage and henpeck over controls in the program (a la NASCAR) it becomes a lot less interesting - you're seeing a monument to a particular design. There's no originality.

Personally I'd love to see a race with minimal rules like:

1. The race will be held on such-and-such a date at this time, here's the course. Distance is "X" (some straights, some curves, whatever).

2. Must be a four-wheeled vehicle and all four wheels must remain in contact with the ground at all times.

3. First one to the finish line wins.

That's it. THEN you'd see some innovation.

Re: F1: run whatever engine you want...
 

I assume all teams would use the same fuel. The only reason I wonder is if they can have any fuel, Audi better get cracking on an F1 body for their R10 diesel's engine.

Wonder if they would allow "carry over" of unused fuel from one weekend to the next? If so, we would see some engine outputs raised incrementally over the course of a season as more fuel was available. Or on the slower tracks, engines could be tuned down and the extra fuel used on the faster (higher hp) tracks.

Also, would fuel consumption play a part? Car 1 beats car 2 by 3 seconds, but used 10 more gallons of fuel (or 3% of alloted, or whatever)

I'm already suspect. The best racing is done in the pits, and F1 almost has pitting down to NASCAR standards. I'd hate to see that go away...

I would really like to see such a Formula.

Going even further, how about if, instead of each car being allotted the same amount of a standard fuel, each car were allotted the same amount of energy (X joules). This would allow teams to find the most efficient fuel - so you could have diesel cars versus high-octane racing gas care versus hydrogen cars. And eventually a team would figure out a way to power its car with dilithium crystals.