Formula One is one of there fastest moving sporting competition in the world. Teams often through in season development improve their cars by over one second a lap from the first to the last Grand Prix of the year.

This kind of lightening innovation was demonstrated by McLaren F1 during 2023 when after the first eight rounds the team languished towards the lower reaches of the table with a mere seventeen points.

 

 

 

F1 in season development ‘lightening pace’

Following the huge upgrade they brought in Austria, over less than the two thirds of the season remaining, McLaren repeatedly outscored the three teams ahead of them. They overtook early Red Bull chasing pack leaders Aston Martin and fell just over 100 points short of Ferrari and Mercedes.

But for their awful early season form, in all likely hood McLaren would have eclipsed Mercedes and claimed P2 in the final standings after the closing round in Abu Dhabi.

Yet there is a flip side to the global motor racing series in terms of its long term planning. Designing power units is an extremely costly thing to do and the lead times from the new specifications being agreed to the engines being deployed in anger is many years.

Having switched from the V8 formula in 2014, the financial muscle of Mercedes the global auto manufacture saw its F1 branded team take a dominant position in the sport for years. Suddenly power mattered more than aerodynamics and the masters of F1 aero – Red Bull Racing – were left floundering with their underpowered and unreliable Renault V6 turbo hybrid.

Ford’s drag racing tech in Red Bull new power unit

 

 

 

F1’s agility to switch up the rules, painfully slow

The new F1 power units were only expected to span an eight year period yet intransigence combined with Covid pushed the 2021 decline for a new engine formula back half a decade. 

In 2026 the V6 turbo hybrids will now survive in part, still with the weight of a combustion engine an the added bulk of even more battery tech as the electrical power output his set to rise three fold.

Of course in 2026 100% sustainable fuel will also be introduced which will be a challenge for even the global auto manufacturers given this technology has been introduced in a tiny number of solutions to date.

Before the rise of Ferrari in the late 1990’s regulation changes were more frequent but along with the big money spending which entered F1 back then, came the resistance from the teams to change the rules too quickly given the massive investment they would make in each new set of rules.

McLaren boss says new 2024 car quicker than Red Bull

 

 

 

F1 boom in US unsustainable

Whilst Formula One has been booming in recent years it faces challenges which may not see the continued growth in viewership particularly when one team is winning year in year out.

American TV viewership declined in 2023 according to Forbes despite the much hyped inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix. Should this trend continue in 2024, the corridors of power who rule the sport will be forced to rethink how the sport is run.

The 2026 power units are again set to run for eight years taking Formula One another decade down the road.

Meantime there are motorsport challenges emerging that to date F1 can afford to scoff at, one being Formula E. Now in it’s eleventh season the all electric open wheel racing series has become a niche calendar event with much of the viewers having to watch from behind a pay wall.

Astonishing transfer fee attached to Lando Norris

 

 

 

FE throws down F1 gauntlet

Yet gone are the in race car changes because the battery isn’t large enough and the power available to the drivers increases almost year on year. The new Gen 4 cars will revolutionise Formula E as they will be as fast if not quicker than F1 combined with more length Grand Prix style racing events held on purpose built tracks.

Speaking to Forbes, Sylvain Filippi, Managing Director and CTO of the Envision Virgin Racing Formula E Team, makes a big claim that it will be “game over” for F1 in the near future. As the cars are able to produce more power, more downforce can be deployed and F1 style tyres will be introduced.

Meanwhile F1 is stuck for over a decade with the outdated notion of a hybrid power unit. When planning the V6 turbo hybrid replacements it was the accepted view that hybrids would become the next big thing in road vehicles.

Yet they consist of the worst of both worlds; the weight of a battery combined with the weight of a combustion engine. Global auto manufacturers now believe the future of road cars is going electric.

Ecclestone says “Hamilton failed..”

 

 

 

Ford sees future as battery not hybrid

“We can get telemetry, digital diagnostics, as well as aero, which can can put on our production of electric cars to make the battery smaller,” said Jim Farley  – CEO of Ford last week.

“They [Red Bull] are the best in the world in a lot of these technologies and we need them desperately as the car business changes.”

Whilst the contribution from the electrical power elements of the new 2026 power units has been raise, delivering 50% of the overall output, the ageing combustion engine component may be relegated at times to the role of being merely a generator of electricity.

This year a new racing series is being launched and is planned to run on Formula One tracks. Artificial Intelligent racing cars have been created and should compete in April at the Las Marina track.

Surprise return of Hamilton’s ex physio and mentor

 

 

 

AI cars to race in anger

Dallara who build Haas F1 chassis have been commission to design and build the Super Formula SF-23 open wheel racers. Each will be identical weighing just 690kg (an F1 car is around 980kg) runs gas powered engine which can reach a top speed of 186mph.

Unlike the similar looking cars driven by the likes of Verstappen and Hamilton there will be no steering wheel or pedals and the driver is replaced by a computer.

The key difference between each of the cars in the competition will be the software and algorithms created by each team to navigate the car around the course in the quickest time possible.

Ceo of Aspire the organiser told the BBC, “We combine talent, technology, and extreme sports in order to forge a pathway to the future of mobility.” 

Formula E issues challenge to F1

 

 

 

F1 must change ‘locked in’ regulations

“We will combine state-of-the-art motor racing parts with artificial intelligence to deliver an extreme sporting experience.”

For the viewers there will be unique oppprunties to experience the racing allowing the audience to get behind the virtual wheel via augmented reality. Details of this are to come in the next weeks.

Just as Formula E started life as an F1 hopeful challenger, the Aspire challenge is hoping to add events and more competitors as the race to figure out how to simulate the driving styles of Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen commences.

Of course in the future all human error from the driving should be reduced and the AI driver of the future will be quicker than even Max Verstappen and a winning Red Bull car. F1’a lead times on crucial decisions like power units must change and change quickly if they are not to miss the long term innovation challenges.

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