Icons unite for Schumacher tribute<\/a><\/p>\nHowever, while he\u2019s hopeful of adding to his nine career victories before the end of the season, he admitted some of the issues gelling with his car wouldn\u2019t be overcome in the short term.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are definitely things that have not been as easy or as comfortable this year compared to last year, clearly, which we\u2019re working on,\u201d he said. \u201cSome of these things we can fix quickly, some of them we can\u2019t.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think these cars in general, the concept is very different. The tyres are quite different. There are a lot of things as well that are not necessarily within our control.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlso this season has not been easy for other reasons. We\u2019ve had a lot of struggles with reliability or bad luck here and there. We\u2019ve not had a great time of things across the board.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we\u2019ve had some good moments as well, but definitely we\u2019re working on how we can make things a bit easier both from my driving and the car. Hopefully we can find some better results soon.\u201d<\/p>\n
Drivers relive epic 2025 Bathurst 1000 | 01:29<\/p>\n
F1 TEAMS AGREE TO SHORTER RACES TO SAVE FUEL<\/p>\n
Formula 1 races will be shorter in 2027 after teams agreed to reduce the standard grand prix distance from 305km to 290km in a bid to boost engine performance.<\/p>\n
Every grand prix since the 1989 season has had a minimum distance of 305 kilometres, with the first lap after that distance is reached being the final lap. The only exception is the super-slow Monaco Grand Prix, which has a lower 260km distance.<\/p>\n
The fixed distance has ensured F1 races are completed in roughly 100 minutes, but it has also helped teams to define the size of their fuel tanks in the non-refuelling era based on the economy of the engine.<\/p>\n
But in agreeing to improve the controversial 2026 engine rules, teams agreed earlier this season to increase the fuel flow of the engine to increase combustion power and thereby make electrical power relatively less important to overall performance.<\/p>\n
Increasing fuel flow will make the engines thirstier, thereby requiring a bigger fuel tank.<\/p>\n
However, several teams had already been planning to carry over their 2026 chassis into 2027 on cost-saving grounds under the cost cap, and the size of the fuel tank is linked directly to the design of the chassis.<\/p>\n
Though the FIA has granted a spending concession to teams over the next two seasons to change chassis over the next two seasons, teams have agreed in parallel to shrink race distance next year to ensure no race turns into an economy run.<\/p>\n
According to Italian publication Autoracer, teams agreed unanimously that every race except Monaco would be reduced by around 15 km, or around 5 per cent.<\/p>\n
In practice that would reduce the average 100-minute race by around five minutes, although a more powerful engine able to output maximum power for longer would likely see races completed in even quicker time next season.<\/p>\n
The fastest ever Formula 1 race was the 2025 Italian Grand Prix, completed by Max Verstappen in just 73m 24s, an average speed of 250.71km\/h.<\/p>\n
The rule must now be approved by the FIA. The Race has reported the rule will likely apply only for 2027 but could be extended in 2028 and beyond if concerns about engine performance still linger into next year.<\/p>\n
Brilliant Marquez wins Aragon MotoGP | 01:02<\/p>\n
ALONSO SAY RULES, NOT RESULTS, MORE IMPORTANT TO CAREER CALL<\/p>\n
Fernando Alonso remains undecided about his Formula 1 future as he weighs up whether he wants to compete for another season with F1\u2019s controversial hybrid engines.<\/p>\n
Alonso, 45 years old, is out of contract at Aston Martin, and despite having suggested he would make a decision about his future during the midseason break, the 440-race veteran says he has yet to make up his mind.<\/p>\n
While some other seats on the grid are still in doubt at the end of a fizzer of a silly season<\/a>, Alonso is the only driver contemplating quitting the sport.<\/p>\nAston Martin has been woeful for much of this season but has begun a rapid improvement, with big upgrades in Hungary delivering Alonso to his first Q2 of the year, which the Spaniard backed up with a season-high ninth last time out in Zandvoort, tripling his and his team\u2019s score for the year.<\/p>\n
Team boss Adrian Newey had earlier suggested the pace of the team\u2019s recovery would be influential in Alonso\u2019s decision-making.<\/p>\n
But the Spaniard says his first pace-based top-10 finish hasn\u2019t altered his thinking, which revolves around the contentious hybrid engines and their effect on racing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will be professional and working at my 100 per cent fighting for P15 or fighting for a podium,\u201d he said, per ESPN. \u201cBut for me it is more about the regulations.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately this is what it is. This is not the Formula 1 we grew up with. This is not the Formula 1 that we all want, drivers, spectators.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe must change a few things. It will not happen immediately. It will happen for the future. But I hope I can contribute somehow for the next set of regulations and we can go back to the real Formula 1.\u201c<\/p>\n
This weekend\u2019s race at high-speed Monza is unlikely to improve Alonso\u2019s feeling about the engine, however.<\/p>\n
Asked where it would rank alongside the similarly energy-starved Silverstone and Suzuka tracks, he replied: \u201cWorse \u2026 [but] maybe [not as bad as] Vegas.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Oscar Piastri has \u201cfound different ways of having difficulty\u201d with McLaren\u2019s 2026 car but has ideas to improve…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":879255,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[64,63,817,813,816,85],"class_list":["post-879254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/879254","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=879254"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/879254\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/879255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=879254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=879254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=879254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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