Leaked reports from the Ferrari garage have claimed that Ferrari have known and used KERS secretly for years, their better straightline speed was always the envy of the paddock, and with this latest report its been now revealed how they have done it.

Luca Di Montezemelo was unavailible for questioning at the time of this report, But it has been suggested he complained about the technology to put other teams off of the idea.

Hmmmm, Maybe change the name, I mean, We ain't A1GP for lord sake lol

But It would be a chance to see some American drivers get back into F1 and maybe a F1 venue in the states also.

The controversial safety car rules that have been in place for the past two seasons will be scrapped for 2009, with the pit lane to now remain open and drivers instead having to heed a minimum lap time on their return to the pits.

FIA race director Charlie Whiting confirmed the changes to the procedure on Tuesday, announcing that a change would be made in line with the simulations carried out by drivers at the end of several practice sessions last season.

Since being introduced at the start of the 2007 season, the hitherto safety car rules saw the pit lane closed at the start of a full caution period with any car refuelling during this time punished by a drive-through penalty.

The FIA implemented the change to stop drivers racing back to the pit lane, when there was a potential accident on track, in a bid to gain an advantage, but the rule proved increasingly unpopular as drivers were clobbered with a potentially race-wrecking penalty if the pit lane closure came during their refuelling window.

But now after admitting that rule change "was a bad one", Whiting confirmed the pit lane will revert to being open and a reduced speed will instead be achieved by cars running at an ECU-controlled pace.

Asked if the safety car rules would be changed for 2009, Whiting replied: "Yes.

"The rule introduced in 2007 was a bad one, and we've gone back to the 2006 regulations.

"The only difference is we intend to implement a minimum time back to the pits."

In the trial simulations carried out in 2008, drivers had five seconds to press a button on their steering wheel to activate an ECU-controlled mode after receiving notification of the safety car's presence from which they have to target a lap time displayed on their dashboard.

Whiting says this method will continue to ensure that there is no risk that drivers speed back to the pit lane.

"When we deploy the safety car, the message will go to all the cars, which will then have a "safety car" mode on their ECUs," he said.

"As soon as that message gets to the car, it'll know where it is on the circuit, and it'll calculate a minimum time for the driver to get back to the pits.

"The driver will have to respect this and the information will be displayed on his dashboard.

"If you remember, the reason we closed the pit entry was to remove the incentive for the driver to come back to his pit quickly.

"That's gone now, as you won't be able to reach the pits any quicker than your dashboard display allows you to."

While several potential alternatives to the then rules were floated during the course of last season, some drivers still voiced concerns that a maximum speed would not be the fairest solution.

Following the first tests of the system at the French Grand Prix in June, BMW's Robert Kubica told itv.com/f1 that he thought the system was "too complicated".

"What happens if someone has seen the safety car 200 metres later he activates [the speed limiter] a bit later and he will take advantage?" he added.

"The FIA have to check exactly which point where you were and if you really pressed the button in a reasonable amount of time, [and check] if you were not waiting to do 200 metres more which is always going to give someone an advantage."

Source: ITV.com/F1

The list just keeps growing lol, I feel for you KA :lol:

Bernie Ecclestone has proposed giving manufacturers greater financial freedoms in return for making a long-term commitment to Formula 1.

The emphasis in recent months has been on reducing F1 teams' exorbitant outlays - a drive instigated by the governing FIA but, following Honda's demise and the global slump in car sales, now enthusiastically supported by the manufacturers themselves, who framed many of the recently adopted cost-cutting rules.

But behind this broad agreement, there have been tensions with the FIA about both the necessary scale of cost reduction and the most appropriate measures, with the manufacturers only seeing off the threat of standard engines by promising to supply drive trains cheaply to independent teams.

Having spent the past week resisting mounting pressure from the teams to give them a greater share of F1's lucrative commercial revenues, Ecclestone is now keen to strike a new bargain with the sport's high-spending manufacturers.

"If the manufacturers are prepared to make a long-term commitment, say seven to 10 years, we should let them spend what they want to spend, providing they supply engines and gearboxes at an affordable price," Ecclestone told the Daily Telegraph.

Ecclestone says securing such a commitment from the manufacturers would lock them into the sport and prevent further sudden withdrawals.

"It would prevent the kind of thing we have seen with Honda because we could sue the arse off them if they left," he said.

"They wouldn't like that."

But he admits his chances of persuading the manufacturers to make a cast-iron commitment are questionable.

"Whether they will commit to that I don't know," he said.

"Getting them to agree on anything has always been the problem."

Ecclestone was recently quote as saying that the FIA should not be writing F1's rules since they help generate the sport's commercial income, and a 2001 European Commission ruling bars the governing body from exerting any influence over commercial matters.

Instead he suggested the teams should devise the rules and the FIA should merely police them.

Now, however, Ecclestone appears to have changed tack, expressing doubts that the teams will be able to sustain the unusual degree of unity they have displayed in recent months through their FOTA organisation.

"There are two ways of running this sport," he said.

"You either let the teams shape the rules, which they can't because they can never agree on anything, or let the FIA write the regulations and let's get on with it.

"The FIA could simply say this is the entry form - if you want to join in, these are the rules, sign here.

"The FIA would then police the championship.

"Ideally the teams would get themselves organised. Maybe they will this time."

While giving no indication that he is willing to concede ground over the distribution of F1's revenues, Ecclestone admitted his suggestion that the teams should receive less money than they do now was intended to be raise their hackles.

"I was only being mischievous, really, playing their teams at their own game," he said.

Ecclestone also aligned himself with those manufacturers - notably Ferrari, Renault and Toyota - who have heavily criticised the FIA's decision to introduce expensive KERS energy storage devices at a time of financial overstretch.

"I have always been against KERS," he said.

"Whatever they use in F1 they won't use in a road car, but if that is the idea, then why not develop it in touring cars?

"It costs a lot of money when we are trying to save it."

F1's 78-year-old impresario added that the cool response to his proposed medal system "p***** me off", and said he remained convinced that there should be a greater incentive to win races rather than accumulate points.

"Forget medals. It is about a system that rewards winning, makes it worth a driver's while to win and not settle for second place," he said.

"Why would you risk going into a wall for two lousy points?

"You might if there was more to gain.

"They say cars don't overtake any more. That is down to the drivers. They don't always have to win to become a champion.

"Crazy."

Source: ITV.com/F1