Formula 1 wants proposed changes to the 2027 regulations agreed by this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix despite continuing opposition to rule changes.
The FIA announced last month that engine marques had agreed in principle to changes that would boost the combustion engine by 50 kilowatts while detuning the electrical motor by the same amount, turning what is currently an almost 50-50 hybrid split to approximately 60-40 in favour of the petrol power.
The rebalanced power ratio — which would be achieved by boosting fuel flow by 14 per cent, per Autosport, while capping hybrid output — would reduce the need for aggressive driving techniques to keep the battery charged, which are widely disliked by drivers and contentious among fans.
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The in-principle agreement, however, appeared to dissolve at the following race in Canada, where attempts to codify the new rules were met with objections from Ferrari and Audi in particular.
Attempts to find common ground in Monaco also came to nothing, and according to Autosport, the FIA has set this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix as the last chance to get a deal over the line.
Ferrari objected to changes because it would require the FIA to permit all manufacturers to undertake engine development, thereby diluting the potency of the development concessions on which the Italian team has pinned its hopes for catching Mercedes.
Ferrari’s position may have changed, however, with Mercedes also being granted development concessions following the FIA’s bombshell performance report at the weekend.
Audi’s position — also put before the concessions were doled out — is that it would “prefer to stay with what we have right now” because it wants to focus on improving its performance rather than on new regulations.
“The change would not help us on our path to optimise the actual drive train,” Audi CEO Gernot Döllner said, per The Athletic.
“It would take away money from other areas that we would prefer to put the money to.”
Döllner said, however, that Audi was “part of the process” and that the “FIA is leading the process”.
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Honda’s position has been ambiguous, but some reports suggest it also has concern over the cost of rule changes, particularly given the significant work required to boost its reliability and performance this year.
There is some speculation that General Motors — which gets a say as a future supplier — will also vote with Ferrari given its Cadillac team currently takes an engine supply from the Italian marque.
The governing body does not need unanimity, with only four manufacturers from the six needing to agree to change the rules, meaning two of the possibly uncommitted manufacturers would need to be convinced.
However, the governing body is thought to prefer making such last-minute changes to next year’s rules unanimously to avoid public airing of grievances over the process.
Reports suggest the FIA could alternatively legislate for much smaller change, boosting fuel flow by only 5 per cent, which could be achieved without manufacturers having to redevelop their engines, though that would have a commensurately smaller effect on rebalancing the engines.
That could lay the groundwork for further changes for 2028.
The sport, however, is keen not to have to continuously tweak the rules, particularly with attention already turning to the next engine formula — and the FIA is interested in bringing the new rules forward from their current 2031 date to 2030.
‘I’m not going to take the f**** blame!’ | 01:51
FERRARI BRAKES SUPPLIER REBUKES LECLERC AFTER CRITICISM
Ferrari brake supplier Brembo has publicly rebuked Charles Leclerc’s claim that his late-race crash in Monaco was down to his “f***ing brakes”.
Leclerc has been critical of his car’s braking performance since the Canadian Grand Prix, describing them as inconsistent and unpredictable.
In both Montreal and Monte Carlo — brake-sensitive circuits, albeit for different reasons — he said the brakes had robbed him of the confidence required to be competitive.
Despite his Monaco crash appearing to be at least partly down to the disintegrating circuit, which had minutes earlier claimed Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin too, Leclerc said his brakes were to blame for him spearing into the barriers at Antony Noghès.
“Out of the four brakes, I had three brakes not working,” he said, per Autosport. “In a Formula 1 car, it’s never a good thing.
“The front left was working well, the front right was half working, and the two rear brakes were not working at all — and when I say ‘at all’, it’s that on data, there’s no deceleration at all. It’s like the calipers were not even in the car.”
Speaking separately to Sky Sports, he said: “Today I look like an idiot, and when you look like an idiot for a mistake of yours, it’s fine, but it’s borderline dangerous.”
Brembo, however, was deeply unimpressed to be thrown under the bus and took the unusual action of releasing a press statement contradicting Leclerc.
“Brembo Group is really surprised by the statements made by Charles Leclerc after F1’s Monaco Grand Prix,” it said, per The Race.
“The partnership between Brembo and Scuderia Ferrari has continued for more than 50 years and also extends to other brands within the group, including AP Racing clutches and Ohlins dampers, confirming the strength and breadth of this longstanding collaboration.
“At present, the company does not know the causes of the issues experienced by Charles Leclerc and therefore considers it premature to draw definitive technical conclusions before the available data has been analysed.
“In cases such as this, it is necessary to examine the telemetry data together with the team’s engineers in order to accurately determine the origin of the incident.”
Though no more detailed explanation has been given for Ferrari’s crash, the interaction between the rear brakes and the energy recovery system has become more complex this year owing to the boosted hybrid side of the engine. Because the rear axle is recovering much more energy than in previous years, the rear brakes get much less of a workout, but when the battery is full, the rear brakes are required to do all the work whether or not they’re up to temperature.
Intriguingly, though, Leclerc said on Sunday he and Ferrari had already decided on a solution for this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix, which is to take Lewis Hamilton’s braking set-up.
Italian publication AutoRacer has reported that Hamilton has been using Carbone Industrie brake discs with Brembo calipers since March.
Hamilton used Carbone Industrie brakes throughout his time at McLaren and Mercedes, and part of his Ferrari struggles last year were down to the change to Brembo.
Though the rest of the braking system remains Brembo-based, having both drivers using rival materials is significant in the context of the half-century Ferrari-Brembo relationship.
Leclerc goes SCORCHED EARTH on his car | 02:49
ALPINE RIGHT OF REVIEW HEARING SET DOWN
Alpine will have its request for a right of appeal over Pierre Gasly’s Monaco podium-losing penalties heard this Thursday ahead the Spanish Grand Prix.
Gasly took the chequered flag third in Monte Carlo but was demoted to seventh after two five-second penalties were applied post race for speeding in the pit lane.
The Frenchman was one of five drivers slapped with speeding penalties during the race, with the spate of infringements down to the speed-controlled section of the Monte Carlo pit lane not being a straight line.
Pit lane speed is calculated by timing beams that assess average speed rather than by the car’s speedometer or a radar gun. Drivers who cut the left-hand bends at either end of the pit lane too aggressively, thereby shortening the distance of the fast lane, were clocked as having exceed the 60-kilometre-per-hour limit.
Gasly was found to have sped in the pit lane twice, in both instances by 0.4 kilometres per hour of less, incurring 10 seconds of penalties.
“I’m just heartbroken,” he said. “I crossed the line in P3 in Monaco in front of all the fans and all the people here, and in the end we get penalised and finish far away. I don’t really know what to say.
“We all work really hard for this podium, for these types of moments, when they come to you. It’s been 10 years I do this, I’ve got five podiums in my career. It hurts when you pass the line on the podium and then – I don’t know.”
Alpine advised that it would lobby for a right of review, which is a particular process for penalties that do not come with the automatic right of appeal, such as speeding fines, which are usually open-shut matters.
To be given the right of review, Alpine must first prove in a hearing at 9pm (AEST) on Thursday that it has “significant and relevant new” information not available to the stewards at the time of the original infringement.
It is an extremely high threshold, and successful reviews are rare, though Williams successful had a Carlos Sainz penalty for causing a collision rescinded from last year’s Dutch Grand Prix based on camera angles that hadn’t been available to the stewards during the race.
Video circulating on social media appeared to show Alpine staff measuring the first part of pit lane with a measuring wheel. The length of the pit lane is critical to the average speed calculation.