And to my fellow propellerheads, have a happy GNU year!
Posted on 08/05/2009 7:57:45 PM PDT by Chode
This will be a general purpose thread for F1 news and pings that really don't require a thread of their own.
RE: the above post, my math, as per usual, is teh suck.
That "$8m to $9.25m per unit" is per chassis, not per ICE. A car can use 4 ICE units per season without penalty so presuming that figure is for the four and a spare, individual ICE units are a mere $1.6M - $1.85M. Which is chicken feed when you've already popped for $11.5m for the car.
Happy New Year to all, Thanks for these very interesting posts, PG!
And to my fellow propellerheads, have a happy GNU year!
“...Auto Motor und Sport have provided an update, claiming that [Christian] Horner is currently busy acquiring shares in the French outfit [BWT Alpine F1 Team] and expects the process to be wrapped up within days. ..”
“...He has reportedly raised €763 million for the takeover, which translates to around £665 million....”
https://www.gpfans.com/en/f1-news/1072020/christian-horner-million-pound-alpine-f1-takeover-offer/
This could be fun to watch this ‘gnu’ year!
"...Vasseur suggested: 'Next year it won’t be about the first picture of the season, it won’t be all about the classification of Australia, it will be a lot about the capacity for quick development.
'The season won’t be over in Australia for sure, it doesn’t matter if we are P1 or P10, but it will be a long way until the end, it will be a long way for everybody...
"...However, the last three times there have been significant rule changes, the opening race has given a clear indication of who will come out on top at the end of the campaign...."
I thought myself it was a very odd thing for a team principal to be doing, downplaying expectations for the season opener. Of course Niki Lauda did the same at Mercedes in 2014, but nobody was buying it. This is a different kettle of fish because every scrap of intel and scuttlebutt yet printed about 2026 is predicting a 2-team season with everybody else chasing Mercedes and Red Bull.
"...Two big areas that were brought under scrutiny were the extreme porpoising that came about strongly in the first season, as well as the extreme plank wear..."
Idiots.
If they'd bothered to read the history of F1 1978-1980 they'd have known porpoising was a distinct possibility.
The FIA needs to leave designing cars to the grown-ups because they break everything they touch.
And even at that it was only a half-assed implementation of ground effect.
Clive Chapman (son of ACBC) said, "The most vital part of ground effects in racing cars is the skirt." But the FIA is afraid of skirts because they might break, despite the fact that's never happened. Same with adjustable aero. They've been shunning moveable aero for 58 years because of what might happen if it fails, conveniently overlooking the fact that airplanes have relied on moveable aerodynamic surfaces for 120 years, and they seem to be getting along with it well enough.
Mario Andretti raced F1's first ground effects car, the Lotus 78, and called it the best F1 car he'd ever driven. "The Type 78, it's like it's painted to the road." It was blindingly fast, but it also was built by Lotus, and Lotus is neck-and-neck with Yugo for making the World's Least Reliable Automobiles. Andretti came 3rd in 1977 WDC despite SEVEN DNFs. He won the 78 WDC despite four DNFs, driving the Lotus 78 in the first races, then the 79 (which had better integrated skirts) for the bulk of the season.
Lotus also had a solution to the potential for skirt damage on the 78.
They made it from a strip of brush bristles sold at home repair stores for blocking the draft from coming underneath doors.
"...Under the rules, the FIA will review the performance of internal combustion engines every six races during the 2026 season, covering rounds one to six, seven to 12 and 13 to 18. If power differences exceed a 2% gap to the leading engine, one development step may be granted, rising to two if the shortfall exceeds 4%.
Industry insiders say Honda, Ferrari and Audi, which had written to the FIA seeking clarification on whether Mercedes’ solution complies with the 2026 regulations, are unlikely to be able to alter their combustion chambers before 2027 due to the long lead times involved in modifying six-cylinder engines....
https://uz.kursiv.media/en/2025-12-25/fia-clears-mercedes-and-red-bull-engine-concept-under-2026-rules/
But apparently Ferrari chewed on that for a week or so and decided they weren't happy with it.
"...There are now suggestions that Ferrari are already planning a ‘protest’ against all of the Mercedes and Red Bull-powered cars over a loophole they’ve potentially found in the development of their new engines...."
https://www.f1oversteer.com/news/ferrari-already-up-in-arms-and-planning-protest-against-f1-rivals-at-the-2026-australian-gp/
Honda in particular is crying crocodile tears because there are reports that Aramco, Aston Martin's exclusive fuel provider, has a magic synthetic fuel that will put their ICE unit's output on par with the high-compression Mercedes and Red Bull engines.
...According to said reports Aramco's fuel would see Aston Martin mitigate the alleged 0.4 seconds advantage both Mercedes and Red Bull would have found in their rumoured engine compression solution....
https://www.gpblog.com/en/rumors/aston-martin-matches-mercedes-f1-2026-trick-advantage-on-pure-performance
And I don't have to tell you what would happen (because history has done that for me) if a car designed from the tarmac up by Adrian Newey should have more horsepowers than the rest of the field.
The fun part is that Shell -- Ferrari's fuel supplier -- is rumored to have hit a snag in creating a synthetic fuel that will be competitive.
"...According to a report by Motorpasion Moto, the Scuderia’s fuel supplier is currently developing the ‘least advanced’ calibre of synthetic fuel in line with the new regulations....
https://www.f1oversteer.com/news/ferraris-fuel-supplier-are-now-facing-worrying-problems-just-weeks-before-2026-f1-testing-begins/
https://www.motorpasionmoto.com/motogp/marc-marquez-esta-dudando-renovar-ducati-motogp-motivo-podria-ser-rumor-que-viene-f1
So 2026 is shaping up to be SSDD for the Scuderia.
"...Initially, porpoising was a major concern, even leading drivers to worry about potential spinal damage. That never really went away, but it did get under control when the regulations for the floor edges were changed. This meant the cars still needed to run as low as possible, but instead of just simply running low they now started to generate vortices along the floor sides to help with the sealing process.
Inevitably, teams also found ways to reintroduce outwash. The FIA should have cracked down on designs like the floor side vortex generation and the slots in the front wing endplates, the complicated aero parts inside the wheels around the brake ducts, and all those elements that went against the intention of the rules.
At the start of 2022, the cars could follow and race reasonably well. It was only as teams moved in this direction in pursuit of higher downforce levels that following got so much harder so that by the end of 2025 we had processional races that were usually all about the dreaded DRS train. Although there were changes to the endplate geometry for 2023, teams found another way to achieve the same effect but despite the FIA having clear ideas of how to tackle this, nothing changed.
The FIA says that F1's governance processes prevented this from happening, and that's true. But the point is, if F1 as a whole really wants this to work then that shouldn't be the case. When it comes to performance, teams will always act in their own best interests and the rulemakers should be allowed to make the rules. If you don't allow that to happen then this is the end result...
"...Following was easier at the end of 2025 than it was in 2021, the last year before the ground effect rule change, but it was still bad. So while it wasn't all for nothing, in reality, it was still not enough.
The grid did at least become close, which was another aim of the rules. But that's partly because the rules are so tight that it's now getting to be just a few steps away from a one-make formula...."
Speed parity of <2% is a guarantee of the dreaded DRS train. Which shows that DRS was never anything but a band-aid to disguise the underlying cause of competitive overtaking in F1 being rarer than hobbyhorse turds. Which, in turn, relieved the pressure on the FIA to do something positive to fix it.
Weird story about an interview the Chrome Gnome gave to Bild.de last year.
He told them he’d only ever had four true friends in his life, Jochen Rindt, Niki Lauda, Max Mosely and Flavio Briatore.
Briatore is the only one still living. In 2010, the Iteys seized Flavio’s $87 million yacht on account of €5 million of Value Added Tax he’d failed to pay on diesel he’d bought in Greece. I’d love to know how much fuel it took to run up €5 mil VAT bill but couldn’t find it.
Briatore spent a decade trying to get it back but couldn’t satisfy all the Italian legal red tape. They auctioned the yacht off in 2021 and Ecclestone bought it for about €7 million.
Bernie’s was the only bid, and the ship was worth at least twice that, so there obviously was something hinkey going on.
Bernie sold it back to Flavio for — he says — one Euro more than he’d bought it for. The irony is Bernie had it refurbished so he in effect ‘donated’ the refurbishing to Briatore.
It isn’t detailed anywhere I can find but the unanswered question is, if Flavio had the €7.000001 million to pay Bernie to get it back in the first place, why didn’t he just buy it at the auction himself? Kinda confirms my suspicion that the auction was rigged but only on account of Ecclestone had warned off all the other potential bidders.
When the press asked Bernie if he wasn’t worried the Iteys might come after him for returning the boat to Briatore, he said that didn’t enter into his decision because all that mattered was that he did what a friend is supposed to do.
What an odd little man.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flavio_Briatore#Outside_Formula_One
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Force_Blue#Briatore
The Benetton Schumey was driving when he took his maiden F1 win in 1992 is for sale. Only two owners, very low mileage, been hidden in a dark closet since 2016, expect to pay abound $10 million.
The FIA is holding a meeting on 22 Jan at which the chief topic prolly will be Mercedes’ high-compression engine. They FIA already have opined that the Merc engine does NOT violate the TR, but Honda, Ferrari and Audi all are still looking for the FIA to save them from their own mediocrity.
They apparently want the FIA to rule based on the SPIRIT of the regulations but I’ve always heard that the law has no spirit, only letters. The same I think should apply here. What is not prohibited is permitted.
Honda, Ferrari and Audi have sent a joint letter of concern to the FIA. I don’t know submitting it jointly strengthens their protest but they apparently are hoping that if they can’t get an outright ban the Mercedes ‘trick’ at least should be banned after the summer break (which would give Merc that long to de-tune their engine).
On an unrelated note, there’s a movement brewing at Mercedes to drop McLaren as an engine customer. Seems a no-brainer to me. Why would you sell to a competitor who is beating you with your own engines?
“On an unrelated note, there’s a movement brewing at Mercedes to drop McLaren as an engine customer. Seems a no-brainer to me. Why would you sell to a competitor who is beating you with your own engines?”
Shades of Brawn Racing in ‘09, but Mercedes bought the majority of stock and renamed the team: Mercedes.
Interesting bit about the engines... will be fun to watch. I agree with you, if it’s not strictly forbidden it’s LEGAL.
"It's just like a lawyer reading the law. Some lawyers are better than others, because they know how to go right to the gray area just before it gets red. And that's how engineering is the same thing, when they read the rules. How far can we go?"
Mario won his WDC driving an ACBC-designed car, so he likely knows a thing or three about "grey area" designs.
https://www.gpblog.com/en/exclusive-news/andretti-cadillac-praises-mercedes-and-red-bulls-smart-engine-trick
Provenance or no, I much prefer Alessi's color scheme.
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/jean-alesis-1992-ferrari-f92a-f1-car-heads-to-auction-with-3-5million-estimate/10789755/
And Freddie Vasseur is having kittens.
In the source story at topspeedblog.it, author Umberto Zapelloni remarked, "Oh Todt, dove sei?" (Oh [Jean] Todt, where are you?)
This is the part where I mention that Ferrari won both championships in 2007, Todt's last year as Team Principal of the Scuderia, and hasn't won either since.
https://www.f1oversteer.com/news/fred-vasseur-went-berserk-when-he-was-told-about-a-disturbing-problem-with-ferraris-2026-car/
https://topspeedblog.it/il-ruggito-audi-e-il-ritardo-della-ferrari-e-non-solo/
“If Lewis arrived and just won an eighth championship, it sort of demeans or belittles the sport somewhat."-- Jock Clear, former Scuderia Ferrari performance engineer
This is as nonsensical as claiming Man-Mde Global Warming might cause the next Ice Age.
A couple of weeks ago there were reports that Hambone and his race engineer, Riccardo Adami (who also ably served Sebastian Vettel & Carlos Sainz) had sat down for dinner together, ironed out their differences and mutually decided Adami would continue in that role for 2026.
Except now Adami’s been fired.
And the press is writing it up like Adami’s was the cause of Hambone’s lackluster driving.
https://www.heraldonline.com/sports/article314353058.html
Not a good day to be a rookie when you have to hitch a ride home on a flatbed. Linblad spun it at Variante Villenueve and got beached in the gravel trap. There was no reported damage to driver or car.
Red Bull (reportedly) doesn't intend unveiling their car until the test at Barcelona.
https://racingnews365.com/track-debut-new-racing-bulls-ends-in-gravel-pit
https://www.instagram.com/p/DTvB2M5jOim/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=embed_video_watch_again
Regarding F1 switching from ESPN to Apple, F1’s “chief media rights and broadcast officer” said it was because, basically, Apple’s pond is smaller than ESPN’s, and they’re hoping F1 will be easier to spot in Apples small pond than they are now in ESPN’s YUGE pond.
https://awfulannouncing.com/racing/f1-exec-apple-enthusiasm-espn-departure.html
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