Think-tank Bans Beryllium
The Formula One rules committee has banned the alloy beryllium with effect from 2000, in an attempt to cut the cost of competing.
Beryllium first entered the F1 vocabulary after it emerged that Mercedes was lining its cylinders with aluminium beryllium alloy in an effort to reduce friction. Title rival Ferrari immediately opposed the alloy's use - ostensibly on health grounds - but the FIA saw fit to allow Mercedes to continue. Now, however, beryllium's days have been numbered.
The Formula One rules committee has banned the alloy beryllium with effect from 2000, in an attempt to cut the cost of competing.
Beryllium first entered the F1 vocabulary after it emerged that Mercedes was lining its cylinders with aluminium beryllium alloy in an effort to reduce friction. Title rival Ferrari immediately opposed the alloy's use - ostensibly on health grounds - but the FIA saw fit to allow Mercedes to continue. Now, however, beryllium's days have been numbered.
The forthcoming season will be the metal's last, with all use banned from the start of the 2000 campaign.
