The Late Braking F1 Podcast - F1 2026 New Regulations Explained: What’s Changing and What It Means

Episode Date: August 27, 2025

In this special episode, the LB boys break down everything you need to know about the 2026 F1 regulation changes and what they mean for the sport as it enters a new era. From smaller cars, to the end of DRS as we know it, and a major shift toward hybrid power, they explore how each change could impact teams, drivers, and fans... >>> Don't miss out - limited tickets left for our 2025 LIVE SHOW in Austin TX! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠CLICK HERE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to grab yours or for more info!

This podcast is part of the Sports Social Podcast Network. Thank you for listening to the Late Breaking F1 podcast. Make sure to check out new episodes every Wednesday and every Sunday. Welcome to the late breaking F1 podcast presented by Harry E, Sam Sage, and me, Ben Hocking. Back for this final Sunday episode before we're back to some good old Formula One action, Sam. Dutch GP in a week's time. We've got a wonderful episode here today. Yeah, very serious.

episode to be getting on with. We're not talking about this season at all. We're talking about next season, the old 2026 regulations. We'll get to it on track hatching a bit. Harry is you love serious late breaking. You must be thrilled that we're not going to be having a single laugh for over an hour. No, laughing is banned on this episode. And if you hear a laugh, you get to send an abusive message to us.

Because as we promised, we weren't. No. No. We've laughed already, so it's too. Game over. Yeah, something a bit different for you here, folks, but hopefully you enjoy or find it informative at the very least. Yeah, we're going to be chatting all things, 2026,

because boy oh boy, they be some big changes coming. You are very correct. We've had this sort of request for a little while to do this sort of an episode. As you say, 2026 is such a drastic change versus what we've had in the current set of regulations. So we're going to go through a full episode dedicated to these 2026 regulations. We're going to try and split it evenly. So we're going to kick off the discussion with a bit of a chat around the power unit and what's happening there.

We'll take our first break, then talk a little bit about the dimensions, about the tires. Then we'll move on to aerodynamics. And then we'll cover anything else off in the final topic, anything around safety or sustainability that we don't feel has got attention earlier on in the episode. So let's start with the power unit. And in an episode where we are talking about change, there's one thing that's not changing. And that is that we do still have a 1.6 litre v6 turbocharged engine. As we've had since 2014, that will not change whatsoever. But what is changing is the balance between the power generated from the internal combustion engine, also known as the ICE, if you hear us talk about that throughout this episode, and electrical power.

So the way in which it's currently balanced, you've got the ICE, which is capable of 560 kilowatts, and the battery, which is 120 kilowatts. We are getting very close to a 50-50 split with these new regulations. So the ICE is brought back to just 400 kilowatts. The battery is at 350. So not quite 50-50, but it's far more of a hybrid series than what we've had in the past. Sam, let's start there. Why have they made this decision?

It's interesting, isn't it? It looks like the world of motoring is moving away from stereotypical, purely petrol-powered cars. And obviously, we'll get onto that because part of the change that is changing is that the MGUH has also been removed. And we'll get into that detailing a little bit. But, yeah, we're becoming much more evilly balanced when it comes to battery power, essentially. And I'm sure you love seeing out on the road that electric cars are far more common. Hybrid cars are far more common. And this plays into a trend that, you know, Formula One always tries to be one step ahead of the trending market.

It's got some kind of research relevance. We've seen with the teams coming into the sport, Honda are properly coming back with Ashton Martin. Ford are coming into play. Kagalak will be here with General Motors. Audi are coming in and you've got already the existing engines already that are in the sport. It does need to be relevant to their road cars. It needs to be relevant to their marketing.

It needs to show possible performance. It will change quite a lot, though, in what happens on the actual racetrack. I've got some amazingly, the ones, time, you know, I made notes. I've got some here. Ricars, in obvious terms, will have much stronger electric boosts down the straight. So when they actually deploy their electrical energy, they, and off they go, little rocket ships, they will fly down that straight. And this should mean that overtaking, in theory, has more opportunity to happen because there's more power for them to deploy, it's a bigger

boost, and they have some more freedom over how and when they can deploy it. And it does mean that battery management is going to become way more tactical. in the way that you manage it, the way that you use it. So we should see some strategy. Very similar to, if you're an older watch for Formula One, and you remember Kerr's, when that first came in, and you used to deploy Kerr's for a form of overtake, it's a bit more similar to how that used to work.

You use too much one lap, you might be vulnerable than X-Dap, for example. So we might end up seeing some form of energy dual play out where one car might use it more in one lap, then use less than X-lap, and we might see a big of old back and forth between things. So the way that the energy is being used in Formula One may be very different to how we see it now because of these changes. Harry, do you think it's road relevancy that is driving this shift towards electrical power?

100%. They may address it, they being F1, may dress it in some positive PR around sustainability, but it's 100% for road relevancy. And it's the reason why we are. as Sam's mentioned, we've attracted so many different manufacturers as of the next year. Obviously, Honda are still there now, but they are coming back properly. As you mentioned, Sam, we've got Cadillac, we've got Audi. And as much as I dislike that in terms of, I'd rather we were driven by what's entertaining

than getting big manufacturers in. It's the reason why these manufacturers are entering or re-entering the sport. properly. So yeah, it's 100% the reason so many cars on the road, so many motor manufacturers these days are building hybrid cars, whether that's for performance or just for sustainability reasons. It's the way the automotive world is going. So it seems to me that's that's why that's why F1 is heading this direction. And I think there's I think we, I'm hoping this is a happy medium because it was the reason why we had the 2014 regs when they came in with the current engines we have now.

I think that was road relevancy, but it went too far. They were too complicated. I'm never going to answer that. But I think now we've sort of got a happy medium between entertaining engines, entertaining rule regulations and also road relevancy that attracts these big manufacturers. So, yeah, hopefully it's hopefully it keeps in. keeps on track with that. As we've mentioned, I think this is the closest step that we've had to a true hybrid series now,

because whilst there has been, and currently is electrical power as part of the overall power unit deployment, it is a much smaller part of it now than what it will be to use, as we always do, a food analogy. Right now it's like the ICE is the cake and the electrical power is the icing. but in the 2026 regs this is going to be a marble cake like the ICE will be the vanilla the electrical power will be the chocolate it's all melded into one

it's no longer just going to be electrical power is helping the main star of the ICE they are pretty much going to be equally powered so it's going to be really interesting to see how that dynamic works I do think the road relevancy is the most important aspect

of the decision here it has helped I think attract these car manufacturers like Audi and like Cadillac. We know that as you referenced Sam in terms of what's happening on the road, governments are going to start and maybe even already have started

placing bans on you know, ICE only vehicles or newly bought ICE vehicles from 2030 is the case for some countries. So I do think that road relevancy is playing a big factor here.

Another thing that is being, being talked about is the manual override system. This again is going back to battery power. You can view this as a strategic burst of additional power that you'll be able to get in the race. So energy deployment for all drivers in races will taper off after 290 kilometers per hour until it reaches zero at 355 kilometers per hour. But with this override system, which is the MGUK, being overridden, all 350 kilowatts of battery power will be available to use if you are within one second of the car ahead, similar to how DRS works now from a tactical perspective. The big difference, though, is that there aren't going to be zones, as we've got DRS zones.

If you are one second away, as long as you're hitting the amount of miles an hour, or kilometers an hour that you need, that will be active to you. Sam, how do you think this will be used? Do you think this is more appealing than DRS? Firstly, I think this change in the long term will be very enjoyable for viewers and for racing. But initially, I think this is going to be possibly the most confusing change that has been brought into Formula 1.

DRS is when you're new to F1, a system that it probably takes your race or so to get your head round and to understand how, you know, following by second you go through a detection point and then you get it for the straight in front of you, your rear wing opens, you're entitled to that, you know, extra lack of downforce that sends you into a straight line faster. You can work that out over 60 laps or so. Here, I really think that the TV crews, the broadcasters,

are going to need to be showing live graphics, live updates of what's going on to make it very clear to viewers why a car, second lane seems to be driving 30, 40, 40 kilometres an hour fast in the car it's trying to pass. Once that's understood, I think this is going to be a really interesting and tactical element to Formula One. And I think that the closest thing we can equate this to at the moment is quite similar to IndyCar, of course, with their push-to-pass system.

It's not exactly the same, but it is along that same vein. It's in that family of options to use when going against someone. Now, I like that the car attacking has a tactical advantage, and then within one second, they pick up that extra power to use. But it will be very interesting to see how the cars who are also defending utilize that battery. And because it's not just in one split zone, we won't be stuck, I hope, with DRS passes as it's kind of come to be known that we have in the modern area

where somewhere like Imala, for example, there's one place to overtake, you go down to start, finish straight and with DRS open, as long as you've got a good run, there's a chance that you'll be in front come the end of that straight. Here in theory, it should open up a few different areas of a few different racetracks that mean that you tactically could spring a surprise on your opponent. You can maybe get past somewhere where you wouldn't normally get past. And it means that actually, if you can technically wear out your driver's battery or charge in front, you might be capitalised on this.

And I do think it should open up some interesting avenues for will-to-will-will battling, overtaking, and differences in racing at what we've seen over the last four or five years. You're a fan of the concept, Mr. Reed? I am a fan versus what we have now with the IRS. I feel it's kind of like it's not quite there where I'd want it, because I'm,

I'd say I'd want it more back to, like we had with Kerr's where you can use it anywhere. I know, sorry, I know you can use this anywhere, but you don't have to be within one second or et cetera. You can just, like a push-to-pass system like you said, Sam. However, I think, yeah, versus what we have now, I like it much more because it will allow some variation. And it could be, it could be, you know, drivers that are clever,

Fernando Lanzo, for example, drivers that are crafty and clever will use this to their advantage to do interesting things to get moves done, whether it's out of a slow corner, for example, where your opponent's not expecting it. So I like that because, as you said some, I think we're going to see some variation, variation on where overtakes happen,

which at the moment we don't have, because quite frankly, it's just DRS zones or nothing. So, yeah, I'm a big fan of that. Like I said, I wish it was, I wish it was more towards Kurz or push to pass but I'm happy with it I'm with you Sam

I do worry it's going to be quite difficult to explain to a more casual viewer and I'm hoping that I'm sure the people at F1 will be working on the graphics that you have on screen to show that in a simple way but yeah it might take just a little while to to understand because as

as flawed as DRS is very simple to understand. It is a zone and you get to open your win and that's about it. So this one might take a little bit longer but overall I think like you said time, in the long term I think it's going to be a good thing. If you think this is confusing,

wait until we get to X and Y modes. I'm going to fall asleep at that point. Good. When it relates to the manual override system specifically, I decided to do a little bit of research on this. And I decided to pick a track and I went with Bahrain because I wanted to see what you might get from this system versus what you would get from DRS currently. So as mentioned before, this manual override system is relevant when you are doing over 180 miles an hour. So if you're not doing over 180 miles an hour, then this system isn't relevant.

So the Bahrain lap, for example, if you've got the start, finish straight, we'll go around the lap. you've got it from the start finish line down to the down to turn one the same as what you get with DRS really no different you've then got the run down to turn four as you come out of the first couple of corners you'll get it there but probably only for about I counted about two and a half seconds I think well you've got to be quick to react to that yeah you're not going to get it like at the same point as when you activate DRS you're going to get it further down the straight because that's that's the point you hit 180 miles an hour there um the next point is also a DRS zone, which is the rundown to turn 11, which you'd consider the back straight.

Again, you're probably only getting it there for two, three seconds. But where you have a little bit of difference is the rundown to turn 14, that's not a DRS zone, sort of the last two corners before the start, finish straight again. You will get it there for, again, just over three seconds, I think. So when I started to add all this up, I think if you've got DRS for a whole lap of Bahrain, you've got DRS for about 17 seconds. This manual override mode system, like you will have for about 12 or 13 seconds.

So you won't have... But the impact is much stronger when you hit that button, which is the difference. That's the question. We haven't seen it in reality yet, but you would think F1 are banking on this being powerful enough to the point where it can overcome not being active for as long as DRS is.

we'll see how it works out I feel like my preference would have been for the effect of it to be a little bit lessened but the use of it a bit more widespread I would prefer no limit I've got going to lie if you're within one second for me no matter where you're on the track

I think you should have access to extra battery power because I think you see some really fun overtakes going into corners going wheel to wheel round corners which would be interesting I just think that putting a limit on it I reckon we see this changed I wouldn't be shot by summer break they bring this kilometer an hour limit at least down a bit to make it.

Yeah, I don't know. Maybe. That's what I was kind of thinking, because based on, again, it's only one track, of course, but based on Bahrain, you're probably getting the same overtaking spots that you would get via DRS. Well, I've used your mother, right? As an example, well, realistically, you're only going to get it on the same straight. There won't be anywhere else realistic that you breach over there for reuse. Yeah.

Yeah. Sam, you already mentioned the MGUH is disappearing. Do you think that's a good call? And do you think that helped attract someone like Cadillac? I don't know. I think financially it's a good call. This is simplifying engines. So therefore, it's cheaper to create these engines and therefore, in theory, cheaper entry, cheaper sustainability.

You know, less costs for cost cap, for things like that. And that's all really good for Formula One and Formula One teams. It allows them to spend money elsewhere. It allows new teams to join in not have to go, oh, gosh, we've got to spend, oh, I know, 500 million our engine projects. Instead, we'll spend 380 million on our engine projects, still silly numbers in this normal world. But you get the picture that I'm painting. But I do think it can make some differences in how the engines work and how teams process their power. With this gone, the energy recovery from the turbo, of course, is gone.

That's how that changes. And therefore, when that goes, turbo lag is going to increase. and if you know what turbo lag, and if you've got turbo in your car, essentially when you hit a sweet spot in RPM, if you've seen the film like Fast and Furious, for example, they suddenly hit like a certain RPM in their car and they're off down the road at full speed.

Turbo lag is a massive thing as well, like a lot of, like 80s rally cars, for example. They suffer a lot. The Audi quadrotts, it felt, and rally suffer from turbo lag. But it means that throttle response is less smooth. You get picked into it a little bit, which could open up some lairy exits for cars, which should be quite interesting to see.

I think that's a positive for the sport. It might mean that you have cars that are slightly harder to control. You might wear down your tyres more regularly. It means that cars might be able to take advantage if you're smoother on the throttle and get past the other cars there. But I do think it's a shame that we are again moving away from the pure petrol side of things in Formula One and we are losing a, what I think is quite a core and natural element,

feels quite naturalistic for Formula One to be very much petrol powered. And I think the MGUH is a key part of that. So it's a shame, but I do understand, and the positives of being less reliance on a complex system and it being cheaper. Harry, are you okay with the MGUH saying bye-bye? Yeah, I'm okay with this going. I think like I said earlier, I'm more of a fan of a less complicated engine and getting rid of this works towards that.

So I'm not particularly sad to see this go. You're right, I sound on the turbo lag. That might be interesting. I'm sure F1 teams will find a way around it, but I've already got visions of someone trying to do Aet and Senna style throttle application as they go through corners Longstrel. It's going to be long stroke.

It's going to be first race, first corner. It's going to be Brazil turn four. That's what it's going to be if it's Landstrol. Yeah, my guy's gone. If you don't know what I'm talking about YouTube, that one, folks. But on both fronts, Center Throat application and Lance Trow in Brazil. We are putting them in the same sentence again.

That is stopping. Equally as talented. Oh no, we laughed, came over at the episode. I got the threat. Another threat is coming in. But yeah, so I'm a fan of this going to be. I said, I don't think having these complicated engines have really aided us over the years in F1. They're fantastically reliable now.

But I, and the performance is incredible, but I just, they've always been too complicated, too heavy for my life. liking. So by MGMH, you won't be missed by me. Yeah, I'm not on the fence on this one whatsoever. Expensive, not very relevant, just not very popular. I'm happy it's gone. Should we end the power unit part of this discussion and take a quick break? And on the other side, we'll get into some things about the dimensions of the new cars and the tires.

Welcome back, everyone. We've covered off the power unit side of the 2026 regulation. We're now going to get into dimensions and tires. So we'll start with the wheelbase and the width of the car. So the wheelbase, when we're talking about wheelbase, we're talking the center of the front tire to the center of the rear tire. That has previously been, or is currently, 3,600 millimeters. That is being cut down by 200 milliliters to 3,400 millimeters, not millimeters.

The width of the cars is also being reduced. So from 2,000 millimeters to 1,900, Sam, will this succeed in their aim for, you know, closer, more agile racing? It's an interesting amount of size, isn't it, that we're shrinking things down by. I saw some equated to an average bonga in length is how much shorter we're getting on the wheelbase. Hey, I'm a big fan of smaller cars on the racetrack. We look at race tracks now like Emmuller, like Monaco, which for a long time, it's become very difficult to get moves done and you regularly have to fight it out in the pit lane or strategically beat your team, or on the team, of course, which of course is fine.

That's exciting on one side of things, but we want cars to go wheel to wheel and that's going to happen more and more if there's more racetrack for you to drive around because the cars are smaller. So yes, 200 million meters shorter, and we'll get on to narrowing a minute, but they've also got a narrower. I do think that this means that we should, in theory, have more combat. I don't think they've gone far enough. I would like to see the cars be smaller than this, narrower than this. You look back, for example, Lewis Hamilton's championship-winning car in 2008, and it's like,

you know those little kid cars that you get where they look like a little Bugatti or something? That's a little remote control. Literally, it's like a hot wheel version of a modern Formula One. It's so much smaller, it's ridiculous. And yet we still had brilliant racing. So I would like them to go further, but I do think it means that tracks like Zandwater that we've got coming up, Singapore that we've also got coming up.

I'm hoping we might see a little bit more wheel to election, but I don't think it's enough. I might see more. Harry, we've had hundreds and hundreds of episodes of this podcast. And even before this podcast, we had hundreds and hundreds of F1 discussions before that. And if there's one thing I know about Harry Yead is he likes, smaller, agile cars. Are you happy with this or does it not go far enough?

It's going in the right direction, but it's like, it's like the F1 is getting its, you know, one Kido badge after a month of Weight Watchers. It's not quite far enough yet. Sorry for anyone who's on Weight Watchers. Teasing folks. But nowhere near enough,

or at least for my liking, but I think you're along the same lines as me, Sam, when you look at the late 2000s, but I mean, that was from there, from like 2008, I guess, backwards,

they were very similar sizes of F-W-W-N cars and they were just so much more agile, nimble is probably the best word. And I want that. These cars are, well, we currently have, are like buses.

2026 is going in the right. right direction, but I would like, I'd like more, more, more, more to come off, please. But yeah, so far, so good. I hope this is a general trend to all smaller cars, but right now, 2020, 16, still, still isn't small enough for me yet. I concur. I think there's a reason why F1 is touting the 200 sort of millimeter reduction. And they're going with the absolute numbers rather than anything.

like percentages because when you boil it down to percentages, it doesn't sound like a lot. The width is being reduced by 5%. The wheelbase is being reduced by 5.6%. So I don't think this is going to be game changing. For anyone who's hoping that this will create a mid-2000s spec car, it ain't going that far. But you're right. It is at least going in the right direction.

I was having a look at because I'm normal. The 2005 R25 Renno, beautiful car. There's no reason needed to look at that car. But for this specific research, I was having a look at it because that is the era we talk about when we are referencing these smaller, more agile cars. Of course, Sam, you just mentioned 2008. So we're sort of in the same time period here.

That Renault was only 1,800 millimeters wide. so even narrower than what we're looking to get to in 2026. But it's really the wheelbase is the big one because that's 3,100 millimeters, which is 500 fewer than what we currently have and 300 fewer than what we will have next year. So it goes quite a bit further than what these regulations are going to do. Having said all of that, and we're not going to get into weight just yet, But one of the difficult things that F-1 is trying to do here is make these more agile cars whilst having a very complicated battery power and ICE power unit combination in the works.

Like back in the mid-2000s, you had your V-10 engine, you had the fuel tank and then radiators, and that was pretty much it. Now you've got this massive battery pack that is going to be three times. more powerful than the one we've currently got. You've got the internal combustion and you've still got the MGUK. You've got turbo, you know, turbo charge. Like you've got everything you're trying to pack in whilst also reducing the wheelbase, reducing the width.

Not easy. I will grant them back. We also already have some issues where cars have struggled to get like the engine casing actually over the engine and fit it into their car. You hear it a lot when teams suddenly change engine manufacturer. They'll go, we've got to rework another car because actually the way the engine is built doesn't fit our car anymore. So we've got to change other things around

and we'll get on to the weighting a bit. But then making the cars quite a bit lighter, actually, which hopefully with the slightly smaller cars should be overall beneficial. Tires, Harry, they are going to be narrower on the front and rear. So 25mm on the front, 30 millimeters on the rear. There's still going to be 18-inch rims. That won't change.

But we are going to have slightly smaller tires. Do you think that's a good call? yeah i mean again it goes towards the the overall weight uh i guess the problem of the car for me um by having smaller tires i mean they are the tires we have an f1 now i think it's hard to um hard to see from the tv i think you'd actually you really need to be up close to an f1 type they are yeah massive especially the rears yeah huge absolutely ginorma so i think yeah a reduction in size is warranted. I know Pirelli

said that the grip won't be affected, which smells like PR nonsense to me. I'm all right with that. Yeah, exactly. Pirelli, it's fine. Don't panic. Yeah.

We're okay with this. Yeah. We're all right with a bit of slipping slide over it. Yeah, and I think we said this before on like historic reviews and stuff

when we had the Pirelli tires from like 2012, 2011. I know that's, you know, there's a different scenario of how quickly these tires were. But even so,

they were smaller tires and it was just less grip harder for drivers. That's what we want. So probably it's okay if they are less grippy. We ain't going to come after you. There's only 20 people that will and they're all F1 drivers. So they'll have to grow up and get over it. Yeah, I'm a fan of this. Again, I think probably could go further again because we're still not back to where we

were before these bigger cars came along. But it's a step in the right direction. not intentionally researching for this episode specifically, but I think it was on Twitter. I stumbled across a clip of Lewis Hamilton's 2020 Belgian GP poll app. And we know that 2020 Merck is just ridiculous. And it's not just the tires, I know. It's just on rails to the point where even like you think the current McLaren's good.

Like go back to that car. It is ridiculous. And it's impressive. But at the same time, it's like, I want to see these drivers struggling through these high-speed corners. I want to see the grip reduced. I want to see who can, you know, of those 20 drivers or 22 drivers, as it will be, like, I want to see who can step up to the challenge and who can't.

Like, that's great. I'm all for these smaller tires. We will probably see at lower speed, like, because of the reduced contact action. they'll probably be a bit more agile and a bit more nimble lower speed and then when we get to these high speed corners maybe 1.30R will actually be a corner again.

I don't be silly. I'm fine with that. Don't be silly. To make the most British of analegies possible, the difference in tyre is basically like the width of a crumpet between what we've got currently and what we've got coming up. It really is only about that much difference

between the two. But again, all of these changes in theory that we've spoken about so far, I meant to complement each other. So if you talk about that turbo lag that we spoke about, which means that the exit out of corgous might be more difficult and less smooth, you've got a smaller contact patched you to the grip, and therefore means you're going to light a car, that if you're trying to put down more power and a lighter car and less grip,

you might get a bit of a lairy car. It might be more nimble. It might be throwing around the track a little bit more. I don't think it goes far enough again, but it's a step in the right direction. So it's good to see in my eyes. Let's move on to the weight of these cars, because it's already quite a big talking point.

And spoiler, folks, it's going to become even more of a talking point the closer we get to 2026. This is going to be a challenge for these teams. So 2025, the regulations as they are right now, the minimum weight is 798 kilograms. That's with the driver included. The 26 minimum weight will be 768. So we're losing 30 kilograms.

Now, teams don't have to make this number. but it's very much in their interests to make this number. If you are overweight, you are losing a lot of time. So that's the number that these teams are going to be aiming for. Where it gets a bit more complicated is we are having a battery power that is three times what we've currently got. It can be heavier. The internal combustion engine right now, the minimum weight, is 151.

Sorry, 185. Sorry, no, I was right the first time. 151 kilograms, it'll be going up to 185. So once you kind of do all that math, the power unit is going to be 34 kilograms heavier, but the cars can be 30 kilograms lighter. Teams are going to have to try and find 64 kilograms from somewhere that isn't the power unit.

Sam, it's going to be no pain. That is going to be a challenge. There's been no pain at all. Yeah, yeah. And there's also going to be no drivers. because the diets that those teams are putting those drivers on is actually going to be farsical. I am a little bit worrying about the drivers.

I think that they will be kept at a minimum weight. An absolute minimum weight, I think that it would be expected to trim right down because they are something that is in theory controllable. And it means that... I think they're protected. I think up to maybe 85 kilograms. They are.

But they'll be expected to hit 85 kilograms. And that's my point. And for smaller drivers, Kimi Antigali, for example, he's 18 years old at this point. Sure, it's what? Actually, Yuki's Sengoda. He's finally got a perk in life for being shorter than everyone else.

He might hit that. But you look at someone like, George Rusk, if he's saying that shit. Nico Holkenberg, you know, these taller guys in the sport who will just naturally carry a bit more weight because they're bigger. This is going to be a struggle.

I just want to, you know, I might want to make sure they are looked after. But where else are they going to take weight off? Surely it's got to be aerodynamically. Surely the bodywork is what's going to to have to take up because you're not going to lose this 64 kilograms in paint even if every team runs pure carbon with a couple of sponsor stickers on the side that will not be close to 64 kilograms in weight so these cars are going to have to be trimmed back less even though it's carbon fiber

even less of of it to make sure they do run lighter which could be very very interesting and that plus the extra battery power that plus the larry exits plus the smaller tires again all these things do add up. So we should see what feels like a very different formula long in 2026 when it comes in this kind of driving. Before he departed Red Bull, Christian Horner, may rest in peace, said that a number was plucked out of the air when it comes to minimum car weight. Harry, we've already discussed the power unit.

We're going to discuss the aerodynamics, and I appreciate it all feeds into each other. But is this weight saving going to be the number one challenge for teams going into next year? I think it could well be. This is such a difficult figure for them to hit now. They will find a way. They are Formula One teams.

They always do. We've seen it with these current regs where last year or 22 and 23, yeah, or 23, 24, sorry. Teams were not painting their cars. Alpine, for example, really not bothering on that one. but we get to 2020 I will not get annoyed I will not get annoyed

I will be calm oh I will we get to 2025 and things F1 teams have found the way but mostly we've got a relatively colourful grid again now so my point being

that F1 teams always find a solution in the end so it will be a challenge but it's part of the spot and they'll just have to get on with it I think if we get to 2026 and they're all massively

overweight Don't do it. Not again. Not after Paul Salba, whatever it was, when they went out for Amaya, when they actually turned up on the weight limit, and everyone went, well, we can't get slim, and we're too fat. I say, and I will re-emphasize all overweight.

I'm not having that nonsense again. If Salba can do it, anyone can do it, and that should be a motto for life. I'm right. I'm right. So, yeah, I'm saying if all of them turn up and they're all chunky, chunky boys, then maybe this needs a rethink.

But for now, I'm willing, I'd want them to get on with it. It's F1, it's the pinnacle of motor racing. It's a challenge. Please proceed. This to me feels like the crux of these new regulations, where you have two misaligned objectives that F1 is trying to achieve. Like they are trying to get this formula to be lighter and more agile, whilst at the same time introducing increased battery power.

and fundamentally they don't work together. And F1, I'm not saying what they should or could have done. F1 had an option at least to dedicate itself to one or the other. Like they could have said, we are going to try and get these cars much more agile. We'll build a power unit around that objective. Or they could have gone the other way and said, we are focusing 100% on battery power.

And if the cars are heavier as a result, so be it. they're trying to do a bit of best of both here. And, I mean, groundbreaking analysis, it's either going to work or it's not. Like, it's either going to be a real success that they have achieved both of these things or they are going to have achieved neither. I don't know which way it's going to go.

If they all turn up over weight, I don't hope they change it, because in theory, there's scope there for a team to be clever. If they can find a way to drop that weight, even if it's, say, five kilograms, there's a real advantage there if they get it right and they do it legally. So I do hope that the challenges are available to teams should no one even make it.

Well, in theory, I mean, that's just going to raise, I'm not saying it's right, but that would raise the maximum weight to the point where they will all still be at a disadvantage to whoever has made either minimum way or close to minimum weight. So that advantage will still be there for whoever's done it. But we'll see. It's going to be a challenge for these teams for sure. Let's take our second break on this episode. On the other side, we're delving into aerodynamics.

Welcome back, everyone, to the aerodynamics part of this conversation. Adjustable arrow. Let's get into that. So adjustable arrow is something that we have on the current regulations via DRS. So the rear wing changes its position when DRS is activated. That is adjustable arrow. We're going to get more adjustable arrow in 2026, but not in the same way that we have it right now.

As Sam referenced earlier, we have a couple of different modes that are going to be at play. Firstly, I should say it's not just going to be the rear wing that is adjustable arrow this time around. The front wing is also going to be in play here. And you've got X mode and Z mode. It's simpler than it sounds. So X mode is essentially your low drag mode, what you would currently get with DRS. That is very much designed for straits.

You're not as focused about corners in terms of downforce. It is a driver activated system. So unlike DRS, it's not a tactical ploy. You can apply this whenever you want, as long as you are within the zones, the F1 allows you to use X mode. But you have full control as the driver in those zones as to when you use X mode. The other mode is Z mode, essentially the complete opposite. That is very much focused on corners.

That is almost your default setting. So it sounds difficult and it is going to be a challenge. for F1 to explain this properly. It's not fundamentally different from DRS and non-DRS just with a few quicks. Sam, what do you make of this? It feels like it's less tactical

than DRS because you don't need to be within a second of a car in order to apply this. Do you think this will be a positive inclusion? My brain is definitely over-egging how this is going to look. The first time I see someone press the button to go from Z-mode to it. I'm like there's a transformer.

about to appear on the race track. Like it's all going to, whatever his name is, Decepticong, I don't know what any of them are called, he's the least nerdy man in the world, is going to appear on the tracking. I don't know what any of them are called, Bumblebee is going to turn up. Yeah, I don't know.

I don't know. I think there's an interesting game that you play here with this ex-mo, the Zemmo, because obviously we currently have car setups, and car setups feature a lot of things, such as tire pressure, but it also features wing alignment. You see the front wing being altered sometimes in pit stops.

If, for example, we get a rainy session. Or you hear Max Verstaffer, for example, very recently to get in Silverstone, where he set his car up to be straight line focus. They trimmed all the wing off the car to be fasting a straight line. And you'll hear about how if it rains, well, you need more downforce. You need the car to stick to the racetrack. You have more downforce. Now, can you alter your setups?

So, in theory, your X mode is super trim back. And when it turns into that, you're able to utilize that. And then Zeg mode, it's super piled on. Is there a way that you can actually do that? Well, some cars go, our Zeg mode is going to be way more straight-lying focused, actually, and we're not going to have a lot of downforce in our Zeg mode. Actually, our X-mode is going to be ultra-stra. Like Monsa, for example, would it be so straight-line-focused

that the down-force section almost doesn't have anything on anyway? Because from what I'm aware, there's no limits on how much you can or can't put on to each mode, you are allowed to set that car up for how you'd like. So that is where I think the tactical element will actually come in. And if you get it right, it could be far more effective or far more advantageous than simply using DRS during a race day. Because if you get your two modes aligned well in comparison to your competitors, you have an advantage of the whole way around the lap.

Whereas current with DRS, you set your current normally and then you just get DRS. And you might go, all right, the overtake isn't as easy because I've got the longer downforce on, sure, but here you could have a real advantage of the whole way around the racetrack. So I'm quite intrigued by this. It's going to be hard for people to understand again. It's going to take some races. They have to explain it well. But I'm really intrigued to see how teams especially can crack the code of X and Zegmode

and find out what comes out on top in terms of car set up and how they deal with that car. What are your thoughts on this change, Harry? I hate it. I don't want this at all. I just don't see the point in it. quite frankly. I see the points you'll make us out. The tactical element will be in how you set it up.

But I mean, we're interested in that. But I think for the most part, not many people will be interested slash may not even understand or even see it. Because if it's something that's being done in the garage effectively, that part of the tactics. It might be interesting, as you said, if there's a wet weather race and you go from wet to dry,

maybe one driver's braver in deploying X mode when it's a bit damp or they're on slicks and it's a bit damp, that sort of thing or even full wet and they might deploy it when another driver might not feel like it's, sorry, what was that full wet? Well, that's a separate point. What is a wet race? But for me, I just, I don't see the point in it.

I feel like, and with you, Sam, like it all sounds very complicated, but actually get a couple of races in, we might have forgotten this was even a thing. How many people will remember that in 2009 we had adjustable front wings in Formula One? The drivers, the drivers could use. Very minimal, I think. Yeah.

And I think that's where we're headed with that one. And it got quickly, it got quickly binned and we didn't hear about it again because it was, it's hard to see that on screen. And whether they'll, they'll, they'll show that with graphics when you're on board. But if it's available to all drivers at all times, during the race, like you say,

it's not like DRS, but one will have it and one won't. They'll just all use X mode and Z mode at the same times, I think. Do you think we'll see more trains? I hope not, because we obviously got the energy, the energy deployment thing,

but, and there will be, I guess, an element of, yeah, it depends where these zones are as well. I, I'll be somewhat open to it until I've seen it, but in theory, I hate it. I don't want it. You think on the side of the track we're having what DRS board is,

kind of giant X, giant Y around them, like giant buttons on your Xbox controller. It's actually got someone do the X Factor sign. I heard it's Wage one. Yeah, she's just stood there, like billboards of her face in the right.

If we called it, Rachel at the Diji mode, then I'd be much happier at this concept. I know. I'm so key for that. Dermalieri's there, H-Bord. And then when you press it,

Ada Deji! Rachel, how did Daisy! She got a shout-out. We've immediately improved it. Come on, Rachel. Come on the show. She loves this show. She'll be delighted to hear a shout-out for her.

With Harry, I don't like it. I think, Sam, you are right in that the most interesting element of this is probably before we even start a race. It's in the setup. It's how teams might approach that. track, I don't think it's going to make much of a difference whatsoever because teams will end up copying each other. They'll all find their way to the right strategy.

And it's not that complicated. If you're in a straight line, X mode makes sense. And if you're not, Z mode makes sense. And everyone's going to copy each other. So I don't think it's much tactically on track. I don't think it's going to really add anything to the product whatsoever. I think the reason F1 have done this is purely from a how impressive can we make our cars perspective

like how can we for eye-catching qualifying laps like overall performance for you know sponsors for anyone looking from the outside in how can we make our sport look as impressive as possible well the answer to that is making cars as quick as they can be through corners whilst also making them as quick as they can be in a straight line And I think that's why they've introduced it.

But I, again, I think it's more complicated than it sounds. I don't actually think this is going to make much of a difference whatsoever. How long till we get, Fernando, all over the radio, being like, this is so confusing. I hate this. He activated the X-o mode too soon. You'll know the rules. Three seconds. Immediately.

All the time, you must have left a Z-mode. You must have put on the way. I'm surprised that they didn't Maybe they did consider it I'm surprised they're not considering this a little bit more tactically like because you have the opportunity rather than the electric power to use this as your tactical game of and you don't have to use it the same way as DRS

has been done the last 15 years like you could do it as a push-to-pass system you could do it as a how many seconds you get in the race like in the car how many deployments you get how many deployments you get per 10 lapse, whatever it might be. You had a lot of options to do something different here, and you've decided not to. Not to say that's the wrong call,

but I'm interested they haven't. Yeah, I, again, I wonder if it's one of those things that maybe changes down the line. It could do, but the technology obviously won't change, so it'd be easy to change. Protection, don't you? Yeah, yeah. Also on aerodynamics, Harry, the lower beam wing is being completely removed. I'm sorry.

I was hoping you get onto this. I'm glad he else. I'm not the lower beam ring. It's my favourite of the beam ring. Well, it's gone, so you're going to be devastating in 20206. No. The idea is it's going to be clean awake for the trailing cars. We might have at least a little bit of a solution for dirty air,

but we have heard that plenty of times before. So do you remain skeptical or do you think that might actually help things? I remain hopeful. full on this one that it will help. It's not going to cure the problem. I think there will always be a dirty air problem with Formula One. It's just the nature of the sport. But hopefully, yeah, this, I think the more aerodynamics you remove from an F1 car,

the less dirty air it's going to be. So in that sense, it's a good, it's a good suggestion. It's a good idea. It's something we saw in 2009. That's why they, you know, we had cars at the end of 2008 that had all. sorts of aerodynamic bits on them and then they completely clean them off for 2009. And it's somewhat worked for that rule set. So I think this is along similar veins to that.

So yeah, I'm a fan of that. Yeah, I am as well. I think with the way that these teams are set up with some very clever individuals, I'm sure they will find ways around this because ultimately, whilst we as fans don't want these cars to be tricky to follow, the teams do want their guys. to be tricky to follow. And as we've heard in, we've had 2009, 2017, 2022. We've been promised that dirty air is going to be reduced by X percent and it's all going to be great and following cars is going to be much easier. And what tends to happen is there's a little bit of a boost straight

away and then the smart, the smart guys catch up and that's that benefit is reduced somewhat. the more encouraging thing about this is that it's literally being removed. Like it's not being modified in a way that teams might be able to work out how to configure it. It's literally not there. So that gives me a bit more hope that maybe this effect lasts a little bit longer, if not permanently. But following cars, you know, it's such an important thing to get right. We haven't found the solution yet. I'm intrigued to see if this helps.

Sam, what do you think? Yeah, for me, less dirty air, any capacity from Formula One is a good thing. I want cars to be like, glue themselves to the back of the car in front and go for a lunge or go for a move wherever they can because they're closely enough to do so. Dirty air has been like a plague of Formula One.

It's been almost impossible to cure, and it feels like they're trying what they can. I know that we'll get onto this, but the front wing is also being changing partnership with the rear wing. And I think combined together, the simplicity of the system, in theory, should hopefully mean that when we are getting a train come into play,

it means that actually a move for a corner or a late dive might be way more on than what we have seen in the past where cars have sat eight, nine tents behind, picked up DRS, got four tents behind, and then hit the braking zone and can't get anywhere near. So, yeah, big fan if we can reduce dirty air, although I am sceptical at just how much dirty air is going to be removed. The current era that we're in right now is often viewed as the, the ground effect, the ground effect era, right?

Like we are very much within that of the moment, but it looks like the impact of ground effect is going to be significantly reduced with these new regulations, approximately 30% less downforce. We've obviously had porpoising issues, maybe not as much this year, but certainly in the early part of this set of regulations as well.

Harry, do you think that, you know, porpoising is that kind of a done deal? We're not going to get that in this new set of regulations. Do you think there will be maybe a slight reduction in the reliance to run your car as low to the ground as possible? I think so. If the ground effect, the reliance of ground effect for your overall downforce is lessened, then I think those issues should theoretically lessen as a result of that.

I also hope that this means that we don't get some of the other sports. spray issues that we currently get in Formula One when there's a wet race because I think that is, that has been a consequence of these, these, these monster ground effect cars that they chuck up so much spray when we have wet conditions that we end up with things like, like the Belgian GP that were very frustrating this year. So hopefully that's a positive net result of that as well. But yeah, it's tough to judge whether the ground effect, as overall, ground effect has been good or bad for us as a sport.

I'd say overall, yes, but I'm not that disappointed at the fact that it's being lessened. Yeah, great shout on the spray. It's something I hadn't really, hadn't really thought of. Sam, your thoughts on moving away from ground effect, do you think that we can, the era we're at the moment, you just reduce the ride high even a little bit. You get so much benefit from that. That should be lessened as a result of these new regs. Yeah, if I lift up my headphone, oh, it's Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari.

I can hear screaming from Marinello as we speak. Yeah, I do think that this will level the playing field just a little bit, because if you can find a way to, as you mentioned, smoothing that ride when that car is ultra low, then you gain just so much. And we've got a lot changing going on. I think the spray is a great call because the rear diffuses are, getting smaller. The floor is getting smoother. And in theory, it means that less turbulent air will pass out from under the back of the car from the base level. And it means

that less thrown up into the air again, meaning less drag for the car behind you. It means that down force has got as crucial being right to the bottom of the floor on the road. And again, less porpoising. So we won't see what Paul was saying he's went through when we started this area where they were quite literally Pogo sticking down the road at one point. It felt like absolutely tigger going down the racetrack. Anthony Lee's back messed up by 22 years old. Yeah, I think it's going to be a pretty interesting change to how these cars run. And I do think certain cars who have tried something risky,

that will maybe pay off more often now than what we've seen with the current rule set. Let's take our final break on this episode. On the other side, we're calling it miscellaneous. We're covering off anything that we haven't already discussed today. Welcome back, everyone. We've covered the aerodynamics of these new 2026 regs. We've covered dimensions, the power unit. I feel like we've got all of the biggest changes out the way.

But Sam, there's still plenty more out there that we haven't even covered so far. So is there anything else that you want to give attention to? Yeah, the first thing that we haven't spoken about yet, which we have mentioned in terms of how the cars are running, is, of course, 100% sustainable fuel that Formula One is moving towards. And this is a little bit, I think this is a bit of a frustrating topic, a sore spot for Formula One found, of why are we doing more backshrower? power why are we moving away from you know getting to a heavier power unit um and then also doing a

hundred and a sustainable fuel why can't we run a v10 or a v8 and just have fuel that is kinder to the planet if we're going to do this and that seems to be the reason why we're moving to sustainable fuels is to be less carbon you know um have less carbon output um and it could be interesting uh i say interesting because how your car processes its fuel and it's oil around that that can change how an agent runs and how positive it can put out its power output and lay down that power on the racetrack. So it'll be really interesting to see how well these modern power units adapt to 100% sustainable fuels. But it is also frustrating that we are having this 50-50 split, but we don't really seem to be maximizing the actual Formula One of the V8s or the B-Tens

or just having a cleaner engine in the first place. Harry, what are your thoughts on the sustainability perspective? Yeah, it's going back to what I said in the first section around, whether these engines are for sustainability or automotive trends. And it's definitely automotive trends because you're right, they could run this sustainable fuel in any type of engine. And it would be the same. It would be the same in terms of being more eco-friendly.

So it's obviously a positive that they are running this. It's definitely a good thing for Formula One. I'm so pleased about that. But yeah, like Sam says, it's a little bit of a sore spot. Because as we've said, many times Sebastian Vettles proving that you can run an old classic V10 on these types of fuels, which I would massively prefer to see than these are heavier battery powered or hybrid engines, I should say. So, yeah, overall good, but yeah, a sore spot like you say, Sam. It does get some point, doesn't it, where F1 should be a thrill first, a sport first. then should be the road science second.

I want it to be a technical event. I want people to have to find the most technical, innovative way to do something, but we're not here to save the planet. Formula One is quite clearly not meant to save the planet. So, can we have fun? I think I've said this for it. I'd happily lose manufacturers, like big manufacturers

for the sake of going back to that if we have to. F1 would survive, I think. topic for another time. I think when it comes to sustainability in F1 as well, something that's not necessarily in the regulations, but I tend to think that Friday to Sunday is not what makes F1 unsustainable. It's Monday to Thursday. It's to travel.

Like we are doing 24 races all around the globe. I will give F1 credit. I don't think we're there 100% there yet, but the calendar does make much more sense than it did even three years ago. You know, we are getting a bit more clever about, I know, the Japanese GP has changed when it is in the calendar, as has Baku has moved a bit further back. Canada and Miami and the way that that flows, that's going to change a little bit as well. So, again, not in the regulations, but that is certainly a way in which sustainability is being brought to the forefront in regards to F1. I did also want to cover off another S, not sustainability, but safety, because F1, relative to

its history, is about as safe as it's ever been. But there are a few improvements for these 2026 regulations. Most significantly, the roll hoop strength has been increased. So I think that's about 4G's worth from 16 to 20G. And we've got a two-stage front impact structure now. So occasionally we see detachment. issues when it comes to crashes, that should help with that. So maybe nothing groundbreaking from a safety perspective, but just a few nice to

have, so few benefits on top of what we already have. On top of that, we obviously saw a few instances seeing Silverstone where visibility was really tough with the spray that we really mentioned. The energy is on the backs of cars and on there, but it's getting brighter, which I think is good. It's a nice little change. There will also be a side status like. So when you're using the high voltage system

and a Formula One car, there's a light that appears to show the car is making that active, which I think if some reason the car gets stuck in that mode and is stationary and a steward approaches it, it's great that they can see if that is active. And the final one is it's got a stronger side protection. So there's a double fuel cell protection that's going on to the car.

It doesn't add any weight, which is an amazing feat of engineering. If that is really the case. Not in the regulations, but something that is very much a talking point going into next season that is going to be different from 2025 is the makeup of the grid. So rather than 20 cars and 10 teams, we're going to have 11 teams and 22 drivers with Cadillac joining the sport.

Harry, we know we haven't had a new entry in F1 for over a decade at this point. And you have to go all the way back to Hasse for that. I appreciate it's going to be a challenge for Cadillac no matter what. But how much of a challenge will it be for them versus some of the other new entry? that have come before them. Yes, it's going to be a sizable challenge. They are, I think we shouldn't be expecting Cadillac to come in and be, you know, winning races straight away.

That would be unwise and unfair on them as an expectation. I think on the flip side, there is the fact that this is new for everyone on the grid. So I know there's obviously previous experience in F1 that will help all the other teams there, but they've all got to cope with these new, these new regulations and they've all had the same amount of time to work on them. Bear in mind they couldn't really do anything

until the start of this year until they're working on the next year's car. So I think that will help that will help Cadillac in that sense because yeah, they've had the same amount of time. They've got the same sort of blank canvas as you were

as it were to try and make a competitive car. But yeah, no doubt it's going to be no doubt it's going to be tricky for them. And like I said, I don't think we should expect them to be fighting at the front, but they may spring a couple of surprises. You never know next year. It will undoubtedly be difficult for Cadillac,

but the way in which they're entering the sport is quite radically different from the last few new entries. And I appreciate you do have to go back a number of years to get the last few entries. But, you know, Hasse had to rely on a really, like, height model to make it work. Like they had to have that Delara chassis partnership. They had to have the

Ferrari technical partnership. And it worked. Fair play to them. And if you go further back than that, you look at someone like HRT, obviously severely underfunded. Infrastructure-wise, it was never really going to work. But with both

of those teams, neither entered F1 when the regulations were changing like Cadillac will. So Cadillac have an advantage in that regard. And their funding is just going to absolutely dwarf anything that's come before it. Like their funding is going to be way above anything else we've seen from a new entry in a very long time.

So I'm interested to see how it works. But from an infrastructure perspective, from a financial perspective, they have a much better chance of making it than some of the other teams we've seen in the past. Sam, can I like your thoughts? Yeah, I'm actually not particularly sympathetic. Actually, they've got a real chance of jumping into this with some positives. They didn't have to properly adhere to the cost cap up until, you know, pretty much now as we're going into the newer season. It meant they could build their infrastructure to the absolute peak of whatever it is they want to, you know, space age level without any restricting.

Someone like Williams, for example, is still lingering behind in that sense. And they would have been able to study the regulations as much as any other team. They'll be able to watch everything that's going on. They'll have data. Remember, they're taking on Ferrari engines. so they'll be going to use data from that section as well. I really think whilst it is complicated to join Formula One, they are setting themselves up for the best possible start you can get.

Again, I don't think they're going to be on the podium. I don't think they can be regularly fighting for top seven, top eight places immediately. But as a new team can come in, this is pretty much the ideal scenario to come into the sport. So whilst it's complicated for everyone, I think they've got a pretty good leg to stand on here. Harry, given one of the things that's not changing, It's the sort of foundational engine. I appreciate the way in which the battery power is being increased,

is changing. But it's still a V6. That hasn't changed at all. It's the fact that they're not building their own engine from 2026. Does it buy them a little bit of time to get everything else up to speed? Yeah, I definitely think that. And I think we probably referenced this one. That was announced initially when Calat joined.

they, I would assume they're very acutely aware of when Honda tried to come back into F1 in 2015. That was just one year after the new engine regulations came in with the current hybrids. And it went disastrously for them. So I think Cadillac are being sensible. They're aware that it's tough. And yeah, buying time to develop their own engine and have something, you know, pretty reliable and good in the meantime is a sensible option. So yeah,

I think it would have been a lot for them to come in as a works entry with their own engine straight away. This was the sensible move. Yeah, I agree. I mean, you look at Mercedes and Ferrari. They've had 11 years with this engine. Like they've got a lot of experience. There's a reason why they've taken on the Ferrari power unit

and why they're not battling them straight away. I think giving themselves a couple of years makes a lot of sense. And you have to remember with Cadillac, I know Andretti's interest in the sport goes back maybe to 2021, 2021, Cadillac weren't approved that long ago. It's not like they've had a lot of time since their approval to come up with an engine that is on a par with these other teams. It's perfectly understandable why they haven't gone with this straight away.

So I wanted to close on this question, moving away from Cadillac, when it comes to the 2026 regulations we've touched on it a little bit already we know that there are a new sport new fans to the sport coming in all the time uh we see it on this podcast therefore will see it on their broadcasts how do they ensure that f1 remains accessible yeah it's tricky um and there's no one resolute answer that you can give to go you will understand if we do x y and z um but you have to do this foundationally you have to do this foundationally you have to have to basically treat everyone like they've never seen Formula One before and you have to produce materials that allow people to absorb it and understand it in a meticulous and easy way to consume.

So for example on F1 TV on Sky Sports or whatever broadcasting you may watch from internationally, there needs to be a show put on that breaks it down, I think, on a regular basis. On each race's buildup, they need to have a 15 minute slot for the first few Grand Prix that is kind of a, hey, remember that we've changed a lot of this stuff, Here's what this means. I think Formula One needs through a lot of outreach. Things like Drive to Survive could benefit from this, but that comes out postseason.

But actually, places like us, places like this podcast, places like other podcasts and YouTube channels, but have a great connection with passionate fans, both new and old, need to be encouraged and a key push to ensure that a clear message that is accurate and educational is being delivered to fans all over. So they can go, right. there's a lot going on,

but I have listened to like six hours of stuff that's new. I kind of think I get it. I just need to see it in action now. And that's, I think, the way you get through to the fans. Don't patronise them, but you know,

you give them enough material and enough options to watch and learn that they can actually take some time to learn these things. You have to just make sure it is not like a university thesis being read out to you about a subject. You have no interest in though because you will bore people very quickly. Yeah, make it fun,

make it simple, make it clear and clean what you're trying to explain on on regular basis. have you got any thoughts on this one harry it's um you know the role of social media how important might that be for f1 as we go through this transitional period yeah i think there'll be a quite a bit a lot of explainers um you know posted across the f1 social channels i think it like you said sam on the broadcast as well there'll be a lot of work done to make sure that it's made clear what is happening as clearly as possible um because yeah as we've already highlighted

in this in this episode it's going to be somewhat complicated to a to a new or casual viewer and even like us i think we're going to be confused at points next year um so yeah i'm i'm hoping that f1 everyone do a solid job i think they will they've they've had time to prepare for this and they generally do a pretty good job all around on these sorts of things so um yeah it's It's going to have to, it's going to be tricky to, to explain. I think it's going to be tricky to show in the moment as well. The graphics are going to need to be very clear and do a lot of work. Whilst we have, you know, on board or track side during, during races or qualifying sessions.

But I have faith on that one. They've got to get that right. The graphics have got to be gotten right. I think that's really important to get that on track stuff. Correct. Yeah, those are the two things that I think they have to get right more than anything is plain language explanations and visual storytelling. That's what they have to nail down.

But I think the last thing you said, Sam, is also very important, and that is there is a balance to be met. They could very easily go too far with this as well. They do have to remember a lot of people watching are fundamentally watching for the human side of this, for the fanatic side of this towards a team, towards a driver. That needs to remain at the core of whatever you're doing. It needs to make sense so that those,

Those storylines are able to blossom and your fandom of a particular driver is able to flourish. But, you know, you need to make sure that that remains at the core of what you're doing. I think that's going to do it for the most sensible, late-breaking episode of all time. We tried, didn't we? We actually tried. We did. Rachel Adadadadie. You just thought I mentioned, but we got through it.

I forgot about that. You know what? That is so late-breaking that even one of the most serious episode we do, Rachel added danger gets a shout out. Folks, I hope you've somewhat understood, or at least you have an avenue to try and understand that the engines are changing. The cars are getting lighter. In theory, they're getting shorter and narrower.

There are wings of becoming less complicated, but there's now X and Y modes. Push to pass, which isn't really pushed to pass. It's complicated, we know, but we're here for the ride with you. We'll try and support you where we can. Ask questions. Get in the Discord if you have any other people in the community will help you as well. for us on social media as we go into the new season late breaking F-1 everywhere

and we promise that whilst we may also get confused with you we will hold your hand and we will guide you out the other side and we'll all get there in the end so thanks for listening through this summer break I know it's got always thrilling when there's no cars on the track but we'll be back very soon for some on-track action which is very exciting back in Zambor

and all the way through today and the season we'll bring you content every Wednesday and every Sunday and then Patreon extra if you fancy at the links in the description thanks for listening to we'll see you next time in the meantime, I'll be saying the stage. I've been Ben Hocking. I've been Harry Ead. And remember, keep breaking late. Podcast is part of the Sports Social Podcast Network.