F1 2025 - News/Regulation change/Developments

Get rid of the pathetic Dictator !! Liberty wake up!

Ex-Ben Sulayem deputy chief provides more detail on resignation bombshell
Apr 17, 2025
by Jon Noble

Former FIA deputy president of sport Robert Reid has shed more light on his recent resignation – explaining how he could not work “within a system that no longer reflected the standards” he believed it should uphold.

Reid announced on the eve of the Bahrain Grand Prix that he was stepping away from his role after growing frustrations about the way the FIA was being run under president Mohammed Ben Sulayem.

While he had tried his hardest to focus on the positives of what he could do within the FIA, in the end he felt he could not carry on with certain principles of governance being ignored.

Of growing concern to him too was that when he did criticise things that he did not like, he found himself getting isolated – which included having his work email shut down.

Writing on Substack, Reid said: “I spoke up when I felt fundamental principles were being eroded. I did so respectfully, constructively, and always with the aim of safeguarding the integrity of our sport. But doing so came at a cost.

“It became clear that raising legitimate concerns was not always welcomed and I experienced firsthand how challenging the status quo can lead to exclusion rather than dialogue. I don’t regret speaking up. But I do believe I was treated unfairly for doing so.

“Leadership matters. Governance matters. And trust, once lost, is hard to rebuild. If motorsport is to remain credible and thrive into the future, it must be governed not by control, but by collaboration. Not by silence, but by accountability.”

The final straw for Reid regarding his position at the FIA was the governing body's move to take over running of the World Rallycross Championship – which could trigger potential legal complications. Reid goes into more detail on this in his post.

However, matters were already getting critical after he was barred from attending a World Motor Sport Council meeting earlier in the year because he did not sign a new Non-Disclosure Agreement that had been put in front of him.

It was this matter which triggered the alleged move by the FIA to close his email.

Speaking about the NDA situation, Reid said: “I fully support the need for confidentiality and have personally been deeply frustrated at the number of leaks that undermine trust and effective governance.

“One journalist said to me that perhaps the FIA should be more concerned with why people are leaking than who is doing it and I think that’s worth reflecting on.

“I did not refuse to sign the NDA amendment. I simply requested a short extension in order to seek legal advice on a complex document governed by Swiss law, which was presented with a relatively short deadline. That request was denied.

“As a result, I was excluded from the World Motor Sport Council meeting, in my view, both unfairly and unlawfully.

“10 days later, my FIA email was disabled without notice. Multiple requests for assistance and explanation went unanswered until, following a legal letter from my counsel, I was informed this had been a deliberate decision.

"I want to be clear: I remain bound by confidentiality obligations and will continue to respect those legal responsibilities. I will not disclose information received in confidence or obtained in my official capacity.”

Reid revealed that he has received many messages of support from within the FIA for his decision to step down, but many of those have asked for their backing to be kept secret.

He added: “It is interesting, but not wholly surprising, that many of those messages of support came with the caveat of not being willing to say anything publicly for fear of retaliation, which highlights some of the issues we face.

“I would never ask anyone to put themselves in what they feel is an uncomfortable position, be it through a letter of support or a social post showing clear endorsement, as I don’t feel that it would be fair to do so. From other quarters the silence has been deafening.”

 

As predicted. This is a great event. Checo or not.

Mexican GP set to extend F1 contract despite Perez departure

 

Holy Moly!!!
Ferrari got $100million more than McLaren and >$30 million more than RBR + Mercedes???

Someone needs to be held accountable for the performance deficit!!!

 

Ferrari receives an extra payment due to longevity no other reason as outlined here: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/ferrari-set-to-keep-bonus-payment-in-new-f1-concorde-agreement-but-now-capped/10613538/

--Under the terms of the current Concorde Agreement, Ferrari receives a payment that is at least 5% of the entire prize fund.
It is understood that it receives this baseline figure if the total prize pot distributed to teams does not exceed $1.1 billion.
However, there is believed to be an escalator formula in place that means if the prize pot get bigger, then Ferrari gets a greater share of each incremental step up.
This eventually maxes out at 10% for anything above and beyond around the $1.6 billion mark – exactly where the income figures are believed to be now.
Sources have revealed that the proposal in the next Concorde Agreement is for Ferrari’s bonus payment to be capped at 5% no matter what the prize pool level is.--

 

Doesn't all of the $$ excess merely get shifted to Lewis' foundations???

 

F1 to raise pitlane speed limit to reduce one stop races
F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali met with Pirelli’s motorsport director Mario Isola at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix to discuss the ongoing situation and what can be done to spice things up for the remainder of the season.

Moves are already underway to choose more aggressive softer rubber in a bid to force more pitstops, while another route could be to space out the compounds to further make things more challenging.

However a more left-field idea has gathered momentum and now looks set to be put into action.

As first reported by The Race, that solution is to reduce the time it takes for a car to stop for tyres – thereby shifting the strategy mathematics to make an extra stop for fresh rubber more viable.

While the actual pitstop time is already at the limit, the area of focus is in raising the pitlane speed limit.

Early analysis showed that if the pitlane speed limit is raised by 20km/h – so potentially from 80km/h to 100km/h – then it would reduce the pitstop times by around five seconds.

 

imola - removed
Zandvoort - removed
Spa - on rotation
Influenza GP - 16 year extension

make it make sense

 

He is on drugs this one. Austin set the stage for US F1 popularity.

Domenicali: Miami GP key to F1's growth in the USA

 

Horner needs to shut his mouth............and be fined.

--McLaren CEO Zak Brown believes Formula 1 should take a more hardline approach to "frivolous allegations" over technical matters - following claims that his team is bending the rules with tyre and brake cooling.

Brown was spotted on the McLaren pitwall in Miami with a water bottle labelled "tire water!", a thinly veiled dig at allegations that his team was using water to cool its tyres over a race distance.

These allegations are understood to come from Red Bull, which believes that McLaren has managed to keep its tyres and brakes cool with a supply of water to ensure that the MCL39 does not suffer from overheating in this area.

F1 already has a protest mechanism in place, and the FIA sporting regulations detail that a deposit of €2000 should be made along with any protests submitted by a team.

However, Brown has suggested that this should go further, and says that any publicly aired concerns about another team's car should ensure that this is "put on paper" to deter any "bogus" allegations.


"[The water bottle] was poking fun at a serious issue, which is teams have historically made allegations of other teams. Most recently, one team focuses on that strategy more than others," Brown said.

"There's a proper way to protest a team at the end of the race, and you have to make it formal, disclose where it comes from, put some money down.

"I think that process should be extended to all allegations to stop the frivolous allegations which are intended only to be a distraction.--

 

Grossly unfair, IMO.

 

Given the financial health of the sport its time for that to be removed. The sport in general is bigger than Ferrari. The Corporation and team in no way 'need' this. Im all for historical recognition but thats a bit much in 2025.

 

Flavio returns to the Enstone team with a vengeance !!