r/F1Discussions

Started watching this year + starting from season 1 in Drive to Survive (now on Season 4). Any reason particular there seems to be so much George Russell hate?

Seems to have a very team-first personality while at Williams in the early days, have heard really great things about him from fans, and he seems to have a good sense of British humor (which I think can rub people the wrong way).

Here are my predictions:-

New regulations regarding batteries or something

New regulations bringing v8 back

Max to mclaren or mercedes or something else

Christian horner coming back(unlikely but who knows)

Adding back the races which were cancelled

What do you think?

The idea being looked at is for the FIA to appoint an independent engine manufacturer, such as Cosworth, for example, to provide an off-the-shelf and cost-effective V8 that any team can buy.

Ben Sulayem feels this move would end the authority that car makers can have over their partner teams.

"There will be no control over the teams, A team over the B team, that's supplied with their engines," he said.

"If it is affordable, then we will have one engine for the rest of the B-teams, so nobody can leverage them and tell them to 'Vote this way, or we are not going to give you a good engine'."

Ben Sulayem said the independent engine would help empower independent teams.

"It will be an FIA-selected engine that would be allowed to the teams," he said.

"Then we control the neutrality, we control the power and the money. We cannot just give it away and say go and do it to X, Y, Z. Prices might go up and down, but the FIA will always be the judge."

Ben Sulayem believed that, if the cost of producing an engine was brought down to a reasonable level, then current big squads could even go as far as doing power units themselves.

Of the current V6 turbo engines, Ben Sulayem said: "It's a very complex engine, and it's very expensive, and it doesn't sound as good as everybody wants."

Ben Sulayem believes a cheap V8 solution could reduce R&D budgets by around 50%.

Simpler engines will also be lighter, as they can get rid of heavy battery backs and energy recovery systems.

"We're targeting 100kg less for the car," he added, in a move that he thinks will also improve safety. "It's not the [F1] business, it's the lives of the drivers that are the most important."

Manufacturers have been insistent that some form of electrification is essential to keep them committed, so this is why the battery power ratio is likely to be somewhere in the low double digits as a percentage.

"Could be 10%, it might be 15%," said Ben Sulayem. "But it won't come to what we have now, that the electrification is at 46% or something.

"We don't want to go through the current issue where some drivers are lifting off in a straight line. This is not what we want - so lesson learned there."

Another topic of debate has been whether the V8s will be naturally aspirated or will feature turbos.

Audi said recently that having a turbo was essential for it when it came to the rules.

Ben Sulayem suggested that discussions on the technical specifics would likely head down giving manufacturers a choice of either the hybrid element or turbos.

"A turbo means a lot of weight and a lot of money," he said. "And then you have a battery [that is heavy].

"And what does a turbo do? It removes the sound.

"So for me today I believe a turbo or a battery, one of them. And the FIA should lead. If we just go in circles, we will not decide things."

However, it is well understood that one of the downsides if F1 moves towards a naturally aspirated V8 is that it will require more fuel to complete a race distance than the more efficient turbo V6s that have been a part of F1 since 2014.

Some have argued that there is little point making a big effort to cut back 100kg in the car if the engine rules then force teams to run almost as much mass of fuel instead.

During the previous refuelling era with V8 engines that ran until 2009, the fuel tank capacity was around 90-100 litres, which is roughly 70kg.

When refuelling was banned for 2010, tank size had to increase to around 200 litres - which is roughly 150kg.

When the turbo hybrids were introduced, the maximum fuel allowance was 100kg, which was around 130-135 litres, and it has now settled with the 2026 rules on being around 105kg.

Ben Sulayem is well aware of the weight issue, and potential fuel consequences of a naturally aspirated V8, which is why he has commissioned a study within the FIA to evaluate the pros and cons of refuelling.

"How much you start with, how much you fill, this is what we are studying right now," he said.

"Of course, if you want to run the whole race, you have to have a bigger tank, or you have to stop. So this is something that we are going to look into."

Elements being looked at include the impact refuelling has on racing, as well as team budgets - with estimates suggesting it could cost each team around $4million per year for equipment and freight.

There is also a safety issue in play, although Ben Sulayem played down any fears on this front.

"It's not a concern if you do it in the right way," he said. "We are studying this and nothing has been done yet."

I've read the stewards report and a media report of the penalty.

Am I misreading it? It sounds like he wasn't yet lapped, then he mistakenly unlapped himself — which theoretically puts him a lap ahead of the frontrunners.

I'm not sure if I'm misunderstanding it, but by my reading he must have (briefly) been the race winner, no?

UPDATE: I appear to have misunderstood and Sainz was not the unlikely winner. Thanks u/Ok_World4052.

With the talk of Max's team being in touch with McLaren last week, my immediate thought was for the Hypercar. McLaren F1 has a team dynamic that appears to be working at the moment and I don't think Max would partner well with either driver. (Not a criticism of Max or either McLaren drivers)

Main reasons being:

1. Max doesn't like the new regs for F1, and is being very vocal about it.

2. The Red Bull team personnel are changing massively around him

3. Tsolov has apparently been promised a seat already, so RB are either expecting someone to leave or are going to chop a driver

4. It would give McLaren a big name to bring attention (and probably sponsors) to the Hypercar team.

5. McLaren might be able to use him as a reserve / test drive, keeping the door open for an F1 return.

6. The Hypercar has now been launched, and has done some laps so they will have data to show

So far I haven't read any rumours that Red Bull wants to get rid of him, but his performance needs to be questioned right? I personally think he's way to cushy and lenient. And other Team principal would have called out the FIA for the ADUO results, no one at red bull seems to listen to each other, all his statements are kinda vague and he seems to be afraid to commit to one thing.

Antonelli made his mediums last very long, to around lap 35. This leaves 17 laps of softs. I'm not sure how the deg would have been but according to https://racemate.io/tyre-strategy-simulator/, it would have been a very good strategy (although I'm not sure how accurate this is).