There are rules in Formula One and the tomes which regulate the sport are nothing like the back of a fag packet 1950 style specifications. During F1’s inaugural season matters were simple for the teams. They could design whatever car they liked but “no supercharged car could exceed 1.5 litre engines whilst non-supercharged cars were restricted to 3 litre engines.”

What a difference 25 years makes. Each team has a rules specialists who is wheeled out most weekends to do battle with the supervising authorities. Yet there a glaringly obvious rules in Formula One which simply are outdated for the contemporary era of the sport.

 

 

 

Monaco GP just out of date

The red flag rule is one of those which needs updating and following the procession in Monaco this year, where the top ten starters finished the race exactly where they began, TJ13 immediately called for a change to this regulation.

Given under red flag conditions, teams can repair cars and make them fit for racing again, it is obvious a change of tyres may be necessary on such an occasion. The problem in Monaco was the red flag came before the end of lap one and so each driver made their mandatory one stop for the race whilst in the pits awaiting the restart of the race.

This led to Charles Leclerc driving some 4 seconds off the pace to ensure his tyres now lasted for the remaining 75 racing laps. Of course the behemoth F1 cars of today have no chance of overtaking around the streets of the principality and so the fans of F1 were robbed of even a strategic battle given no pit stops were now necessary.

Liberty media’s F1 supremo, Stefano Domenicali, now tells AMuS that something has to change. “The track is what it is, our cars are what they are, and it is almost impossible to overtake. But when there are pit stops during the race, there is also action.”

Verstappen reacts to online abuse

 

 

 

FIA rules inconsistency irritates the fans

“This year we have a red flag on the first lap, and everyone has automatically made their pit stop. We must not let that happen again. We must anticipate such scenarios better and cover them with the rules.”

Speaking about the rules in general, the ex-Ferrari boss believes the sporting regulations have become too complicated. Last time out in Canada, Sergio Perez was given a three grid drop penalty for the coming race in Spain, because he drove his car back to the garage in what the stewards decided was a ‘dangerous’ condition.

Yet in previous years the Aston Martin of Fernando do Alonso has hurtled around for lap after lap with pieces of bodywork hanging off and yet the Spaniard was not penalised. Domenicali now calls the situation which arose in Monaco as an example of how F1’s rules “are generally too complicated.”

“Even on the sporting side,” he added. “Nobody understands the penalty system.” – least of all the stewards some would say 🙂

McLaren & Ferrari accused of cheating

 

 

 

Monaco an ‘exhibition’ event

Monaco has been the subject of debate for years. The race is not what it was in the early days of motor racing and various proposals have been made to improve the non-race race in the principality.

Some have called for the weekend to be an exhibition only event, with mandatory attendance required by the FIA for the teams and the drivers. Others have suggested the weekend should include two sprint races and no Grand Prix. After all the qualifying sessions on Monaco are what get the drivers going and excite the fans more than the 77 lap race on Sunday.

TJ13 suggested for Monaco the red flag rule be changed, forcing teams to make either one or two mandatory stops during the green flag portions of the race, regardless of how many red flags and subsequent tyre changes are made.

Whatever the solution for Monaco it will not include the all new FIA named ‘nimble’ cars coming in 2026, given their dimensions will be just a few centimetres shorter and more narrow than the current crop of giants.

Renault out of F1?

 

 

 

Aston Martin in pole position for Newey

In other news, Aston Martin now appear the favourite to capture the services of the ex-Red Bull car design guru, Adrian Newey. Lewis Hamilton listed the technical wizard as top of his list of people he would like to work with at Ferrari – which may not endear the seven times world champion to the existing folk working hard in Maranello.

Lawrence Stroll is believed to have offered Adrian equity in the team, which was recently valued by Blackbook at $1.3bn following a minority investment made in November 2023. Yet recent news appears to focus on the rather paltry sum of a $25m a year salary, which apparently made the Canadian owner of the team balk before issuing an offer.

Now in his mid-sixties and with nothing left to prove, the romantic end to a glittering career would be to return to the site of his first love and success in F1, down at Williams with James Vowles.

Team with HUGE lap time improvement predicted for Spain

 

 

 

Williams make bold pitch to Newey

In Miami the ex-Mercedes man who now heads up the Williams team made it clear his team was in the hunt for the great man’s signature. “He [Newey] is not in a rush, particularly, which is a good thing,” Vowles told media. “I think we have to be straightforward. I want to make sure we’re talking to him, I want to make sure our name’s in the hat.”

Adrian Newey will launch the Red Bull supercar, the RB17, at next moths festival of speed. This project has been long in the making and Newey wants to complete his days at Red Bull by going out with a bang. He will become a free agent in quarter two next season and is then allowed to work on the 2026 car specifications, which the teams can only really begin preparations for in January 2025.

Eddie Jordan who claims to be Newey’s manager has downplayed him arriving at another team anytime soon. “The guy is 60-something, he’s getting a new boat,” Jordan said on his Formula For Success podcast. “I would’ve said equally alongside all those potential teams we’re talking about, the fifth team he should be thinking about is himself.

Marko SHOCK revelation over Perez exit clause – 3 races!

 

 

 

Russell on notice as Mercedes find fatal flaw

George Russell and Lewis Hamilton had their best outings of the year last time out in Montreal. Mercedes scored their first podium of the year in round nine with George Russell overtaking his team mate in the closing stages of the race to clinch the final step on the podium.

With Ferrari and Sergio Perez failing to score at all, the Mercedes result looked as though the team had turned a corner, yet their drivers were not so positive after the chequered flag fell in Canada.

“It felt like a missed opportunity, to be honest,” said Russell after the race having claimed pole position. “We [made] made a couple of mistakes out there, just pushing the limits, and paid the price for it. It was just one too many mistakes at key moments that cost us a shot of fighting with these two towards the end of the race.”…. READ MORE