People are fed up with EU dictatorship behavior. Believe me nothing is graved into stone.. Particularly in France.
As you have seen from Brexit, it takes guts to rebel against the EU. Beside, European countries are so much dependent from each other, that the EU cannot be ignored.
Distances between things in Spain are too far as well, and majority of Spaniards can't afford it, either. 2035 is a pipe dream fixated on the ''15 minute cities'' idea that can only work in hell holes such as the Netherlands, where everything is build on top of each other, everyone lives in the same hive, and has existing infrastructure to get between cities. As an example: In most villages in the Netherlands, if you work in the cities, it's easy to get to: You walk or cycle to the nearby train station, get on the train that runs regularly, get to the city (or rather the office parks just before it, with their own train stations) and you're at work. Over here? Not going to happen. It's a 10 minute drive (downhill of course) to get to the town by car, so around 25 by bike as a reasonable guess. Nearest big city by train? 2 hours. So to get to work and back, that'll take 5 hours of your day, assuming you're superman and can cycle uphill as quick as downhill. If I go by car to get to the same city, it's 30 minutes. That's a no go. And no that's not exclusive to where I live, huge majority of Spain is build like this.
Back to F1, the idiots that run it have just registered the trademark ''chicago grand prix''. That'll be another street track. Speedrunning the downfall of F1.
Can I run it? Just need Aramco backing. It wouldn't even be *that* hard. With F1 declaring open war on traditional tracks, offer them a deal: Instead of charging enormous fees to host a race, offer them a deal instead: Revenue share, no host fees. Much more open access A la IMSA, NASCAR, Indycar. Cars/engines are easy, as discussed many times you know my views on that. Then you need drivers...don't just target F1 drivers but also Indycar, F2, IMSA etc. Loads of utterly fantastic drivers these days that would make it to F1 but the path to get to F1 is just attrocious. Host races for free on own platform, pay a small fee to get adds removed and extra access. Aramco or PIF offered 20b for F1 not long ago. furthermore, add feeder series to most races. Call it GP1 for top series, GP2 and GP3 as the feeders. Get a tie in with video games like iracing and the like, get people interested.
Lots of good ideas from you, as usual. But are they realistic ? I think the FIA could block an alternative championship, trying to replace F1. They hold the rights to the WDC. Even Bernie gave up the idea of organisiong a parallel series he had at one time; and rallied to the FIA. The Treaty of Rome about competition doesn't apparently cover sports. It means that each world organisation has total authority on its sport, like football, athleticism, skying, FIA, FIM, etc ... Bernie discovered that any federation, club, circuit, constructor, teams and driver participating in a "pirate series" (for lack of a better term), could be banned from participation in other FIA sanctionned championship. The circuits would be at risk of losing their licence, so would the drivers, teams, and so on. Apart from unforeseen world events, the revolution in F1 has to come from within, IMO.
The lunatics running the F1 asylum seem to think that adding more races, regardless of location, is the way ahead. Sacrificing fan enjoyment and the sporting spectacle is fine in the pursuit of a fast buck. One day they will realise it isn’t. Mark my words.
Liberty, like many organisations, are hellbent on growth. They are very aggressive in their approach and will not give up until they start losing money at some point.
100% They ignore every type of fan. They ignore the drivers. Teams. EVERYONE, Ticket prices gone insane, Their insane self worth has gotten to the point that a new entry team with manufacturer backing is being told to pay THREE TIMES the amount of official entry fee....as an entry fee (!!! that means still no factory, car, drivers, nothing), and still have a risk of being told no. This elitism is going to bite them back so ****ing hard when realism kicks in. Realism kicks in around 2026. Their horrendous engine concept will alienate a ****load of fans. Tickets will go (massively) unsold, viewership down. Fans will leave, sponsors will leave, their crazy valuation, they'll be lucky to get an offer 20% of PIF.
This thread is like a desperate last gasp for F1. There doesn't seem to be anything significant to talk about for the 2024 and 2025 seasons, so let's just keep distracted with fantasies about 2026.
Malaysia's state oil company Petroliam Nasional -- or Petronas -- is looking to bring Formula One races back to Malaysia in 2026 after a nine-year hiatus, three sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. Malaysia hosted a leg of the F1 world championship at its Sepang International Circuit (SIC) from 1999 but staged its last race in 2017 due to declining ticket sales and rising costs of hosting the event. Petronas, Malaysia's only Fortune 500 company, won naming rights to the SIC for three years in October. The circuit continues to host MotoGP races and other motorsport events. Petronas' plan to bring back the F1 race was revealed during a company townhall led by the firm's President and Chief Executive Tengku Muhammad Taufik Tengku Aziz on Tuesday the sources said. They delclined to be identified as they were not authorised to speak to media.
That's what threatens F1 in many countries. Only subsidised events will be able survive, and they are at the mercy of the economic situation.
That is ok. Liberty has a plan to set up a street circuit around the Petronas Tower complex for double the fee. Fear not lol Interesting as we are off to Singapore tonight and will be in KL later in the week or early next.
Nice interview with Ferrari PU engineer on the new PU development for 2026- https://f1i.com/news/500676-ferrari-new-f1-pu-manufacturers-facing-huge-challenge-for-2026.html Ferrari: New F1 PU manufacturers facing ‘huge challenge’ for 2026 Ferrari's power unit technical director Enrico Gualtieri has warned that the upcoming 2026 shake-up in Formula 1's engine regulations presents a significant challenge not only for established manufacturers but especially for newcomers entering the fray. F1 is set to usher in a new era in 2026, with significant changes to its power unit regulations aimed at fostering greater sustainability and competition. This shake-up will see two major players join the existing grid: Audi and a Ford-supported Red Bull Powertrains program. Additionally, Andretti-Cadillac is a potential mid-cycle entrant, further expanding the landscape. The new regulations will evolve around a lighter generation of power unit, achieved by removing the MGU-H unit, while simultaneously increasing reliance on electric power through more powerful MGU-K units. While existing manufacturers like Ferrari have behind them a decade of experience navigating the nuances of the current hybrid era, the newcomers face a multitude of hurdles. Gualtieri acknowledges the inherent difficulty of predicting newcomers' exact experiences, given the unique circumstances of each organization. However, he also emphasizes the undeniable complexity of F1 power units, highlighting the demanding nature of building a championship-contending engine from scratch. “It’s hard to say because, obviously, I’m not in their facility or in their shoes,” Gualtieri said, regarding the expectations for the likes of Audi and Red Bull Powertrains ahead of 2026. “But in the end, I think that for sure the level of complexity of this product is high. And it’s true that preparing for a brand-new project is not an easy task for anyone. Image Unavailable, Please Login ©SeanBull “So I can for sure respect the job that they are doing on this, because for sure you need to learn and to create something that is not only related to design, competencies or skill from the engineering perspective, but also logistics or infrastructure. “So they are facing an important and huge challenge as well.” While acknowledging the daunting task awaiting newcomers to F1's engine scene, Gualtieri also emphasized the internal challenges Ferrari faces in navigating the transition to the 2026 regulations. He pointed to the critical, yet demanding, task of resource allocation as a key hurdle. Ferrari, like other established manufacturers, grapples with the complex balancing act of prioritizing both the present and the future. On one hand, they must continue to optimize their current power unit to maintain competitiveness in the upcoming seasons. On the other hand, they must dedicate significant resources towards the development and testing of a completely new engine adhering to the 2026 regulations. Image Unavailable, Please Login This division of labor presents a significant challenge, according to Ferrari’s main engine man. “On our side, obviously, it’s a different thing,” he continued. “It’s true as well that we have to cope with the current programme that is still somehow requiring energy in order to be obviously looked after in view of what we have to deploy on the season. “So somehow they are different challenges, but both of them are quite high in terms of level of effort that we have worked to deploy. “It’s true that we are entering this stage at which we are developing the core parts of the new power unit. “But in terms of percentage it’s somehow easy, because at the end we have dyno hours for the current period that are somehow defined, and these are reducing season by season. “So this season we will have a further reduction on the dyno hours that we can deploy on the current power unit. So we are reducing somehow by definition what we are putting on the current engine, and all the rest obviously has to be driven through the new project. “Despite this challenge we are focused on the 2024 season as well, because this seems to be the longest season ever, and we know how challenging it will be for the components and for the power unit itself. "So still, the focus is really, really high on the season that we are about to start.”
I believe the MGU-K is going to get a boost in KW=HP department....from 160kw to 350kw. (Someone correct me on this as it has been awhile and I don't remember the numbers off the top of my head.)
F1 is slowly drifting towards becoming a hybrid formula where the power comes from electric motor(s) and the ICE acts only as the generator. It's only copying the technology see on (some) street cars.
Correct - Via F1.com: MGU-K to produce around 350kW in 2026 – a massive increase on the 120kW of energy currently deployed by the MGU-K and MGU-H
