{"id":331799,"date":"2025-12-07T01:52:18","date_gmt":"2025-12-07T01:52:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/331799\/"},"modified":"2025-12-07T01:52:18","modified_gmt":"2025-12-07T01:52:18","slug":"f1-news-they-are-horrible-drivers-deliver-blunt-verdict-on-outgoing-f1-cars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/331799\/","title":{"rendered":"F1 news: \u2018They are horrible\u2019: Drivers deliver blunt verdict on outgoing F1 cars"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\u2018They
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDrivers have offered mixed opinions on the end of the current F1 regulations. Image: XPB Images<\/p>\n

The 2022 regulations brought sweeping changes, including ground-effect aerodynamics, larger wheels and tighter overall performance between teams.<\/p>\n

While outfits such as Red Bull and McLaren adapted strongly, others \u2014 notably Mercedes \u2014 battled porpoising and inconsistent downforce, with several drivers finding the cars physically punishing.<\/p>\n

Lewis Hamilton has been one of the most vocal critics of the current era, winning only two races since the rules came into force.<\/p>\n

When asked by Speedcafe what he would miss about the regulation cycle, he didn\u2019t hesitate.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s not a single thing I\u2019ll miss about these cars. Simple as that. Literally there\u2019s nothing,\u201d Hamilton said.<\/p>\n

The seven-time world champion labelled the era \u201cprobably the worst one\u201d of his career, comparing it unfavourably with previous overhauls in 2009, 2014 and 2017.<\/p>\n

\t\tWin 4 x Supercars event tickets and celebrate with the winers in the Pirtek Victory Lane – Enter Now!<\/a><\/p>\n

Others pointed to the physical strain caused by the ground-effect concept. Pierre Gasly said the low-rake, stiff-running cars have taken a toll.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously ground effect cars need to run as low as you can, but physically for our backs, I think we all agree that it\u2019s been rough. It\u2019s not sustainable over a full career,\u201d he told Speedcafe, adding that next year\u2019s regulations should offer some relief.<\/p>\n

Rookie Oliver Bearman echoed those concerns, describing the pain caused by the extreme suspension stiffness needed for performance.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are horrible,\u201d he told Speedcafe.<\/p>\n

\u201cParticularly coming from tracks like Las Vegas, Mexico, even Qatar a little bit, the stiffness that you have to run to achieve performance with these cars means that you are getting out the car and can\u2019t sleep at night because you\u2019re back is hurting that much.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I definitely won\u2019t miss the lack of comfort of these cars. I\u2019ve never experienced anything like that in a racing car.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Oliver Bearman described the current generation of cars as \u2018horrible\u2019. Image: XPB Images<\/p>\n

He also called porpoising \u201ca horrible sensation and a horrible feeling when driving the car\u201d, hopeful the next era will be more forgiving on drivers\u2019 bodies.<\/p>\n

But not all drivers shared the same frustrations.<\/p>\n

Nico Hulkenberg said he enjoyed the speed and spectacle of the cars, particularly as lap records tumbled.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be honest, I enjoyed these cars,\u201d he told Speedcafe.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously this year following, and therefore racing, has become a little bit too difficult and too sensitive. That was a bit of a pity.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut over the last few years, of course they\u2019ve been, you know, ground effects stiff.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut, to be honest, I didn\u2019t mind the car. I think they are very fast. They are very spectacular and dynamic, especially now in the last years, you know, breaking a lot of lap time records.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alex Albon highlighted the competitiveness of the era as its defining strength.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe main thing I\u2019m going to miss is the competitiveness,\u201d Albon told Speedcafe.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just finished a qualifying session in Qatar, in Q1, where from P5 to P17 was one tenth. And that will definitely not be the case when we go racing next year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Liam Lawson echoed the sentiment, saying the speed of the cars will be hard to replace.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the speeds\u2026 sometimes uncomfortable as they are to drive, they\u2019re very, very fast. So that\u2019ll be something that I think is going to be a bit of a change probably going into next year,\u201d he told Speedcafe.<\/p>\n

Formula 1\u2019s next major reset arrives in 2026, with smaller, lighter cars, revised hybrid power units and active aerodynamics \u2014 including a manual override engine mode to replace DRS.<\/p>\n

The new machinery is expected to be roughly two seconds slower per lap but is designed to promote closer, more strategic and more unpredictable racing.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Drivers have offered mixed opinions on the end of the current F1 regulations. Image: XPB Images The 2022…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":331800,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[14203,64,63,817,813,816,823,3352,852,5242,1513,6490,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-331799","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-formula-1","8":"tag-alex-albon","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-f1","12":"tag-formula-1","13":"tag-formula1","14":"tag-lewis-hamilton","15":"tag-liam-lawson","16":"tag-nico-hulkenberg","17":"tag-oliver-bearman","18":"tag-pierre-gasly","19":"tag-slot3","20":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331799","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=331799"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331799\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/331800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=331799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=331799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=331799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}