For years we have heard threats from Formula One's teams about leaving the sport, buying the sport or joining a rival series. It has become something of a stuck record and now F1, and in particular, the sport's governing body the FIA, has a new threat to worry about. It has come right out of the blue and appears in an article in today's Express written by Pitpass' business editor Christian Sylt. In a nutshell, 17 race promoters, including Monaco, Monza, Silverstone and Spa, have all agreed to stop holding F1 races and run IndyCar instead if new smaller engines are introduced to F1 tomorrow. It is hard to believe but it is no idle threat.The catalyst for this situation was the decision in December by the World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) to introduce to F1 from 2013 four cylinder 1.6 litre engines with a maximum of 12,000 rpm. This proposal met with huge resistance from most F1 teams as well as the sport's boss Bernie Ecclestone due to it being a 33% reduction in power from the current eight cylinder 2.4 litre engines which run at 18,000 rpm. (cont.)

Formula one needs the US but Martin Whitmarsh has admitted he would have preferred a pair of races on the east and west coasts.

After Indianapolis hosted America’s most recent grand prix in 2007, the sport will return to the USA next June to race on a bespoke circuit in the capital of Texas.

But Austin is in the United States’ central south rather than on the eastern seaboard featuring New York, or the west close to Washington or California....more