Drivers

This question essentially centres on the push by FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem to return Formula 1 to a set of engine regulations that are pretty much the same as the era from 2010-13.

We delved into this topic extensively last week. There’s a link to that article below.

Now, as to the specific question, yes, 2013 was pretty boring, or at least the second half of it was.

The season started relatively competitively – Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel won four of the first 10 grands prix, but Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, Lotus’ Kimi Raikkonen and Mercedes drivers Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton all won over that period.

But a change to the specification of tyres following a series of blow-outs at the British Grand Prix led to Red Bull dominating and Vettel won the last nine races in a row to clinch a fourth consecutive world title.

The last years of the V8 era, once refuelling was banned at the end of 2009, fluctuated between intensely competitive and, er, not.

The 2010 and 2012 seasons had gripping title fights. In 2010 there were five drivers in the running until the penultimate race, and four mathematically at the last one.

That was the year Ferrari dropped the ball on strategy in Abu Dhabi and threw away the title, letting Red Bull and Vettel in to win their first title.

In 2012, there were seven different winners in the first seven races, and the title fight between Vettel and Alonso went to the final race again.

In 2011, as in 2013, Vettel and Red Bull dominated.

But there were a lot more factors involved in those scenarios than just engines. Tyres, for one. The relative competitiveness of the cars for another.

However, the naturally aspirated era – and especially the years from 1994-2009 when there was refuelling – was notorious for the lack of overtaking on track.

That has certainly increased this year with the new style of “yo-yo racing” brought about by the new hybrid engines.

There are so many issues wrapped up in this engine debate. Some of it may well be people harking back to the past, one they felt was more attractive than what F1 serves up today.

But there is also a cost issue, whether the essence of F1 has been polluted, noise, the changing road-car market place and on and on.

SCORES of drivers face a new charge at a major Scottish airport as a price increase begins today.

New drop-off charges have been rolled out at Edinburgh Airport, Scotland‘s busiest air hub which was used by 17 million passengers last year.

It will now cost £8.50 for a ten-minute slot to either drop-off or pick someone up near the main terminal.

The fees have been hiked by £2.50 and were rolled out today.

Bosses have also scrapped a 50 per cent discount for people driving electric vehicles to the airport.

Instead, more spaces have been added to the free drop-off area – where motorists can park for free for 30 minutes.

The price hike has been blamed on a surge in business rates.

Airport chiefs claim they have been hit by a hit by a 142 per cent rise – an £8million increase – which was branded “simply unacceptable”.

Edinburgh Airport’s chief executive Gordon Dewar said: “This decision to impose an unplanned and wholly disproportionate £8million rates increase has an immediate and negative impact on our business.

“We made this clear in correspondence with the Lothians Assessor, who set the increase, and in discussions with the Scottish Government, which has endorsed it.

“A 142% increase reduces our ability to invest, grow and compete. In practical terms, it equates to funding around 200 jobs, two aircraft stands, or five new security lanes. It is not a cost that can be absorbed; it must be covered, and trade-offs like this are unfortunately unavoidable.

“Like many across the hospitality and tourism sectors who have seen business rates soar, we have no choice but to pass part of this cost on to passengers.

“We had not planned to raise fees this year, but the absence of a transitional relief scheme – equivalent to that available in England and Wales – leaves us with no alternative.

“We have always accepted that, given our size, we should pay more, but the scale of this increase is simply unacceptable.”

Bosses previously wrote to the Convenor of the Lothian Valuation Joint Board, which sets non-domestic rates, as well as the First Minister and the Public Finance Minister, to outline their concerns.

Mr Dewar added: “We have made clear to both the Assessor and the Scottish Government that a system which produces such markedly different outcomes for comparable assets operating within the same national economy cannot credibly be described as fair, proportionate or fit for a modern Scotland. This systemic inconsistency lies at the heart of our concern.”

It comes just months after Glasgow and Aberdeen airports – both owned by AGS – increased their drop off fees.

It costs £7 for people to park for up to 15 minutes at both of the sites.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The valuation of all non-domestic property is a matter for the Scottish Assessors who are independent of central and local government.
 
“The Scottish Government estimates Edinburgh Airport will, with Transitional Relief,  have a net non-domestic rates bill of around £8.1 million for 2026-27, compared to £5.4 million before revaluation.
 
“The Scottish Government’s Revaluation Transitional Relief protects those most affected at revaluation – including airports – and will cap increases in gross liabilities up to the next revaluation in 2029.”

UN Children’s Fund calls on Israeli authorities to investigate and ‘ensure full accountability’.

The United Nations Children’s Fund says it is “outraged” after Israel killed two drivers it had contracted to deliver clean water to families in Gaza.

UNICEF said in a ⁠statement the incident occurred during routine water trucking on Friday morning at the Mansoura water filling point in northern Gaza, which supplies Gaza City. Two other people ‌were wounded in the attack.

The agency said it had suspended activities at the site and called on Israeli authorities to investigate and “ensure full accountability”.

“Humanitarian workers, essential service providers, and civilian infrastructure, including critical water facilities, must never be targeted,” it said.

It said that “the protection of civilians and those delivering life-saving assistance is an obligation under international humanitarian law”.

More than 750 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since the US- and Qatar-brokered “ceasefire” in Gaza took effect last October, according to Palestinian health authorities.

More than 72,000 people have been killed since Israel launched its genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza on October 7, 2023, following a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel.

Meanwhile, in the occupied West Bank, a Palestinian man was shot and killed by Israeli forces in Khirbet Salama, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.

Muhammad Ahmad Suwaiti, 25, was pronounced dead at the scene, WAFA said.

Israel’s military said a person carrying a knife in the illegal settlement of Negohot was killed. It did not say who was responsible.

Using the biblical term for the West Bank, the Israeli military said in a statement that “a terrorist who infiltrated the community of Negohot in Judea and Samaria was identified and eliminated in a rapid response”.

Israeli forces and settlers have killed more than 1,060 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.