F1 2025 - News/Regulation change/Developments

Mexico will be another play for RedBull with qualy being critical if the wing/downforce levels correlate as they have for Baku and Monza.

Why DRS has been even more ineffective at Monza and Baku in F1 2025

2025's low-downforce packages, seen at Monza and Baku, have been characterised by wing elements with lower angles-of-attack and shallower camber to garner more straightline speed. The current floors generate sufficient downforce in the corners now to offer the balance between lower levels of drag and the tractive force needed to break out of the corners quickly.

The efficiency gains with the low-drag wings, according to Mercedes' trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin, has perhaps contributed to the processional nature of this year's Monza and Baku races.

"With these regs, because so much performance comes from the floor, it's been driving down the size of rear wings," Shovlin confirmed. "So now you're getting to a stage where what would have previously been called the Monaco wing barely appears at any circuits now.

"It used to be the case that was what you were running in Budapest and you'd be running it in Mexico. So generally, people are putting smaller wings on, they create less disturbance so the tow effects are smaller, and then also with a smaller wing you've got less DRS effect.

"That's one of the things in Monza – there's barely any DRS effect because the wing is so efficient in its high-downforce state that there's very little drag to get rid of."

 

'Don't reinvent F1': Leclerc dismisses reverse grids, backs V8 push
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc weighs in on the debate over Formula 1 experimenting with its weekend format, and a move to louder engines in the future

 

Needless, idiotic and easily cured all this is:

The hidden F1 war that's become an 'insane' battleground

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/the-hidden-f1-war-thats-become-an-insane-battleground/

Welcome to the world of F1 2025’s pitlane games, where getting the right place in the queue for qualifying has become a big under-the-radar battle.
Success and failure for teams and drivers rests on picking the perfect spot in the traffic jam of cars that leave the pitlane for every qualifying run.

 

So the new fans and their lack of knowledge or attention span are rewarded. Shut it Stefano. You are the problem now.

F1 CEO: History "not enough" to keep classic venues on the calendar
Stefano Domenicali says "new fans" have short memories and neither know nor care about the difference between Monaco and Las Vegas. Is this a message and, if so, to whom?

 

I can't stand that speccy idiot. Company yes-man

 

That's his 10th "The new generation are fools with short Tiktok-brain attention spans, so we have to cater the product to them" statement.

Here's a proposal for him. How about a 3-way splitscreen during the race. One screen for the race, one for Subway surfers gameplay and one for slot machines with flashy lights and loud sounds? Afterall they have short memories and attention spans.

Maybe they should incorporate some of the Formula E gimmicks as well? Fan boosts and Mario kart-style boost pad zones

 

People are attending races in good numbers with good TV audience numbers as well and we should cater to the new fans who clearly are attending / watching. How does that make sense to run his mouth in the face of profits and large audiences - NOT ALL NEW etc. They are attempting to alter something that is clearly working. They are utterly delusional in the face of FACTS.

 

Joe Saward offer this on Baku and other races for the near future:

On the way to the airport, I had a good taxi driver and, dodging traffic, he took me on a new route to Heydar Aliyev International Airport, which went by way of the coast and passed a neighbourhood called Dreamland, where you can live the rich man’s dream in a world of villas and golf courses. Despite the positive aspects that the city boasts, it is not a very popular venue with Formula 1 people and it attracts fewer staff, guests, spectators and media than any other race on the F1 calendar. It is actually really nice to be in quiet paddock for a change, but the weird thing is that because Baku is unpopular, it is becoming popular with people who want to get more access than they can get elsewhere. Flying in, I was aware that there were a lot of American voices around me and it was clear that these were F1 fans, going to Baku because it is cheaper than to try to get Paddock Club tickets in Austin and Las Vegas.

During the Baku weekend came the expected news that the race contract has been extended until after the 2030 event – or an other four years – this was interesting in that other races are signing 10 year deals, but it seems that F1 does not want to be committed in Baku for too long because other places may come along that make more sense. The Baku City Circuit provides plenty of spectacular motoring and it has worked wonders for Azerbaijan tourism, but it does tend to jam up the city and the word is that the Azerbaijan government has been considering a permanent racing circuit instead. F1 would be happier if the facilities were better (they were quite scary when the winds kicked up) but there is zero interest in the sport moving to somewhere out in the sticks like Dreamland. The attraction of Baku to F1 is the circuit. Azerbaijan has no strategic importance for F1. It was useful at the beginning when it was seen as a way to help boost F1’s following in Russia, but since Russia invaded Ukraine, F1 slammed the door shut. F1 might prefer to shift the event to Istanbul, which is a much more logical place to be, where there is a great circuit available (although it probably needs to be tarted up by now) and where the government is believed to be supportive of reviving the event. But Baku is willing to pay more at the moment and so Istanbul and other pretenders have to wait.

The United States GP in Austin will renew its deal shortly and at some point we will hear that Barcelona will probably sneak into the slot that is available alternating with the Belgian Grand Prix. Spa will get the races in 2026, 2027, 2029 and 2031 and Barcelona will get 2028 and 2030. There are still likely to be two slots of available in 2027 and 2028 and there are a lot of people wanting to grab the deals. Saudi Arabia wants another race, Thailand and Rwanda are keen, there is potential in Korea, Portugal, Argentina and South Africa. Not to mention Turkey and Barcelona. The price is one thing, but strategic importance is also key to building a more global sport. Another race in South America, for example, is of more value than another race in Europe. A race in Africa is considered important, but not unless the deal is right. It is worth noting by the way that Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame was in Baku but did not try to be in the spotlight. He had a meeting with Stefano Domenicali but avoided the photo opportunities on the grid… South Africa continues to talk and put out press releases but nothing seems to be happening – and no deal is close.

Argentina will be almost entirely dependent on whether Franco Colapinto can do enough to keep his drive in 2026. The Alpine team needs a lot of work and it won’t be fixed in a hurry, but if Colapinto is still there, we could go back to Buenos Aires.

https://joesaward.wordpress.com/2025/09/25/green-notebook-from-dreamland/