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/

 

Not surprised because its a good use of the time for just about all teams minus Mclaren/ RedBull or Mercedes.

Alonso calls on Aston Martin to “rest” ahead of vital 2026 F1 season
Fernando Alonso says the remainder of the 2025 season should be treated as a "test" ahead of F1's reset next year

 

Red Bull has announced a Sao Paulo Grand Prix sponsorship deal with fast food giants McDonald’s, marking the first time the brand has appeared on track in Formula 1.

The famous ‘golden arches’ will appear on the Halo of the Red Bull RB21 at Interlagos, as part of a wider collaboration that will see the energy drink enter selected McDonald’s branches in Brazil.

 

Aston Martin accepts procedural F1 cost cap breach over delayed signature
A late filing of its audited cost cap documents means Aston Martin has accepted a procedural breach, as the FIA has yet to issue compliance certificates to all 10 Formula 1 teams

 

We can all sleep soundly. The cost cap engineers were successful. Racing side..........not as much lol

FIA confirms all F1 teams met 2024 cost cap; Aston Martin in "procedural breach"
The FIA has confirmed its Formula 1 2024 Cost Cap Administration findings

 

Good to see. MBS is dictator idiocy.

FIA sued by presidential candidate over undemocratic election
Paris court to first rule on dispute as early as 10 November
FIA presidential candidate Laura Villars is suing the federation over its democratic standards, with a first hearing set for 10 November.

The next presidential election will take place on 12 December, with four people having announced candidacies – but only incumbent Mohammed Ben Sulayem will actually be able to run.

The rules require presidential candidates to put together a team of seven vice-presidents from each of the FIA’s six global regions, but only one person, Fabiana Ecclestone, is eligible to be a vice-president from South America. The Brazilian is on Ben Sulayem’s list, meaning nobody else can run for president.

 

Massa and his lawyers were in court yesterday over the 2008 "meshugas" (Yiddish).

He's seeking $64 million in damages from:

1) F1
2) The FIA
3) Bernie Ecclestone


Grab some popcorn......

 

Massa forgot

4) Max Mosley's estate

 

Rats in a sack!

 

Like most international sporting federations, the FIA has always been highly corrupted.

 

Go Massa. I dont care about the title overall but the corruption. Correct that they concealed and conspired. FIA broken then and still is now under the MBS Dictatorship. Bernie ran his mouth about all of it on record in the press. He should pay!

Massa's lawyer: Ecclestone, Mosley involved in "deliberate concealment" of Crashgate
Felipe Massa's case over the legitimacy of the 2008 F1 championship will reach the end of its pre-trial stage on Friday, before a decision is made on whether it warrants a full hearing

 

I wish Massa would simply come out and say he wants money. If he truly believes he is the 2008 champion, he deserves nothing. I still can't see any possible way he is victorious in any way.

There is no doubt at all that the FIA is corrupt, they have been for decades. As @william says, they all are. The amount of bias towards certain drivers and teams is sometimes right in our faces. Unfortunately there is nothing we can do about it. In the world of "Sports Entertainment" they are legally allowed to do whatever they want. Though that may depend on which court.

 

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To be clear - I agree with you.

That being said, and as a former product manager, I think they are right to be concerned.

One of the craziest things I saw when I was still coaching youth sports is that, a lot of kids don't watch pro sports anymore. In their free time, they are on YouTube, tiktok, Snapchat, and Instagram.

So even kids that enjoy playing sports may not be fans of the pro sport. Or, they are very casual fans. You also see it manifest in the way they play sports. A lot of them are robots because they play based on coaching and not based on trying to emulate pro athletes who are more natural and intuitive. They don't play ball in the street, they aren't racing their go-kart through the neighborhood.

Now take a step back and think about the kids that aren't even playing at all. How do you capture them as fans now and as they age?

With investors and advertisers expecting endless growth, this is a real problem. Worst still is that it is one that you have to prepare for far in advance because, once the slide in viewership starts, there may be no stopping it.

In the US, almost every f1 fan I meet got to be a fan because of Netflix. So are they racing fans really, or do they like reality TV? When I speak to them about races they don't talk to me about great passes or amazing racing. They tell me how this driver is a jerk or this guy is going to get cut because of some political thing, etc. They feel like they have a stake in things because of the people and drama involved, not the racing.

If F1 are approaching the problem in terms of simply selling a product the largest audience wants to buy, we may end up with an F1 that none of us recognize one day. Let's hope that doesn't happen.