So you're willing to stick with something that's wrong just because you don't want to change to a formula that was better, even if it has a modern take to it? As already said, F1 is a spectacle. Your vision of empty tracks out in the boonies with strict noise limits and are broadcast only through the TV is about as far away from a good idea as one can imagine. There is something special about experiencing racing. The actual race coverage is nowhere near as good as watching on TV, but the TV just does not replicate the experience you get from watching in person. F1, Liberty Media, and the tracks all want to fill their venues with as many people as possible, they want to sadly charge as much money as possible, and they want activities and food & beverages for people to consume during the events, it's all about money. Ensuring there is a good spectacle is how they put butts in the seats. Even if the race is sub par, the experience of a hyper fast F1 car going around is something to watch. It's 100x better if you can literally feel the noise. People say the support races are louder than F1 cars. That is downright criminal. Not sure if this is out of your element, but imagine a top class (NHRA) drag racing event. If the top class was an all electric car running low 3's in the 1000 ft, I wouldn't watch it. I would watch the nitro burning Top Fuel cars that are half a second slower all day. The experience does matter.
It used to be called a "Circus", it still is, yet it (ALL) has become a LAS VEGAS extravaganza. Look at poor Monaco, all you need is money to go there. But, and a big but, it sucks, even when there is no racing, go only in Winter, and know someone. There are places where they 'race', that way back when, they were the S...holes of earth, and they still are except you don't get to see the tourist attractions. Uzbekistan, they play Polo with a goat's head, everything there smells of goat, all they eat is goat. I don't think they serve Goat at the track's VIP locations. Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, my dad took me to Vegas, 1st time for me, and was bedazzled. Caesar's palace...wow, it was so cool, saw the ratpack' at the Sands, even me in my acid rock scene, loved it. Went there for the LAST time I will ever go, a few years ago with the family, and it was horrible. Never again. What a mistake. Only the Grand Canyon helo flight, where we almost crashed and died, was memorable, and the fact that we could tell the story. Doing 250 knots with a 'slight' tailwind. Ex 'Nam pilot, saved his and ours. You will not catch me dead there, even if you Comp me a G700 ride, BEST suite, caviar, etc. 'Money for nothing, chicks for free'. NO F1 is only about money, imagine 6th place in the Manuf. standings and take home 50 Mill. WHAT? and that is 6th place. Pathetic. I was convinced by my daughter to (re) watch F1 as she just discovered it, and thinks she loves it. Sent a her a few choice you tubes from when F1 was fantastic. She stopped watching, and wants the collection from when I used to forge pit passes at Long Beach.
As a great friend once said, " Have you ever seen an F1 race with 'privateers' competing?" If you have not, you have no clue about F1. Regards, Alberto
You said it !!! The coverage on TV is better than at the track !! I am only interested in the racing, and when I attended races (cars or bikes), I used to bring my own sandwiches !
Fernando Alonso stands against V10 engine change in F1 Fernando Alonso is the only driver on the current grid to have driven a V10-powered Formula 1 car. This has placed him in a very credible position to discuss the current conversation surrounding the potential return of V10 powertrains in the sport. Maybe surprisingly, despite his personal nostalgia to these thunderous powerplants, he stands against their return. The 2-time champion believes moving back to a V10 would be regressive in a sport that looks forward.
Formula 1's engine manufacturers have been called to a meeting with the FIA at the Bahrain Grand Prix next weekend to gather thoughts on a potential future switch to V10 engines, The Race has learned. It is understood that the gathering, which is scheduled to take place on the Friday of next week's event at Sakhir, is aimed at helping the FIA get a better understanding from relevant stakeholders about how much support there is for a change of F1's engine regulations longer term. Up until now, individual discussions have taken place between the FIA's single seater director Nikolas Tombazis and relevant manufacturers to gather some preliminary feedback on what the carmakers think of the idea. However, with FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem due to attend his first race of the year in Bahrain, and him having championed the V10 evaluation process so far, the gathering at Sakhir will offer more formal surroundings to get a clearer global picture on where things stand. There is no proposal on the table right now in terms of a clear direction being looked at and what any future engine regulation could look like, but instead what the FIA is eager to get on top of is which way the wind is blowing with the manufacturers. But any hopes that Ben Sulayem may have had of finding enough support to fast-track a change of engine plans away from the incoming 2026-spec turbo hybrids as early as 2028 appear to be fading, with sources suggesting there is not enough backing among carmakers for a new direction for an early switch to fall into place.
Queue the emergency 2026 meeting when car manufacturers realize just how ****ing **** the 2026 engine regs are and fans leaving in droves.
MercedesAMGF1 is opposed to it. Ferrari and RedBull would welcome it. Honda would welcome it. Audi is opposed to it. Cadillac F1.....who knows since they're "newbies."
Mercedes and Audi: Corporate giants worried about how to market eco-friendly cars. Red Bull: A racing team with no road car marketing agenda. Ferrari: Even in a post IPO world? Good for them. They know what sells in the world of performance cars. Honda: Really? A bit surprised - I'd have guessed their position would be the same as Mercedes and Audi. I say: Don't let the door hit you on the way out, Mercedes. F1 would have been better off without you over the last 15 years. Time to cut our losses. (No one in F1 will say that. But I wish they would.)
Like I keep saying: Call their bluff for once. These manufacturers NEVER get their **** called because F1 always puts them on a pedestal for some bizarre reason. MUCH lower cost engines + increased viewship = profit. Erm...quite why would a company say no to virtually risk free money? And even IF they would actually go...that's cool they can sell their team and then realize their errors later, lol. Good riddance.
In which case, sounds like another 2014+ like era of domination brewing. Only underlines the problem with letting the manufacturers dictate the rules.
Mercedes is the big one which opposes a V10 comeback and they also have alot of say because they supply their engines to several teams currently(2025). I say bye-bye Mercedes or as @Bas put it, call their bluff.
Proposal to bring back V10 engines set to be rejected F1: Proposal to bring back V10 engines set to be rejected - BBC Sport A proposal to bring back V10 engines to Formula 1 is set to be rejected by the sport's engine manufacturers next week. Mohammed Ben Sulayem, the president of governing body the FIA, has been championing a plan to reintroduce high-revving, big capacity naturally aspirated engines to F1. Ben Sulayem has been pushing for the move to happen as early as 2028 or 2029 - despite F1 introducing a new engine formula next year that is scheduled to run until the end of 2030. But under F1's governance system, the plan needs to be backed by four of the five engine manufacturers that will be in F1 next year, which are Mercedes, Ferrari, Honda, Audi and Red Bull Powertrains, which is backed by Ford. Audi had already indicated its support for the 2026 engine formula, which retains 1.6-litre turbo hybrid engines but increases the proportion of total power provided by the electrical part of the engine to about 50% from the current 20%. These will be run on fully sustainable fuels. Honda, which abandoned plans to quit F1 because of the new rules, has now indicated it also backs hybrid engines. Koji Watanabe, president of Honda Racing Corporation, told motorsport.com Japan: "We know that the FIA intends to introduce naturally aspirated V10 engines from 2028. However, we have not received detailed information from the FIA. There will be meetings organised by the FIA, in which the engine manufacturers will participate, and we would like to discuss it there first. "At the moment we don't have any details. We can't say whether V10s are acceptable or not in terms of efficiency. We would first like to understand the details of what is being proposed before we start a discussion. "A meeting is planned, and at that meeting we want to express our point of view as engine manufacturers. "As far as Honda is concerned, our reason for entering F1 again is electrification and (the type of) powertrains." Mercedes is open to discussing the idea of a new engine formula but says it would need it to retain a hybrid element for the company to stay interested. The opposition of Honda and Audi alone is enough to torpedo the plan. With Mercedes also against the idea of abandoning hybrids, it appears to have no chance of success, even though Red Bull and Ferrari are said to back the idea. The manufacturers will meet with the FIA to discuss the future of engines at the Bahrain Grand Prix on 11 April. The FIA hopes to secure a clear answer on the manufacturers' vision for the future. Ben Sulayem had signalled that the introduction of sustainable fuels, which cut the carbon emissions from an internal combustion engine from between 80-100% depending on the way the fuel is manufactured, could open the door to the return of loud, high-revving engines. V10s became the default engine in F1 from the mid-1990s until 2005, after which the sport switched to V8s, and have a resonance with a certain section of the fan base. However, Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff is one of a number of senior figures who have questioned whether the changing fan demographic means that V10s are no longer as important. Many younger, female fans have become interested in F1 following the Covid pandemic and the success of Netflix's Drive to Survive series. Wolff said: "You need to be open-minded. We're all racers, we like the engines of the past, and then you need to strike the right balance between what is exciting to us dinosaurs, screaming loud engines, and then the fanbase, and the audiences that are on the track. "And maybe that has migrated a little bit from pure petrolheads to younger demographics, to families that are coming on to the track that haven't even been part of those years. "All of this needs to be set as questions, as what are the objectives for a future regulation change in a few years, and then let's analyse that based on data and come to a conclusion that is for the best of our sport. "Because this is the single most important denominator between the FIA, Formula 1, the teams, that we want to have the greatest product for our fans."
Well F1 and FIA want this very configuration of business. Look in the mirror they should...............
i have yet to meet anyone, whom attended F1 races during the V10 era, and complained about the noise. The world today, has just too much of snowflakes, and idiots getting sensitive and offended over every damn thing.
I took a lot of friends to F1 races in the V10 and V8 era. Many, but not all, were car people. Forget complaining - without exception, every person loved the sound. Many said it was the best part of the weekend. The last race I attended was in the first year of this engine format (not a coincidence). I took a group of friends to that one - none of them car people. There was a historics race that weekend. My friends were more excited about those cars than the 2014 cars.
I remember somewhere in 2004, i took 3 friends who have absolutely zero clue about cars and F1. At the start of the race, when all 20 cars or so revved up, he tapped my shoulder and said ' bloody hell....it's like the sound of God himself..'
