{"id":551164,"date":"2026-03-21T12:29:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T12:29:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/551164\/"},"modified":"2026-03-21T12:29:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T12:29:11","slug":"from-ramped-up-f1-techno-trickery-to-an-old-school-flashing-oil-light","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/551164\/","title":{"rendered":"From ramped up F1 techno trickery to an old-school flashing oil light"},"content":{"rendered":"

Funny how attitudes can change. Lando Norris<\/a> was having a go \u2013 in a nice way \u2013 at Max Verstappen<\/a>\u2019s blunt criticism of the latest Formula 1 cars. \u201cF1 changes all the time,\u201d chided Norris. \u201cSometimes it\u2019s a bit better to drive, sometimes not as good to drive. But, yeah, we get paid a stupid amount of money to drive, so you really can\u2019t complain at the end of the day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Well, no, you can\u2019t complain in the same way as a Premier League footballer should avoid moaning about the cost of a tank of fuel for his bespoke McLaren<\/a> 765LT. But does being paid \u201ca stupid amount of money\u201d bring with it a gagging order issued by PSC (Persons with Significant Control) within F1? I wouldn\u2019t know; remuneration at Autosport could scarcely be described as \u2018stupid money\u2019. Or, at least, not with reference to the upper end of the publishing pay scale.<\/p>\n

Verstappen has never been reluctant to shoot from the hip, his comments on this occasion being of substantial interest to anyone wishing to have even the remotest idea of what it must be like to drive an F1 car \u2013 particularly the latest generation. Norris is entitled to his opinion, of course. But there does seem to be a less than subtle change in the McLaren driver\u2019s views.<\/p>\n

In August last year, before Lando was invested with the accountability and public persona that comes with being world champion, he was thinking out loud about a wish list for an F1 car that would be good to race. \u201cHonestly, I don\u2019t want to do all this DRS nonsense,\u201d said Norris. \u201cI just want to drive the car. I just want to upshift, downshift \u2013 and that\u2019s it. That\u2019s what I enjoy.\u201d<\/p>\n

A quadratic equation is about as convoluted as Merc\u2019s chosen model name \u2018Mercedes-AMG GT63 Pro4Matic+ Motorsport Collectors Edition\u2019<\/p>\n

To be fair, Lando has got his wish with the absence of DRS after 15 seasons of an artifice that, in truth, was attempting \u2013 badly, as it turned out \u2013 to paper over the fundamental failing of one F1 car being unable to run in close company with another. Go racing, in other words.<\/p>\n

As for the techno trickery crammed into the 2026 cars, Norris should have been careful what he wished for. \u201cI just want to drive the car.\u201d Yeah, right. If he focuses solely on steering, braking and shifting gears, our world champion will be going nowhere in the manner of trying to run across an ice rink in his handmade leather loafers while, at the same time, solving a quadratic equation with non-integer coefficients.<\/p>\n

No, I don\u2019t know what that arithmetic sophistry means either. But trust me on this one (as Sky F1\u2019s David Croft would say); a quadratic equation is about as convoluted as Merc\u2019s chosen model name \u2018Mercedes-AMG GT63 Pro4Matic+ Motorsport Collectors Edition\u2019 \u2013 you know, the Supercar Kimi Antonelli recently shunted near his country home in San Marino.<\/p>\n

No other big names (and I mean cars) were involved. Kimi was unhurt, but the same cannot be said for the Mercedes-AMG GT Sixt \u2013 you know the rest.<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The \u2018sticker over a warning light\u2019 ploy wouldn\u2019t really work here. And should this even be described as a wheel?<\/p>\n

Photo by: Jakub Porzycki \/ NurPhoto \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

Back on the race track, we\u2019ve got a situation where drivers will suddenly be going slowly through here in order to go quickly over there, while remembering to push boost buttons, energy savers and aero tweaks at certain places providing, of course, a thousand technicians back at base agree it\u2019s OK to do so\u00a0\u2013 but only if Strat 6, sub-section C, has been engaged using the third knurled knob from the left \u2013 or is it the right? \u2013 on a games control panel that has a secondary function as a steering wheel. Talk about making life complicated.<\/p>\n

If you want a totally different perspective, come with me to Kirkistown, a club circuit in Northern Ireland where I watched my first motor races more years ago than I care to remember. It\u2019s where I first noticed John Watson<\/a>, a soft-spoken teenager who would go on to win five grands prix.<\/p>\n

In the 1960s, Wattie was cutting his competition teeth at the wheel of a Crossle 5S. This was a neat little sportscar, manufactured by John Crossle, a local man who was just as adept at designing race cars as he was at driving them.<\/p>\n

Crossle had a modest bearing to match his easy manner. At one particular meeting at Kirkistown, John was about to have his lunch \u2013 a sandwich filled with his favourite Robertson\u2019s Strawberry Jam \u2013 when a customer came rushing across the paddock.<\/p>\n

Crossle finished his sandwich, peeled the sticker from the jam jar, walked across the paddock, leaned into the agitated driver\u2019s cockpit and placed it across the flashing oil light<\/p>\n

\u201cMr Crossle! Mr Crossle!\u201d he said in some desperation. \u201cMy oil light\u2019s on! What do I do?\u201d With the races about to start, Crossle reckoned there wasn\u2019t much anyone could do at that stage. He quietly assured the distressed client he\u2019d be over in a minute.<\/p>\n

This was in the days when Robertson used a contentious caricature as a marketing symbol. Collect enough stickers of this icon from each jar of jam, send them to the factory and you\u2019d receive an enamel lapel badge in return.<\/p>\n

Crossle finished his sandwich, peeled the character from the jam jar, walked across the paddock, leaned into the agitated driver\u2019s cockpit and placed the sticker across the flashing oil light. \u201cIt won\u2019t cure the problem,\u201d said Crossle. \u201cBut it\u2019ll take your mind off it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The moral of the story is that F1 might be in a happier place if the concerns of Verstappen and others about massively complex F1 cars could be assuaged by the price of a pot of jam.<\/p>\n

This article is one of many in the monthly Autosport magazine. For more premium content, take a look at the April 2026 issue and\u00a0subscribe today<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Verstappen: <\/p>\n

Verstappen: never one to be afraid of shooting from the hip<\/p>\n

Photo by: Mark Thompson \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

We want to hear from you!<\/p>\n

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– The Autosport.com Team<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Funny how attitudes can change. Lando Norris was having a go \u2013 in a nice way \u2013 at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":551165,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[441],"tags":[49,48,578,576,577,214130,82],"class_list":["post-551164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-from-ramped-up-f1-techno-trickery-to-an-old-school-flashing-oil-light","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=551164"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551164\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/551165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=551164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=551164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=551164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}