This week, the FIA, motorsport's governing body, detailed extensive changes to the way Formula One will be conducted in future seasons. The changes, the most radical since the 50mm undercar step in 1995 or this year's single qualifying session, are part of a package to reduce costs and improve the quality of the racing. The first change was expected, if a little surprising - the length of the Formula One weekend will be reduced to just two days. The second is a proposed change to the design of Formula One tyres that may help to control cornering speeds and increase braking distances - hopefully improving the ability of cars to outbrake each other and race better.

For some time now the teams have been voicing their dissatisfaction with the timetable of a Grand Prix weekend. The current format was brought in at the beginning of this year, after Saturday qualifying sessions - the most regularly televised - often ended up as dull affairs if conditions were significantly slower than on Friday. Now teams and the media suggest that Friday is a 'dead' day with few events of any relevance occurring. Most drivers opt to test race setups in the Friday morning and afternoon sessions - often running on one set of tyres to conserve sets for qualifying and the race. As a result, the fastest times are often a lottery and give no indication of form guide to the teams or media. The proposed new timetable drops Friday entirely but continues with practice on Saturday morning with a single qualifying session in the afternoon. Although the exact duration of the practice sessions is, as yet, uncertain, teams are already suggesting that the lack of setting up time may lead to a lack of knowledge of the car's behaviour.

The announcement comes as a surprise, as many presumed that there would be a return to last year's Friday/Saturday double qualifying format, but that the times would be aggregated forcing teams to run in both sessions. In addition to the changes to the individual race timetables, the teams are to be prevented from testing in the week prior to a Grand Prix. There is also a ban on testing between the last race of the season and December 31st of the same year. All this reduces costs, but at least one team principle apparently described some of the changes as 'infantile'. The changes, along with new proposals for the sharing of TV income and prize money, are included in the new Concorde Agreement. The document, which governs the way Formula One is run, has been in force since 1980. The agreement was brought in to solve a dispute between FOCA (The Formula One Constructor's Association) and the then governing body FISA. The most radical change is the removal of the 100% agreement policy. In previous years, any major rule changes needed a unanimous agreement from all the teams. Recently this led to disputes when Ferrari were able to keep refuelling in Formula One, even though all the other teams didn't want it. From next year, only an 80% approval is needed. The new regulations have their doubters, though, and several teams have apparently refused to put their signatures on the new Concorde agreement. Two weeks ago Max Mosely, president of the FIA, sent a letter to all the teams warning of 'major confrontation between teams and the sport's ruling powers.' It soon transpired that Frank Williams and Ron Dennis, amongst others, felt the way that Grand Prix income would be split didn't favour the smaller teams. As ever, the FIA and the teams stuck to their guns, neither side wishing to back down. Whether the dispute has been solved this weekend is, as yet, unclear, but Williams and McLaren will probably still be competing next year even if they don't sign. Hopefully, though, by the end of the year all teams will be signatories to the agreement and the controversy will have died down.

All this may make it easier for the FIA to introduce the next alterations to the technical regulations that govern the appearance and layout of Formula One cars. For some time now, the FIA's technical working group - a collection of team and FIA engineers - have been experimenting with proposed changes to the aerodynamics of the cars to enable them to run closer together, corner at slower speeds and overtake each other more easily. The early results have been surprising - the working group found that reduced downforce actually worsened the buffeting effect for the following car, thereby making it harder for him to overtake. The focus of effort has moved to the mechanical grip of the cars - specifically the most obvious location of grip, the tyres. It is thought that putting grooves in the tyres will reduce the grip, thereby decreasing cornering speeds and increasing braking distances - longer braking distances returning the skill of overtaking to the driver's 'feel'. The actual dimensions and layouts of the grooves have yet to be officially announced, but it is initially thought that a tread measurement regulation would help police the rule - preventing teams from running smaller grooves that would lead to an increase in grip. The control of the grooves would mean that harder compounds will be needed, and the consequent reduced grip would hopefully assist in making the racing closer. With the advent of a tyre war next year, the FIA are seen to be particularly keen to control, or preferably reduce lap times and cornering speeds. The grooved tyres would certainly help in this respect. Although the working group continue to concentrate on the car's performance, the FIA have also admitted that the predominance of tight, twisty circuits does need closer examination. Whatever the result of the working group's findings, the combination of shorter weekends, reduced grip and the annual roundabout of driver and engine changes should mean that, by 1998, Formula One will probably be quite different to what it is today and hopefully with closer competition.