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Feb 11, 2024

"It's right for the sport" for FIA to make F1 cars lighter in 2026

9th August 2023, 0:0126th August 2023, 23:47 | Written by Ida Wood In the round-up: FIA president Mohamed Ben Sulayem has made it clear he wants Formula 1 cars to become lighter when the next set of

9th August 2023, 0:0126th August 2023, 23:47 | Written by Ida Wood

In the round-up: FIA president Mohamed Ben Sulayem has made it clear he wants Formula 1 cars to become lighter when the next set of technical regulations is introduced.

FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem says the governing body will ensure Formula 1 cars become lighter when the next generation of technical rules are introduced in 2026.

The power unit regulations have already been fixed for the 2026 season. The series is in discussion over the chassis regulations. Ben Sulayem, a former rally driver, says he is keen to see car weights fall.

“I’ve driven rallies myself. Give me everything, but please no heavy car! That always bothered me,” he told Motorsport Total in an interview. “Lighter cars are better and I know what I’m talking about.

“If the weight is heavier, the suspension is compromised, the brakes don’t work as well, the tyres wear out more quickly. And more weight is more dangerous in a crash.”

In 2001, the minimum weight of an F1 car was 600kg. For 2023 it is 798kg, including the driver, and technical teams believe it will be difficult to match in 2026 unless the dimensions of cars are reduced.

“I’ve already spoken to my team at the FIA,” said Ben Sulayem. “We want lighter cars and we want a better sound [from the engines]. That’s ultimately up to the FIA. If Stefano [Domenicali, F1 Group’s CEO] wants that too, fine, then we agree on that point. But the FIA ​​has to decide. We’ll implement it. Not because the FOM or a team wants it that way. It’s because it’s the right thing for the sport.”

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Sam Bird left Jaguar last week after three seasons with them, enabling Nick Cassidy to turn his anticipated move there for 2024 a reality. That freed up a seat at Envision, which uses Jaguar’s powertrains, and Frijns has snapped it up. His move now also opens up a space at Abt Cupra.

Frijns has raced in FE since 2015, spending two seasons with Andretti Autosport before joining Envision for four campaigns. He won in Paris and New York for the team in 2019 en route to finishing fourth in the standings, then over the next three seasons picked up eight podiums.

This year he moved to Abt, who he drove for in the DTM from 2018 to 2020, and his season began with a wrist-breaking clash that meant he missed the next four races. Once he returned to the cockpit he was only able to score six points, leaving him 22nd in the standings at the end of the 16-race season. He will be team mate to Sebastien Buemi at Envision next year.

Kyle Kirkwood’s victory in Nashville last weekend means he has won two of IndyCar’s five street circuit races this year. But he reckons it should have been four out of five.

The Andretti driver started his second IndyCar season by finishing 15th in St Peterburg, claimed his maiden IndyCar win at Long Beach, finished sixth with fastest lap in Detroit and was 15th in Toronto. In the latter two he was fast in practice, but then did not deliver on that pace in qualifying and so was on the back foot for the races.

Kirkwood described his drive to victory in Nashville as “phenomenal” as he and his team “keep giving me a great car that’s good on street courses.”

“This should be more than two wins, to be honest, on street courses given the cars they’ve given me,” said Kirkwood. “I’m thrilled with this one here today. This is kind of redemption from last year. A dumb incident. Redemption from Toronto. Redemption from Detroit.”

Although he’s “not sure” why he is so strong on street circuits in IndyCar, with only two top-10 finishes from 20 races on permanent tracks, Kirkwood reckons “a lot of it has to do just with comfort around walls and adaptability.”

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Motor racing links of interest:

High noon with Vasseur (Autosprint - Italian)

'Iron fist is not my way, and times have changed. People's psychological approach is different, we need a more inclusive approach that makes everyone participate in a winning project. This is true in all contexts, not just in F1. From 1993 to 2000 Ferrari didn't win, there are no winning recipes by definition. You just have to improve the system and Jean Todt was great at surviving and developing it right. I think it was more difficult for Jean to survive seven years than to win titles over and over again!'

Fittipaldi’s Spa-Francorchamps weekend in his words (Formula 2)

'A first Formula 2 victory was never a matter of if, but when for Enzo Fittipaldi. Seizing the day in the Sprint Race, the Rodin Carlin driver mastered the waiting game and pounced when it mattered to stand on the top step of the podium for the first time at Spa-Francorchamps.'

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Lawson: Super Formula a useful step towards F1 (Speedcafe)

''The stuff you’re actually working on with the car, mechanically and set-up-wise with aero as well; it’s really, really sensitive to ride heights and things like that, like F1 is. You don’t get that sensitivity in F2,' he said. 'So in terms of the things that I’m learning as a driver, on the car set-up and things like that, it’s stuff that’s a lot closer – we don’t have the battery systems, the MGU-K stuff we’re not working with, but just in terms of just aero and the car, it’s similar to F1.''

In Profile: Gabriel Bortoleto (FIA Formula 3)

'''I think when I need to be aggressive, I can be very much aggressive. I can play the game that the others are playing as well. So if I see that the guy is very aggressive, I can be the same. I have no problems on doing that. But at the same time, I know that if I'm fighting for something bigger, like I'm doing now, I know how to play the smart guy as well.''

Goodbye, Crashville – and hello to a new crown jewel? (Racer)

'Nashville failed to live up to expectations on Sunday, and that’s a delightful thing to report. Dubbed ‘Crashville,’ and rightly so after its first two events had more in common with destruction derbies than IndyCar races, the race that took place during Sunday’s 80-lap contest won by Kyle Kirkwood was , for the first time, downright normal.'

This time, leaving would be synonymous with no return for the French industrial group. Today, via his team, he gives an international stature to Alpine which he wants to make his premium brand. Tomorrow, perhaps it will be necessary to support Renault again or promote a brand of the group. No, definitely, that would not be a good calculation, especially now that it is possible to achieve financial equilibrium thanks to the budget cap.'”]

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Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:

Look what we found… 👀

Ayrton Senna's iconic SEGA trophy from *THAT* 1993 #F1 race at Donington! ❤️ pic.twitter.com/aCA6se6IFM

— McLaren (@McLarenF1) August 8, 2023

📷CASTLE COMBE PRESENTS: OUTDOOR CINEMA!📷

Three evenings of car film-based fun at the Wiltshire race track this August (25-27), with remote headsets provided!

Don't miss this unique experience: https://t.co/eKSnUftTC7 pic.twitter.com/grv8N1le0k

— Castle Combe Circuit (@CastleCombeUK) August 8, 2023

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The team mate battle between Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez has been very one-sided, particularly in the European leg of the season. Everyone wants to know why Perez stopped having victory-fighting form just a few races into the 2023 season, and how he can reclaim that ability. But what if an improved Perez just leads to an improved Verstappen?

I do think that when Perez is in a vibe with the car and feeling confident he can be close enough to Verstappen where he can win. But Max is just so relentlessly consistently fast everywhere and seemingly able to pull out extra almost at will that it’s really hard to keep up the confidence in yourself when you’re up against that in the same car.

Perez probably let the pressure get to him, crashed in Monaco and that made him question the car, himself, everything. By now, we can hope he can get back to his mojo for a bit where he will at least be offering some challenge to Max, but I have little hope Max will be in a mood to let that happen more than occasionally.

For the championship, there really was never much doubt that it would be one sided, but I guess we can be happy at least the first few races gave us the hope of having them race each other for it. BasCB

Happy birthday to Bustertje!

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