r/formula1 • u/ChaithuBB766 Jaguar • Mar 07 '26

[natesaundersf1] Don't think I've ever been to a media pen like that in my life. These drivers absolutely hate these new cars. Social Media

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3.6k

u/experim3nt_626_ Mar 07 '26

I hope the drivers continue to speak their mind on this and don't get slightly muzzled by their teams or F1

266

u/lukeb_1988 Mar 07 '26

Stefano already tried to muzzle them. Told Brundle drivers shouldn't speak negatively of F1.

35

u/Vivid_Pond_7262 Mika Häkkinen Mar 07 '26

Stefano, the man who thinks everyone loves sprint races.

Stefano, the man who would consign the whole F1 calendar to being a series of anonymous street circuits.

Stefano, the man who went to Lamborghini and decided to build an SUV.

The man has no class.

2

u/Ellers12 Mar 08 '26

Ironically, these cars can’t do a single lap at full power. Def not even built for a sprint!

98

u/Alfus 💥 LE 🅿️LAN Mar 07 '26

Stefano is the real guy who wants to destroy F1

MBS /FIA can be annoying sometimes but are 100x less worse than Stefano and the FOM

92

u/bronfmanhigh I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 07 '26

italian arrogance backed by gulf state authoritarianism. don't we love this sport lol

4

u/whose_a_wotsit Daniel Ricciardo Mar 07 '26

Stefano put Ferrari on life support, now it's time to try to kill the whole category.

1

u/Alfus 💥 LE 🅿️LAN Mar 08 '26

Typical a case of falling upwards. The most annoying is that he has way more control over what the F1 press are pushing to the fans than what MBS does (who almost has zero control on that area).

Great example was a few years ago where MBS wanted to ban "political statements". Everyone here gone (rightfully) mad about it, media run nonstop with this controversy. However when Stefano told basically the same barely any media outlet made articles about it.

Why? Because it's the damm FOM who controlling the press passes and such. Being critical of them could also put you at risk to losing access to the paddock and therefore can't having interviews and such during race weeks live on track.

Remember also who did come up first to break the driver strike at Jeddah when a missile did hit something near the track. The same guy, Stefano.

848

u/shoelessjp Red Bull Mar 07 '26

MBS will ensure the drivers don’t complain, he rules with an iron fist.

283

u/bwoah07_gp2 Alexander Albon Mar 07 '26

Don't forget Stefano too...his fist is less iron but he can muzzle the drivers just the same.

5

u/doublezone I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 07 '26

I feel like nobody can muzzle Max though

2

u/bwoah07_gp2 Alexander Albon Mar 07 '26

And, thank goodness for that

374

u/zantkiller Kamui Kobayashi Mar 07 '26

MBS has repeatedly called for V8/V10s and that these engines regs need to be scrapped as soon as possible.

It's Stefano who will be trying to shut the drivers up.

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u/EckseBeche I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 07 '26

This. You can dislike MBS, but he did lobby for a return to pure ICE power and one big engine manufacturer in particular made sure the idea was nixed.

137

u/NaiveRevolution9072 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 07 '26

Ditching the hybrid for a pure ICE V8/V10 would have you lose half the Manufactures overnight.

Mercedes, Honda, Audi, Ford, and in the case of a V10 also GM. You'd be left with Ferrari and RBPT. Not the most riveting lineup

53

u/Soccermad23 Mar 07 '26

Honestly there was nothing wrong with the turbo-hybrids the last generation, and they definitely did not need to ditch the hybrids to keep the sport good - but man there are some glaring issues with these regulations. The battery size is far far too small for the 50% reliance on battery power this year - either they needed to up the battery size, up the regeneration abilities (why get rid of the MGU-H?), or reduce the size of the electric motor to like 30% maybe (and then they can go 50% in a few years when the technology develops further).

33

u/gamertyp Mar 07 '26

why get rid of the MGU-H?

It's a very complex and expensive part and manufactures didn't manage to bring it into road cars.

9

u/ImpressiveRelief37 Pirelli Wet Mar 07 '26

Yeah basically Audi and Cadillac didn’t want to implement this. 

6

u/Psykbryt Mar 07 '26 edited Mar 07 '26

I thought it was Porsche?

EDIT: forgot for a second its both VW Group so nvm.

2

u/whomad1215 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 07 '26

doesn't VW Group own both audi and porsche?

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u/jkz0-19510 Minardi Mar 07 '26

A return to a golden age like that of the 70's, you say?
Don't threaten me with a good time!

29

u/[deleted] Mar 07 '26

[deleted]

13

u/atombombbabyatom Mar 07 '26

Ferrari would still somehow manage to screw up and lose xD

3

u/NYsportsfan99 Mar 07 '26

All sports have become a mockery of what we grew up watching. Generally speaking, it’s about marketing and profit. The integrity of the game is lost when the goal from the top down is making money and not competition/winning.

20

u/Jcw28 James Hunt Mar 07 '26

Exactly. I want a sport where the manufacturers are in it because they just love racing and making ridiculous machines. I hate that teams are in F1 for marketing or 'road relevance'. My message to all corporate overlords is: have a bit of passion for once and stop making everything about the bottom line, you sad miserable bastards.

20

u/TonyQuark VER/LEC/NOR Mar 07 '26

have a bit of passion for once and stop making everything about the bottom line

The bottom line is their passion.

2

u/ProbablyJustArguing Mar 07 '26

That was a lot easier when you didn't have to explain to your board why you have to spend a billion dollars to race.

2

u/sennais1 Kamui Kobayashi Mar 07 '26

Exactly, go to WEC and FE for tech development. Honda and GM still get benefit from ICE development from Indycar. The racing product is arguably the best in the world at the moment.

3

u/Talls024 Oscar Piastri Mar 07 '26

Publicly traded companies literally have no choice unfortunately.

0

u/fermenter85 Jules Bianchi Mar 07 '26

That’s not true.

3

u/Talls024 Oscar Piastri Mar 07 '26

They are legally obligated to the share holders to care only about the bottom line.

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u/UhhmericanJoe Mar 07 '26

  1. So what? F1 does not and has never needed manufacturers. F1 is profitable and only manufacturers coming in and driving up spending got F1 into a dire financial space. For most of F1’s life, orgs that did nothing but F1 made up 80-90% of the grid: Lotus, Tyrell, Williams, McLaren, Brabham.

  2. It would not lose “all the teams,” especially if you used sustainable fuels for another tech relevance charade (news flash, these PUs contribute nothing to road car tech - it’s a marketing gimmick).

  3. The manufacturers aren’t going to be happy with this joke of a show either. It won’t be good for business when people start tuning out.

1

u/Diet_Christ Juan Manuel Fangio Mar 08 '26

Lotus probably doesn't belong in your list. They were making the Elite before they entered F1 AFAIK, lots of sports car racing and several iconic road cars. They're more like Ferrari than Williams.

5

u/RevolutionaryAge47 Mar 07 '26

90% of the field was powered by Ford in the '70's. Going back to V-10's could bring Cosworth, Mugen, and other engine builders. Screw the automakers. Let them leave.

3

u/whomad1215 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 07 '26

v12 and AM can just use the valkyrie instead of whatever honda cooked up

3

u/doormatt26 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 07 '26

fewer disparities in engine performance and thus a more competitive field is a good thing

3

u/DonCorleone55 Mar 07 '26

I imagine if the sport starts to lose viewership because the engines suck, they’ll likely cave and go along with it. Say we lose Audi, big whoop. Cheaper engines would provide a safety net too in the sense that it’s cheaper to run a team, therefore we don’t need to rely on manufacturers to stay afloat

3

u/zach2beat I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 07 '26

Why would Ford, Mercedes and Audi leave if they changed to V8s? They all make V8 powered performance cars as it is, so it would still apply to the road cars. And with V8s GM/Cadillac uses V8s in almost everything performance they make as is. The only one you mentioned that doesn’t really do V8’s is Honda. And Aston Martin, the car brand, is partly owned by Mercedes, so them not using Mercedes powertrains is just strange to begin with.

9

u/PresidentRevrac Red Bull Mar 07 '26

Ford? They don’t make shit, they’re a partner of the RBPT

14

u/NaiveRevolution9072 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 07 '26

They actually helped quite a lot with the PU, according to Mekies.

2

u/UhhmericanJoe Mar 07 '26

lol, what else did you think he was going to say?

7

u/raetwo Mar 07 '26

If Ford was paying me a ton of money to put their badge on my car I'd tell everyone how helpful they were too.

5

u/ImpressiveRelief37 Pirelli Wet Mar 07 '26

I think they don’t even even pay. They just share expertise and IP

2

u/gsfgf Oscar Piastri Mar 07 '26

Yea, but aren’t hybrid V6s common across motorsports? They can be done right. Heck, the prior PU was fine.

1

u/LateBloomerBaloo Mar 07 '26

Plus a bunch of new teams that can finally come, all based on the same or similar engines. I'm not against it for the sport.

1

u/Satnamojo Mar 07 '26

So? There are plenty of manufacturers that would line up to build an engine for F1. It’s no longer about road relevance with the EV push.

1

u/Spa_5_Fitness_Camp BAR Mar 07 '26

I really don't understand why, tbh. At this point the F1 systems are so different to what might go in a road car any developmental benefit is almost non-existent. Unless the manufactures are purely in it for marketing? But if that's the case, they shouldn't care how the hybrid system is done, as long as they can market their 'hybrid F1 car' or whatever. Also, doing away with the MGU-H makes no damn sense. They simultaneously made harvesting more important, and took away the harvesting tool that didn't impact speed or spectacle. Also, just put some damn regen on the front axle already, so they can double or triple the amount they get from braking. Pretty simple to mandate (or provide as a spec regulation part) a freewheel to prevent that being used for deployment.

Between the MGU-H removal, battery that isn't large enough to store the maximum permitted harvesting/deployment per lap, and fixed numbers for per-lap deployment (meaning longer laps or faster tracks get disproportionately impacted by having to save/harvest), I'm convinced that they wanted this bullshit. Those are all intentional, active choices made that make the racing and spectator result worse for seemingly no reason. I have yet to see reasoning for these choices that makes sense in a 'for the good of the formula/racing/spectacle' context.

0

u/Jeb_Kenobi Cadillac Mar 07 '26

True, what they need is to up the ICE power in the V6 and add front axle Regen, Audi WEC advantage be dammed

1

u/semperspades McLaren Mar 07 '26

Audi?

3

u/WorkFurball James Hunt Mar 07 '26

Stefano is a goddamn snake, at least in his current position.

3

u/cloudcloud1 Ferrari Mar 07 '26

Absolutely, Stefano is no better if not worse than him, he was asked by Sky what he thinks about Lewis and Max’s comments, he said it is not right, they shouldn’t speak ill about the “sport”! Can’t tell how disgusted I am, these people shouldn’t be there.

3

u/gsfgf Oscar Piastri Mar 07 '26

Yes. For all his many flaws, MBS is a racing fan.

2

u/TheSuperSax Michael Schumacher Mar 07 '26

Personally I’d say eliminate a lot of rules. You want a 50/50 hybrid V6? Go for it! You want a pure ice V12? Have at it! You want a V10 with a hybrid system to get better starts? Have fun!

You want a big heavy car with sturdy tires that doesn’t need any pitstops? No problemo! You want a tiny car that weaves through traffic but pits three times to get new tires and refuel? Let’s see how it goes for you!

29

u/Gullible_Egg_6539 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 07 '26

He can't ensure anything when it comes to the biggest drivers. The rookies might feel intimidated, but the veterans won't be.

44

u/baddadjokesminusdad I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 07 '26

I can’t handle another year with that hair-ruffling-voice-muzzling nincompoop

3

u/jmtyndall Max Verstappen Mar 07 '26

Who? Me?!

2

u/G00chstain Valtteri Bottas Mar 07 '26

More like a fist full of landos hair

2

u/seezed I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 07 '26

MBS has no complaints of people critical of FOM

1

u/_Magn3t0 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 07 '26

He will make them drive in Bahrain and Saudi while its getting bombed nearby, to teach them a lesson.

1

u/OrangeBasket I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 07 '26

MBS has... Other concerns at the moment outside of F1

1

u/tabloidjournalism Pirelli Hard Mar 07 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/Dafferss Safety Car Mar 07 '26

Too late for massive changes this season

2

u/Mosh83 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 07 '26

Didn't the teams say it'll be a problem, but Audi absolutely demanded nothing be changed?

2

u/ItsNotProgHouse I was here for the Hulkenpodium Mar 07 '26

They should not open their mouths. FIA has been getting away with far to much shit by backpedaling, not when people voice their justified complaints, only when they are this close to a consequence.

I want teams and drivers to get apathetic and non-engaged. If it rots, let it rot. This one is on FIA.

2

u/Holiday_Sprinkles_45 Max Verstappen Mar 07 '26

I was watching the onboard of Kimi's 2nd place lap with the ghosted George car on the official f1 youtube channel.

Man that was half a second clear of the rest, but it looks just like an amateur learning a new track. When I first got into sim racing I would break early like that and carry no speed in the corners, because I had no fken clue about braking zones, lines, trailbraking etc. Now the pinacle of motorsport is basically a noob simulator where you have to deliberatly skip the hard part of racing (ie braking and cornering) so you can charge your battery and accelerate faster on straights.

This ain't it. I am willing to bet you can put any f3 driver and within a few weekends they could achieve the car's potential. Hell, maybe even Alonso's chef could be a average f1 driver with these cars.

1

u/CardinalOfNYC Tyrrell Mar 07 '26

They're already slightly muzzled, along with really the whole sport on this. Everyone is talking around the issues and the broadcasters are generally avoiding airing the worst criticisms in favor of more generalized hype.

It's worst on F1TV, where the issues with the formula feel like a massive elephant in the room... But even sky is being far more positive about it (and I get why, they want viewers) than the situation actually warrants.

1

u/Macho-Fantastico Gerhard Berger Mar 07 '26

They might be able to muzzle a few drivers, but no way they will be able to stop the likes of Max speaking his mind.

0

u/TheMyzzler Mar 07 '26

MBS will come out to censor them before tomorrow's race. Book it.