Stefano Domenicali has become the new Bernie Ecclestone. He was appointed to his position on September 25, 2020 as president and chief executive of Formula One Group (FOM), replacing the hapless American Chase Carey who was difficult to take seriously due to his enormous handlebar moustache and lack of F1 knowledge.

FOM is owned by Liberty Media who own the commercial rights to the sport and as such Domenicali holds a position of significant power. Being the boss of Ferrari for several years gives the Italian a deep insight into how the various components of F1 come together and why the racing is either close or a single team dominates.

F1’s supremo has doubts over the FIA’s decision to continue with the V6 turbo hybrid power units which are heavy and means the cars are way less nimble than they were prior to the arrival of this technology back in 2014.

 

 

 

Hybrid power: wrong way to go

“My personal opinion is that it would be sufficient to use climate-neutral fuel,” he told AMuS on the recent confirmations of the specifications foe the new 2026 power units. “However, we had to take the manufacturers’ wishes into account.

“Things have developed so quickly that today a decision might be different from two years ago. I am not an engineer, but I must have a vision of what the sport will look like in the future.”

Red Bull Racing had pressed for a return to V8 combustion engines running sustainable fuels, but road car manufacturers in particular  Mercedes, Porsche and Audi said the future of road cars was set, and hybrid was the way F1 should go.

Of course now the market in Europe and China has seen a big shift in consumer preferences in the past couple of years and that future is electric alone which leaves F1 in no mans land.

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Delays meant more rule changes

The new F1 power units were due to arrive in 2022 but foot dragging by the FIA and the manufacturers followed bye the global pandemic saw them pushed back now until 2026. The development of the power units was through frozen with all but Alpine delivering fairly similar amounts of horse power.

The stability of the power unit regulations for over a decade has seen Honda and Ferrari catch and even overtake the mighty Mercedes V6 hybrid which dominated the sport from 2014 until 2021.

Instead of new power units in 2022, the FIA decided to make the biggest change in car regulations in the history of Formula One where 50% of the downforce from on top of the carwash removed and replaced by ground effect floors sucking the car onto the track.

Red Bull aced the new regulations and have dominated F1 ever since they were introduced. Yet now in year three the might of Milton Keynes is waining with Max Verstappen wining just three of the last nine Grand Prix.

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F1 field finally converges

Along with new power units in 2026 are a set of new car design regulations which will see narrower cars and adaptive aerodynamics. Domenicali believes the planned five year cycle before the next rules revision may be too short and argues the rules cycles must be extended.

Speaking to motorsport.com about the way the performance of the teams on the grid is now converging, Domenicali said: “I’m very pleased to say what I said at the beginning of the year is exactly what is happening, when everyone was believing that I was saying that for political reasons.”

“This will for sure continue until the end of 2025. This element of sporting action, and sporting drama, is definitely there.”

There are now concerns that the new 2026 regulations will reverse this trend of convergence with one team coming out way ahead of the rest as did Mercedes in 2014 and Red bull from 2022.

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2030 to short a time frame

Domenicali now wonders whether the new regulations designed to remain until 2030 is too short a period and create another opportunity for dominance.“This is a point of: is really now the time to do in 2030 another step change?

“We are not in a position to answer today, because we need to wait and see how this new technology will come in and how this will be developed.”

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FIA theory now defunct

Twelve years of relatively stable power unit regulations mean F1 is no longer just about how much grunt each manufacturer can deliver.

“Therefore, there will be a point at which we need to discuss about it, and we need to understand if the need of the manufacturers, the need of teams and the need of the engineering, is definitely there as it was when there was the need to change the regulation.

“The need for change normally is put on the table for two reasons. One is because we are the pinnacle of motorsport, and we are endorsing the top level of technology.

“The second in the past was that, because it was pretty clear: the objective was stopping a dominance period of cars.”

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Less frequent F1 regulation changes

The FIA theory that regular changes in regulations prevents dominance is now fully defunct as Domenicali observes. And part of this is due to the introduction of financial restrictions and a handicap system restricting development resources to the more successful teams.

“Now with the new elements of regulation, budget cap and aerodynamics restriction, I think that this point is not anymore on the table of discussion.

“So the real thing is technological challenge in the future. Is it relevant that the change will be in such a short time cycle of five years? That will be the point of discussion for the future.”

Formula One was born on a time where significant auto technological advances were significant every couple of years and could be delivered at a relatively small cost. Moving the engine from the front to the back cost relatively little as did the development of front and rear wings to provide additional downforce.

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Hybrid to go

Reliability was poor across the grid and this meant even the best car of the year may be frail and so the predictability of each race winner was way less certain than in modern times.

Further, delivering significant technological advances today is more difficult given the rate of progress has slowed from the early days of motor racing.

Domenicali’s argues against continuing with the mantra of rules changes every 4-5 years, which merely serves to provide an opportunity for one team to dominate.

If proved successful, the 2026 car design rules should remain for a decade but the monstrosity hybrid power units could be ditched instead around 2030.

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Marko details the exact reason for retaining Perez

Sergio Perez was under pressure last season to deliver Red Bull their first 1-2 in the drivers’ championship. A recovery of form after the summer break saw the Mexican regain second slot and hold of both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc to the end of the year.

Checo’s early for this year appeared to suggest he had conquered his demons and after the first six rounds he was slotted in behind Max Verstappen in the title race. A run of shocking results stunning from poor qualifying has seen Perez score just 28 points in the last eight rounds and the Mexican driver has slipped all the way down to P8 in the championship.

Briefings were rife before the summer break this year that Perez was finished as a driver for the world champion team as Daniel Ricciardo was expected to replace him at Red Bull with Liam Lawson filling in behind at V-CARB… READ MORE