F1 2025 - News/Regulation change/Developments

Contrived/ forced racing at a track that cannot provide it lol. Monaco - if you stop, you can race lol.......maybe.

 

FIA confirms mandatory two-stop strategy for F1's Monaco GP

 

Dictator MBS..................

Motorsport UK chief Richards among those barred from FIA meeting
David Richards was one of several due to attend the World Motor Sport Council meeting who refused to sign an NDA

It has been reported that legal letters have been exchanged following the expulsion of those unwilling to sign an NDA ahead of the meeting of the world council.

 

You know, if the length of the cars was reduced 1 meter, there would be no need to trickery at Monaco.

 

Income continues to be strong with F1.

Liberty Media has announced a record financial performance for Formula 1 in its fiscal year 2024, marked by an increase in overall revenue.

The Formula One Group hauled in $3.65 billion over the 12 months ending December 31, 2024 –
a 6% jump from 2023’s $3.2 billion.

However, the fourth quarter revealed a slight downturn, setting the stage for a year of continued evolution and strategic shifts

Despite the late-year stumble, the sport’s growth across key revenue streams and its global fanbase painted a picture of a series firing on all cylinders as it gears up for its 75th anniversary in 2025.

Revenue Breakdown and Growth Drivers
F1’s revenue mix told a familiar story: media rights led the pack at 32.8%, followed by race promotion at 29.3%, and sponsorship fees at 18.6%.
The year’s total operating income hit $492 million, with adjusted OIBDA (Operating Income Before Depreciation and Amortization) climbing to $791 million.
Stefano Domenicali, Formula 1 president and CEO, hailed the results.
“Formula 1 capped off a record 2024 in race count, revenue and Adjusted OIBDA,” he said.
“We are equally optimistic about 2025 as we mark F1’s 75th anniversary which will provide incremental momentum for our brand.
“Our sponsorship roster is the strongest in the sport’s history and the commercial pipeline remains robust. This commercial success is paired with on-track excitement, as we expect more intense competition after last season’s highly competitive championship.”

 

and F1 is seeking like a $160 million TV deal with someone in the USA. ESPN told em to take a hike.

 

This is how much money F1 teams received in 2024
1. Red Bull Racing $150.8 + $31.6 million = 182.4 million
2. Mercedes $141.2 + $47.4 million = 188.6 million
3. Ferrari $131.7 + $25.3 + $65.6 million = 222.6 million
4. McLaren $122.1 + $6.3 million = $128.4 million
5. Aston Martin $112.5 million
6. Alpine $102.9 + $4.7 million = $107.7 million
7. Williams $93.4 + $7.9 million = $101.3 million
8. VCARB $83.8 million
9. Sauber $74.2 million
10. Haas $64.6 million

https://www.gpblog.com/en/news/330022/this-is-how-much-money-f1-teams-got-paid-in-2024.html

 

Nice interview with Steiner on various issues in F1 currently:

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/guenther-steiner-on-cadillac-f1-driver-choice-haas-booing-swearing/

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https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/whats-new-in-f1s-2025-regulations/10701985/
What's new in F1's 2025 regulations?
The 2025 Formula 1 season is the last under the current rules cycle, but this doesn't mean the regulations are fully unchanged this year. Here is everything you must know ahead of the upcoming campaign
Jake Boxall-Legge Mar 11, 2025, 10:30 AM

Formula 1's 2025 season, the last of the current ruleset, will kick off in Australia as Albert Park hosts the season opener – and there's a handful of changes to the regulations to be aware of once the cars hit the road.

Although the 2026 season promises arguably the biggest shift in F1's technical regulations for some time, since both the rules governing chassis and powertrain development will come into play simultaneously, the rule book has been somewhat static since the current generation of cars was introduced in 2022.

Arguably the largest tweak emerged for the 2023 season as the floor height and fences were trimmed by 15mm, and the diffuser 'throat' (the point at which the diffuser begins to expand) was raised by 10mm. This was part of a widespread effort to minimise the effect of porpoising seen in the rules' maiden season, which first began midway through 2022 with the introduction of an "oscillation metric" to ensure the cars were not moving up and down excessively.

Those changes are generally assumed to have been effective, meaning that the FIA has not had to stage any further interventions – at least until 2024's controversies over flexing aerodynamics started to emerge from the woodwork.

Originally, the governing body was reluctant to do so, but their continued use and concerns from teams more eager for the discipline of aeroelasticity to be mitigated led to changes being implemented for 2025.

This also follows the introduction of driver cooling systems, which will be used in races where the governing body declares that the temperatures are suitable for them to avoid drivers suffering from heat-related illnesses afterwards. This has its roots in the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix, where a handful of drivers ended up hot-footing it to the medical centre amid the conditions.

New wing regulations
The rear wing is now subject to flex tests that will take effect from the season-opening Australian Grand Prix. The mainplane now cannot flex more than 6mm in the direction of the load applied, while the upper flap cannot move more than 7mm when load is applied horizontally. Furthermore, the rear wing's trailing edge can only yield a 3mm maximum flex.

Dimensional regulations to the rear wing have also been revised; the slot gap between the two wing elements has been reduced from a 10-15mm range to 9.4-13mm. With DRS open, the upper boundary remains at 85mm.

To minimise the chance of teams exploiting the "mini-DRS" effect that McLaren used to great effect in Baku, where the front corners of the upper wing flap raised slightly to bestow the MCL38 with a minor top speed advantage, the regulations now mandate that the wing is subject to only two states: DRS on, and DRS off. The slot-gap size must not only fit within the boundaries set out by rules, but stay static within either mode. For example, a wing with a defined 10mm slot gap size is not permitted to expand to 13mm while the car is on track.

Article 3.10.10 in the 2025 technical regulations states that: "Except in the event of a DRS failure or the transitioning from one position into the other, the DRS bodywork can have only 2 positions, such that the DRS bodywork position must be the same before and after each state of deployment. The transition time between the 2 positions must be less than 400ms."

The front wing's new flex tests will not take effect until the Spanish Grand Prix, giving the teams some leeway to maintain their pursuit of flexing front wings for the opening eight races of the season before switching to a more rigid spec at Barcelona. This will cut the maximum vertical flex allowed in the tests from 15mm to 10mm with a 1000N load.

Furthermore, the individual wing elements' trailing edges cannot currently flex by more than 5mm with a perpendicular 60N load, which will be reduced to 3mm in Spain.

Minor weight increase and driver cooling equipment
A 2kg increase to the minimum driver weight will raise the overall minimum weight of an F1 car to 800kg, and any ballast used to achieve the minimum weight must now be made of a material with a density of 7500kg/m3 – down from the previous 8000kg/m3 permitted.

In the event of the FIA declaring a "heat hazard" – from 31C ambient temperatures, as given by an average of the FIA's temperature sensors at the circuit - the minimum weight will automatically be increased by 5kg to cover for the increased mass of the driver cooling equipment and external battery used to power it.

This will be produced by Chillout Motorsports, and comprises of a fireproof underlay shirt with 48m of tubing through which cooled liquid flows – connected to a internally mounted control box that cools and pumps the fluid into the shirt. The fluid may be air, water, or an aqueous solution of sodium chloride, potassium chloride or propylene glycol. The refrigerant in the system must also have a global warming potential value of less than 10.

Currently, the cooling system is not mandatory, although the weight limit will still be applicable - with 500g of ballast to be positioned within the cockpit area. As the system will be fully integrated into the 2026 package, it will become necessary for all drivers to wear it, should any races be declared with a heat hazard.

No more fastest-lap point: sporting regulation changes
One of the bigger changes to the 2025 format comes with the deletion of the championship point given for the fastest lap of the race, which was awarded as long as the holder finished within the top 10.

Although intended to give drivers more reason to take risks during the race to secure an extra point, too often has it been either awarded to a driver who simply changed tyres late on if they had built up a pit-stop window to the car behind, or subject to gamesmanship and taken away by a runner outside of the points-scoring places to boost their championship standing.

Monaco also gets its own special section in the sporting regulations following the decision to mandate two-stop races at the principality. In dry weather conditions, the two-compound mandate still applies, and any driver who fails to complete both stops will receive a 30-second penalty to their race time.

Restrictions on the testing of previous cars (TPC) have also been tightened up. Teams are allowed to nominate only one car for TPC duties and are no longer permitted to test at a circuit within 60 days of it being used in the current championship.

At one team, the race drivers can cumulatively undertake TPC testing for only 1000km per calendar year over four days; Ferrari appeared to use up its own allotment for race drivers Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton before the season had begun.

The FIA has also closed up loopholes pertaining to formation laps and damaged cars, and any cars starting from the pitlane must now join the rest of the field for the formation lap before returning to the pit exit for the start.

Furthermore, to avoid the situation faced at Canada last year when Sergio Perez continued on track despite heavy damage to his Red Bull RB20, the race director will be able to order a driver to pull over and stop if they have significant damage to the car.

The rule states that “any driver whose car has significant and obvious damage to a structural component which results in it being in a condition presenting an immediate risk of endangering the driver or others, or whose car has a significant failure or fault which means it cannot reasonably return to the pitlane without unnecessarily impeding another competitor or otherwise hindering the competition, must leave the track as soon as it is safe to do so.

“At the sole discretion of the race director, should a car be deemed to have such significant and obvious damage to a structural component, or such significant failure or fault, the competitor may be instructed that the car must leave the track as soon as it is safe to do so.”

Restrictions on the quantity of gearboxes used over a season have now been deleted in the regulations, as the FIA is satisfied that the reliability has rendered these moot.

 

How F1's reacting to Las Vegas GP ticket sales letdown

Interesting look at the Vegas GP ticket and pricing/marketing is changing now.

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/f1-plan-fix-las-vegas-grand-prix-ticket-sales-letdown/

 

F1 Thailand race plans progressing as Domenicali heads for talks in Bangkok

 

The Americans have transformed F1 into a pop culture icon
F1 racers like Ferrari's Charles Leclerc get treated like movie stars everywhere they go

The Americans have transformed F1 into a pop culture icon | Autocar

 

Wow...........another street circuit.


Formula 1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali met with the prime minister of Thailand to discuss plans for a street-circuit grand prix in Bangkok.

Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said the government would commission a "feasibility study" into the possibility of a race in the capital from 2028.

There is an existing track in Buriram, in north-east Thailand, which is accredited by the FIA, the governing body for world motorsport.

Domenicali described the plans as "impressive".

Paetongtarn said: "I believe that all Thai people will benefit from organising this event, whether it is large-scale infrastructure investment, job creation, new income generation, and importing new technologies and innovations."

The F1 schedule of 24 races includes four in the Asia-Pacific region.

 

Thailand signs MoU with FOM, moves closer to F1 dream

27/03/2025

Thailand is inching closer to securing a coveted spot on the Formula 1 World Championship calendar.

 

You do realize that being treated like a movies star is "not all that great" overall.

 

Thailand just had an earthquake. I should think having a GP is the last of their priorities at the moment.

 

Dont under estimate the quick profit motive of Liberty via street circuit races, and the corrupt RedBull Thai family and the absurdly weak Thai government being influenced by both lol!

 

No to another street race. No! Use Kyalami please! Not as 'location/experience' enough for Liberty probably.

Latest Cape Town F1 proposal aims to build on World Cup legacy
Organisers behind Cape Town's Grand Prix bid explain the concept behind their ambitious street race plans

 

More MBS failure and fallout. Toxic pathetic leadership. Liberty needs to use its clout/influence to end his reign of utter stupidity.

FIA deputy chief quits over 'fundamental breakdown in standards'
FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem faces fresh questions about his leadership, after his deputy president for sport Robert Reid resigned on Thursday


This as well - https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/articles/c1755nl01x9o

MotorsportUK chairman David Richards says there has been "a shift of the moral compass" of the president of world governing body the FIA.

The accusation by Richards against FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem comes in an open letter, external that accuses the FIA of "disregarding" his concerns about "levels of transparency, accountability and integrity" in the organisation.

The row comes in the wake of Richards being barred from attending a meeting of the FIA world council because he refused to sign a confidentiality agreement demanded of members.

Richards' remarks come in response to the FIA's answer, external to a previous open letter explaining his concerns about Ben Sulayem.

Richards says the FIA's letter showed a "disappointing… disregard for the very real concerns that have been expressed, not just by myself, but a growing number of people, that the governance and constitutional organisation of the FIA is becoming ever more opaque and concentrating power in the hands of the president alone".

 

@william and @kes7u:

P&R posts deleted. Please take it to the P&R section, the F1 area is not appropriate for that.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

LATEST:

The European Union could classify carbon fiber as "dangerous substance."

The car industry is alarmed by the latest development that could restrict, or ban the use on carbon fiber inside the passenger compartment in vehicles. Carbon fiber is apparently nocive to human, and prolonged skin contact could have harmful effect.
Carbon fiber can now be mass-produced at lower price. Faced with weight increase because of batteries, the car industy intended to have more parts and panels made of carbon fibre in future generations of cars.
Also, the recycling of carbon fiber elements is both expensive and hazardous to human health, the EU says.

 

Madrid GP eases 2026 F1 concerns by signing construction deal