The FIA has approved the wording of the 2026 power unit regulations, which in turn paves the way for Porsche to enter a partnership with Red Bull. The main changes which were agreed weeks ago by the teams will see the hybrid element dropped as well as a move towards sustainable fuels.<\/p>\n
Motorsport.com understands the delay was led by FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem but the World Motor Sport Council on Tuesday approved the rules set. Four “key pillars” have been outlined by the governing body as underpinning the package that has been devised as the “result of extensive research and development by the FIA” plus a collaboration between current and potential new power unit manufacturers.<\/p>\n
These pillars are “maintaining the spectacle”, whereby the current 1.6-litre V6 internal combustion engine specification with a reduced fuel rate will largely be carried over. The key change is the removal of the MGU-H which is believed to be key in attracting Volkswagen brands Porsche and Audi to join the sport.<\/p>\n
A message of “environmental sustainability” also fits in with the automotive conglomerate’s demands as F1 will shift to fully sustainable fuel while increasing the electrical deployment of the hybrid powertrain up to 50% – equivalent to 350kW.<\/p>\n
Financially sustainability will in theory be enforced via the introduction of a powertrain cost cap. For the remaining period of the V6 hybrids 2023-25, the cap will be set at $95m before rising to $130m when the new regulations are introduced, excluding marketing and supply of customers, as well as the current supply.<\/p>\n
Smaller breaches of the limit will be enforced by financial penalties and “minor sporting penalties”, while more serious infringements will be met with championship points deductions. The final listed pillar to the new regulations is that they are “attractive to new power unit manufacturers”.<\/p>\n
Speaking following the approval by the WMSC, FIA \u00a0president Sulayem, said: “The FIA continues to push forward on innovation and sustainability – across our entire motorsport portfolio – the 2026 Formula 1 Power Unit Regulations are the most high-profile example of that mission.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe introduction of advanced PU technology along with synthetic sustainable fuels aligns with our objective of delivering benefits for road car users and meeting our objective of net zero carbon by 2030.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sulayem is hoping that these changes build on the current growth of the sport following this year’s regulation changes.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Max Verstappen has welcomed the re-emergence of Mercedes at the front saying they can \u201csteal more points off Ferrari,\u201d as he goes into the second half of the season with a eighty-point lead. The Dutchman\u2019s back-to-back wins in Le Castelett and Budapest gives the world champion a lead which hasn\u2019t been overhauled under the current points structure.<\/p>\n
Verstappen’s victories in France and Hungary also saw both Mercedes drivers finish on the podium, with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell benefiting from their team’s improvements after a below-par start to 2022.<\/p>\n
The re-emergence of Mercedes as a front runner could make the fight between Red Bull and Ferrari, the two leading teams. Verstappen told Sky Sports, \u201cIt’s good that they are competitive because then they can steal more points off Ferrari! So I’m very happy. They’re doing very well.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, the world champion is not taking it for granted pointing to the rollercoaster weekend in Budapest, saying \u201cwe cannot have too many days like we had in qualifying.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adding \u201ceven in the race, we had a few little issues with the clutch and the upshifts, which was not great to drive. Overall, of course, it’s good, but we just keep on working, keep on trying to improve things.\u201d<\/p>\n
Team principal Christian Horner echoed Verstappen’s view, adding, \u201cIt is a very healthy lead but there is an awful lot of racing to go. Things can go wrong, we had some reliability issues in the [Hungary] race with the clutch and that could have quite easily been a DNF but thankfully it wasn’t.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Mercedes CEO and team principal Toto Wolff says the team’s emotions this season so far has been \u201cpainful\u201d at times, bouncing from \u201cdepression to exuberance\u201d through its 2022 car struggles.<\/p>\n
The eight times constructors champions have struggled following the changes to the technical regulations as it struggled to get on top of the porpoising problem with its car. Both the teams drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell unable to contend with Ferrari and Red Bull at the front of the pack as Mercedes worked to understand the problem.<\/p>\n
Wolff has always stressed the importance of learning from setbacks and difficult periods as part of his management style. \u00a0But he made no secret of how difficult it has been to manage the big swings in emotions at the team so far this season.<\/p>\n
Wolff told Motorsport.com, in an interview looking back on Mercedes’ season so far, \u201cThe truth is, it’s just so painful and it’s so difficult to live by your values and your doubt You oscillate from depression to exuberance, and then the next day the other way around.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn a way that when you kind of think nothing that you do works, [it is] a bit of Groundhog Day. \u00a0Then you make steps forward by looking at things and finding out they don’t function at all, and then you know what doesn’t go, and you go the other way and it functions.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the things I’ve preached, all the things that you read in books that it’s so hard, that it is so important to lose in order to thrive. It’s just lived in real life so far.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin says there are similarities between his team’s struggles this year with their W13 car and the problems their rivals McLaren endured in the 2009 season. Shovlin who worked for Brawn, which became Mercedes in 2010, and won both titles that year, says they are hoping to bounce back in the second half of 2022.<\/p>\n
Lewis Hamilton took McLaren\u2019s first win in Budapest and a second win in Singapore, as well as three other podiums. Asked by F1.com, if he could see any similarities between the two teams, Shovlin admitted: \u201cThere may well be parallels.”<\/p>\n
Shovlin added, \u201cMy perspective on that was from the other end; we [Brawn GP] started brilliantly, didn’t have the resources to keep up and were struggling to get near the podium by the end of the year. If you looked at the situation with McLaren back then, the car that they launched wasn’t really equivalent to the capability within the team.\u201d<\/p>\n
He says that Mercedes has done a similar thing to McLaren, when they started to understand the regulations their development rate was really impressive. The team are enjoying both the engineering and development challenge.<\/p>\n
But Shovlin added that takes time to learn and bring it to the track, the team remains determined get back to the front. Saying, \u201cOur goal remains to be the fastest car; whether we can achieve that this year or is that going to take us till next year, I don’t know, but we’re all fighting very hard for that.\u201d<\/p>\n
When asked when Mercedes might look to stop development of the W13 and focus on their 2023 car, Shovlin replied: \u201cI mean, in Formula One you never actually draw a line. It’s a gradual blend of resource into W13 drifting downwards and [resource for the W14] drifting up. We’re going to need some clarity on the regulations, whether they’re going to change, before you’d make a really big shift.\u201d<\/p>\n
By now halfway through the season every team would have started some work in next year’s car, Shovlin admits that because Mercedes needed to \u201cfirefight\u201d with the issues they has earlier this season.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Kevin Magnussen says he has gained a new appreciation for the privilege of being a Formula One driver throughout his 2022 comeback season. The Danish driver was dropped by Haas at the end of 2020 before going into sport car racing, but was asked to return after Nikita Mazepin\u2019s contract was terminated following Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine and the end of its sponsorship deal with Uralkali.<\/p>\n
Magnussen made an ideal start to his comeback season by registering a fifth-place finish at the opener in Bahrain and has led Haas\u2019s efforts so far this year. He told Motorsport.com, that he was still pinching himself and \u201cIt’s such a big thing to get to be a Formula 1 driver. That’s one of the things I really started realising last year when I wasn’t in it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you see from the outside\u2026you realise how many people watch it and how many people talk about it during the race weekends at home. So I started to really appreciate that and it kind of hit me, how big it is. Then to come back into it, I appreciate it much more being at every race.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although things have been tougher admits a very tightly packed midfield, Magnussen believes his eighth place in Austria vindicated in his decision to take up Haas team principal Gunther Steiner on his offer to return to the team.<\/p>\n
While he said that Steiner made no promises about the season, Magnussen says the changes in regulations was one of the things which motivated his return. Saying that if they were the same for the next five years he would have probably hesitated.<\/p>\n
Magnussen added, \u201cBut I really saw it as an opportunity. There were no guarantees, Gunther didn’t promise anything. But he explained what they’ve done and how they spent their focus in the last couple of years. When I was here even in 2020, it was already clear that that would be the plan. So I was excited about that and I thought, yeah, this could be good.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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