Pit-stop strategy is about when to change tires during the race. The timing can make a big difference because newer tires often let you go faster and gain position.
The Miami Grand Prix is one of the Formula 1 races on the calendar, held in Miami. When rules change, teams and drivers pay close attention during race weekends to see how those changes actually affect the cars.
F1 rules can be changed slightly from season to season. Those changes can make the cars behave differently, so teams have to adapt their setup and driving style.
In F1, teams use high-tech simulators to practice and predict how the car will feel and perform. Sometimes the simulator predictions don’t match what happens in real races.
Modern F1 cars use a hybrid system that can add extra power from a battery. When the car switches between battery power and normal engine power, the car’s pull and behavior can feel different.
Qualifying is when drivers try to set the single fastest lap to get the best starting position. If the car is harder to manage, drivers may have to be careful instead of going all-out every corner.
“Drive-in on the limit” describes a style where drivers push hard into braking and corner entry, relying on predictable grip and balance. If the car’s behavior changes due to regulations (or hybrid power transitions), that kind of aggressive, late-braking approach can become less effective or less safe.
They’re saying the race might not have many real passes. In F1, it’s hard to overtake if the car behind loses grip or can’t get close enough to attack.
Liberty Media is the company that took over running Formula 1. After they got involved, they pushed F1 to be more about personalities—so drivers became bigger celebrities on TV and online.
The hosts reference Netflix’s F1 coverage as an example of how media exposure can turn drivers into mainstream celebrities. It’s a modern marketing angle that affects how fans perceive “power” and influence in the sport.
A team principal is basically the top boss of an F1 team. They’re responsible for big decisions, and now they’re getting more screen time because fans want to understand the people behind the cars.
A simulator is like a high-tech driving video game that’s connected to real engineering data. Drivers use it to test ideas and predict problems before the car is actually on track.
“Max” likely refers to Max Mosley, who was involved in F1 governance and regulation during the same era. The discussion uses him alongside Bernie to describe how management handled driver influence and control.
“Bernie” refers to Bernie Ecclestone, who ran major parts of Formula 1’s business side. The point here is that management understood drivers had leverage and tried to keep them from coordinating.
Concept
F1 drivers on strike / blockade themselves in
This is about drivers working together to apply pressure, like refusing to participate or blocking things so officials have to respond. It’s a reminder that rules and safety changes don’t always happen automatically—people sometimes have to push for them.
Concept
safety and the money
The phrase points to two major forces shaping modern F1 behavior: safety regulations and financial incentives. As safety improves and the sport becomes more commercial, drivers’ risk-taking and willingness to challenge decisions can change.
This is like a group of workers saying, “We’re not doing our jobs until you meet our demands.” The point here is that if only one person does it, it doesn’t really change anything.
Topic
Jedda
Jedda is the place where an F1 race is held in Saudi Arabia. The hosts are bringing it up because something dramatic happened there, and it changed how drivers worked together.
Topic
Hooties missile attack
They’re talking about a serious real-world security incident connected to the Jeddah event. The story is used to explain how drivers and teams react when things get chaotic.
Topic
Duel Bianchi accident
This appears to reference Jules Bianchi’s accident, which had a major impact on F1 safety and driver unity. The hosts connect it to the idea that drivers “stood together” after a tragedy, strengthening collective resolve.
“Ayrton and Roland” refers to Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger, whose deaths occurred during the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix weekend. The hosts are using their names to highlight how tragedy can unify drivers and focus attention on safety and solidarity.
GPDA is basically a drivers’ group in Formula 1. When they meet, it’s to talk about what drivers want—often safety and rules—so they can speak with one voice.
In F1, “safety campaigns” are efforts to make racing safer. Drivers and officials push for changes after crashes, so cars and tracks get safer over time.
They’re describing a situation where everyone’s choices have big consequences. If drivers threaten not to race, it can force change, but it can also put their careers and money at risk.
FIA is the organization that makes the big rules for Formula One. The hosts are saying that how the FIA leadership had power affected how the sport was run and how the rules were written.
This means the people running Formula One’s business side, not the racing side. The hosts are saying that when business leaders also influence the rules, it can make the regulations harder to get right.
“Designed by committee” means lots of different groups help write the rules. That often leads to watered-down or overly complicated rules because everyone is trying to get what they want.
A “benign dictatorship” is a joking way to say “one clear leader makes the calls.” They’re arguing that for long-term rule-setting, one decisive authority might produce better, more consistent rules than everyone negotiating together.
F1 doesn’t change rules every week—usually they plan them for a few years so teams can build cars accordingly. The discussion is about how the way those multi-year rules are made can go wrong if too many groups try to steer them.
F1 cars are built and tuned by engineers, so engineering matters a lot. But the speaker thinks the driver should still be the one racing, not just following instructions from the car.
Qualifying is the session where drivers try to set the fastest lap. If the rules or car behavior mean you can’t really push right up to the edge, then qualifying stops being about driver skill and becomes more about managing the car.
He’s saying the rules aren’t working the way they were supposed to. If the rules lead to a situation where racing doesn’t feel like the sport’s real challenge, then something is fundamentally wrong.
This is about drivers coordinating together instead of each person complaining separately. If they all push for the same change, it’s more likely the sport will listen.
Brake horsepower is a way to describe how much power an engine makes. It’s measured on a test stand, and in racing discussions it helps compare how strong different engines are.
Turbocharged means the engine has a device that squeezes extra air in. More air lets the engine make more power, which is why turbo engines can feel so strong.
Tires are what actually grip the track. In racing, the tires strongly affect how fast the car can go and how long it can keep that speed during a race.
“Lasted one lap” means the car’s top performance (or the parts that make it fast) didn’t last very long. That can make racing feel more intense because you only get a brief moment of peak action.
Concept
launch of the Artemis II
Artemis II is a big space mission. The host is using it as a comparison to explain how people get excited when something looks unbelievable and high-stakes.
The start of an F1 race is when everything happens at once—cars launch forward and the whole field gets moving fast. It’s exciting because it’s loud, intense, and you can see the cars fighting for position right away.
A “quality lap” means a really well-done lap, not just a quick one. It usually implies the driver hit the right lines and the car felt stable and predictable, so the lap was fast and repeatable.
“Campaigning” here means how a racing team works all season to make the car perform and achieve goals. The hosts are saying teams may try to focus not only on winning, but also on making races more exciting for fans.
Concept
enormous power
“Enormous power” is a broad reference to the high-performance output of modern F1 cars and the way power translates into acceleration and overtaking potential. In F1 context, it often connects to how regulations, energy deployment, and car efficiency affect what drivers can actually use on track.
Concept
two algorithms
They’re talking about race moves that might be created by computer logic instead of the driver doing it themselves. If the car is “helping” too much, it can feel less like real racing.
They’re talking about an F1 rule that the driver has to be the one actually driving the car. If computers start doing too much, it can undermine the idea of driver skill.
Engine management is the car’s computer controlling how the engine makes power. It decides things like how much torque you get when you press the throttle.
They’re listing the main things a driver controls: speeding up (throttle), slowing down (brakes), and turning (steering). The point is whether the driver is truly in charge of those actions.
“Overuse the tyre” means using the tyres too hard, so they wear out faster than expected. Once that happens, the car loses grip and the driver has to back off.
“Driving to a number” means the team gives the driver a target to hit, like a specific pace or how much tyre wear is acceptable. The driver then adjusts their driving to meet that goal instead of going as fast as possible.
“Power split” just means how much of the car’s effort comes from the engine versus the electric part. If you change that balance, the car can feel very different and it can also affect fuel use.
Energy recovery is how a hybrid “reuses” energy, especially when you slow down. Instead of wasting it as heat, the car stores it so it can help you accelerate later.
Battery storage is simply how much electricity the battery can hold and how the car manages it. If the battery can’t store or release enough energy, the electric boost won’t last.
“Deployment” means when the car uses the stored electric energy to help drive. The timing matters—use it too early or too late and the car won’t feel as strong or efficient.
That phrase means how strong the engine is on its own. If the engine makes more (or less) power, the car may need to change how it shares work with the electric system.
“60-40” is a way to say the car’s power mostly comes from the engine, with the rest coming from electricity. Changing those percentages changes how the car behaves and how it uses stored energy.
The front axle is basically what links the front wheels to the rest of the car. If you add a system that changes power or braking at the front, the car’s balance can shift, and it may become harder—or easier—to control.
Stability control is electronics that help prevent the car from sliding out of control. It uses sensors to detect when the car is not behaving as expected and then intervenes to help it stay stable. The debate here is whether that kind of intervention makes driving skill less important.
This is about whether the car should reward driver skill or whether electronics and rules make the cars behave so similarly that drivers don’t matter as much. If the car’s systems do too much correcting, two drivers may end up performing closer together.
Concept
offset the axles
“Offsetting the axles” implies changing how the front and rear (or left/right) are driven or controlled relative to each other, which can alter yaw behavior and traction balance. In the context of F1 regulation and energy recovery placement, it suggests that software could manipulate axle behavior to mask handling issues or reduce the need for driver input.
This is basically saying the rules and design should start over from the fundamentals, not just add new tech to fix problems. The goal is to make sure the car still handles in a way that makes sense and doesn’t remove the driver’s role.
F1 cars run on a “power unit” that’s heavily regulated by the FIA. Those rules limit what teams can modify, so engineers often can’t just turn a knob to make more power—they have to work within the allowed changes.
Modern F1 cars have a hybrid system that stores and uses energy electrically. If the engine can’t be pushed harder, teams try to get more performance by changing how that electrical energy is used.
Think of F1 power as coming from two places: the engine’s mechanical power and the hybrid system’s stored electrical power. The team has to balance them so the car is fast without breaking the rules or running out of energy.
Making an F1 car produce more power can make parts work harder and hotter. That can increase the chance of something breaking, so teams have to find a balance between speed and staying reliable.
Fuel flow is how quickly the car uses fuel. If you want more power, you usually need more fuel, but F1 rules and fuel capacity can limit how much fuel you’re allowed to use.
Concept
reduce the number of laps
If the car can’t use enough fuel or energy to cover the whole race, the plan has to change. One possible change is running fewer laps so the car can stay within limits.
“Harvesting rate” is how fast the car can refill its battery using energy it would otherwise waste. In F1, that usually happens when you slow down, like braking into a corner.
Top speed is the fastest the car gets. In hybrid F1, it’s not just about peak power—teams also manage when the battery boost is available so the car stays fast for longer.
The “breaking point” is how late you can brake before you lose control or run wide. Even with hybrid limits, braking hard and late is still important for lap time.
Battery power is the extra electric boost the car can use. Because it’s limited, teams plan when to save it and when to use it to get the biggest speed advantage.
Coasting means easing off instead of accelerating hard through a corner. In F1 hybrid cars, that can help save battery energy so you can use it for stronger acceleration right after.
They’re saying qualifying won’t be decided purely by who drives the hardest. With hybrid power limits, the team’s energy plan can matter more than just pushing the car to its absolute limit.
Reserve drivers are the backup racers in F1. If a main driver can’t race, the reserve driver may get the seat. They usually want that chance because it’s their moment to show what they can do.
Concept
hypothetical game-playing
They’re talking about a made-up scenario where a driver might intentionally change plans to benefit themselves. It shows how complicated racing politics and rules can get when people try to game the system.
IndyCar is the big open-wheel racing series in the U.S. Bringing up “Indy cars” is about having another top racing option besides F1. It’s part of the argument that drivers aren’t as trapped as before.
Le Mans is famous endurance racing. When they say “Le Mans cars,” they mean the race cars used in that series. The discussion is basically about drivers having other places to go besides F1.
F1 is the highest level of open-wheel racing. It’s not just about driving fast—teams also have contracts and technical plans that depend on drivers and their feedback.
A hybrid power unit is an F1 engine that uses both fuel and stored electrical energy. It recovers energy during braking and can add electric boost, so the car uses less fuel but still goes fast.
“Fuel efficient” in F1 refers to how little fuel the car needs to complete a race distance while maintaining competitive speed. Because F1 is heavily regulated, efficiency is driven by engine design, energy recovery, and race strategy rather than just engine size.
Average speed is how fast the car is going on average over the whole trip, not just in one fast moment. It’s a useful way to compare performance over a set distance.
This is about making the fuel cleaner. If the fuel is made from renewable inputs, it can reduce the environmental impact compared with regular gasoline.
In F1, teams sometimes get a “problem to solve” that’s meant to improve the car or the racing. It’s like a focused engineering homework assignment, and everyone tries to solve it in their own way.
Governance is basically who makes the rules and decisions for F1. When they change things, it’s usually to keep the racing fair and exciting, not just to chase faster lap times.
Concept
reduce the target
Reducing a “target” in F1 usually means adjusting a performance or development goal set by the rules or by the governing body. The intent is often to prevent teams from overshooting the desired direction and to ensure the racing remains close and entertaining.
They’re talking about making the races more entertaining. In F1 terms, that usually means cars are closer together so drivers have more chances to battle.
Concept
team principles
In F1, the “team principal” is basically the top leader running the team. They’re responsible for big decisions, and the hosts are saying you still want some competitive spirit between teams.
Term
pick your winner, pick your fighter
It’s basically saying people like to choose who they think will win and who will be the biggest challenge. In racing, that’s how rivalries and battles get talked about.
A “teething phase” is the awkward early stage when something new is being tried. People expect mistakes or issues at first, and then it gets better as everyone learns.
Speed differentials means some cars are much faster than others on track. When that gap gets big, it can be risky because the faster cars have to catch up and pass quickly.
The Daewoo Statesman is a large, four-door car made for comfortable everyday driving. It’s meant to be a practical family or commuter sedan, not a sports car. The name “Statesman” is just the model name, and it may be mentioned because it sounds like the phrase “elder statesman.”
They’re talking about whether drivers can complain or protest in a way that actually changes how things work. In F1, some protests are formal and specific, and bigger changes often take more than one action.
The safety car is used when the track isn’t safe for full-speed racing. It slows everyone down and keeps the cars together until the danger is cleared.
A pace car is basically a lead car that sets the speed when the race can’t run normally. It helps keep everyone controlled and safe until conditions improve.
That line is basically saying the driver has to be ready to show up for races anywhere in the world, whenever F1 tells them to. It also notes that the driver covers their own costs for that travel and availability.
A driver strike is when drivers collectively stop racing or refuse to take part. They do it to pressure the sport to change rules or contract terms that affect them.
They’re talking about whether drivers get to agree to changes in their job, like moving between teams. If drivers don’t have a say, they have less control over their careers.
FOM is the organization that helps run Formula 1 as a business—promotions, events, and commercial operations. When people talk about who decides what in F1, FOM is one of the major players.
The IOC is the group that decides what sports are included in the Olympics. The hosts mention it to explain that motorsport had to show it had a proper way to represent athletes/drivers.
A “driver commission” is basically a committee meant to speak up for drivers inside the sport’s decision-making. In this segment, they’re saying it didn’t really end up changing much, even though some well-known people were part of it.
A chicane is a sequence of alternating turns designed to reduce speed and create a more controlled racing line. The hosts discuss adding tyres at chicanes, implying the circuit layout and safety measures affected how drivers raced.
In this context, “tyres” are being used as physical barriers placed at chicanes to influence car behavior and safety. Trackside tyre barriers are a common tool to manage speed, protect walls, and shape how drivers negotiate corners.
They’re talking about who really has influence in Formula 1. The idea is that team leaders and the FIA tend to stay around longer, while drivers often change teams more often, so they may have less say.
A conflict of interest means you might have two goals that don’t fully match. In this case, being a driver (who wants certain outcomes for themselves) can clash with representing the sport more broadly.
Teams argue about the rules because the rules affect how they can build and set up the car. But eventually you run out of time and have to pick one plan and start executing.
Concept
season starts in two weeks
Racing seasons start on a fixed schedule, so teams can’t keep discussing ideas indefinitely. When the start date is near, they have to decide and move on.
It’s a metaphor for a circus-like approach—lots of noise and show, not necessarily good decisions. The comparison is meant to highlight how some leadership styles create confusion instead of focus.
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So on the eve of the Miami Grand Prix,
we're going to see the effect of these tweaking of the regulations,
which I've needed a tweak after just three races.
They're a bit of a porridge.
There's all sorts of unsatisfactory aspects to them.
And one of the things that strikes me is that from a long way out,
maybe a year and a half, two years out,
the drivers who are trying them in the Sims,
we're all saying, this isn't going to work.
It's going to be horrible.
This is going to be massive speed differences,
off-battery to on-battery.
You're going to have to drive very, very conservatively
to get the ultimate qualifying laps.
It's not going to be a drive-in on the limit contest.
The overtakes are going to be meaningless.
These all came to be.
And yet at the time, the drivers were more or less told,
yeah, don't worry by the engineers.
We've got this.
This is just very early stages.
Just stay on your lane.
Don't make a fuss.
So it sort of speaks to how the drivers,
although they're an essential part of the show
and what they're doing is at the core of why we're all fascinated by it,
but they're not really given any real power.
How does that strike you?
Has that changed over time?
And how was it when you were there,
compared to your dad's era and compared to now,
because you're sort of in the middle of those points in time?
I think that one of the things that struck me immediately
when Liberty moved in, and it was Chase Carey, I think,
and they made comments to the effect of,
the drivers are the stars of the show.
Do you remember that?
Well, this is a changing approach.
They recognize that the pulling power, the fan power,
if you like, is driven by the drivers, no pun intended,
but it is literally, as we've seen that with the Netflix shows,
where the drivers have become massive stars,
as have the team principals as well, anyone in the show.
But the point is, it's the personalities
that are a very important part of the show,
and I use the word show to differentiate it from the sport,
which is what it used to be,
but it has always been a show, and let's be honest.
One moment people buy tickets to go and see something that's a show,
but what you're showing, what you're displaying,
is a competition of humans in the raw, I would say,
probably more so in previous eras than it is today,
where it's sort of manicured,
and the objective is to improve the appearance of the show.
So drivers have got power, they have got weight,
because they've, Liberty recognized that they can,
and all the sponsors and all the partners with teams and so forth,
recognize their power to sell products and get attention.
It's huge.
But they now have, as you rightly said,
was it a case of cloth ears?
Was it a case of deaf ears to what the drivers say?
Have we got to the point where, because there's so much science
involved in designing and developing cars,
that what the driver says is regarded as being almost irrelevant,
that they no longer are listened to when they say,
well, on the simulator, I can tell you,
you're going to have a problem in 2026,
and they just go, yeah, yeah, they're not listening,
because they've got into the habit of not listening,
or they've not come from that era when,
if I was to take it back to, say, the 1980s, maybe,
when the drivers were the way of understanding the car,
and if Santa comes in and says, mind you, it's no good,
they changed the engine.
They changed the chassis or whatever,
because it wasn't the ability for the scientists,
engineers to look at the data and go,
well, there's nothing wrong, there's nothing to see here.
They, but in that regime, that was the wrong word,
but that management era with Bernie and Max,
that particular period, they were,
I think Bernie was very, very aware that the drivers did have power,
and he was never going to utter the words,
the drivers are the stars of the show,
and the reason he wouldn't do that is because he knows
that if they ever united, they ever got together,
they could pull all the levers,
and he knew he was totally beholden,
and how did he know that?
Because of South Africa, with the only man
who's ever really been able to tangle with Bernie
and get the upper hand, which was, and that was the driver strike,
and it was largely Nicky Lauder,
I'd say Jody Schect would have been in there as well.
Did you, Peroni?
Did you, Peroni, so they were one or two,
but definitely Nicky knew how to play this game of uniting drivers,
and they got the changes made,
but it was radical, and it was a massive revolution.
Had to go on strike, get in a bus, go to a hotel,
blockade themselves in, you know, as radical as that.
So they have this enormous power as a group,
but they're highly individualistic people,
in fact, they're probably the last bastion of the,
you know, the age of the individual that we sort of lived,
that we've lived through in the West anyway,
but it's not used, and I think probably
they've been tamed by the safety and the money,
but certainly even though they were, you know,
a fairly radical bunch of pirates and chancers in the 60s,
they had enormous power there, and it was used,
it was used mainly by Jackie Stewart with support from your dad
and Yorke and Rint and people like that,
and they had enormous opposition
to the changes that they wanted to make,
but their lives were literally on the line,
and they were fighting literally for their lives.
So it can be done, but I think they're probably
a little bit too comfortable to now
to go against that individualistic tendencies,
so all we've got at the minute is Max saying,
I might stop because I don't really like these cars,
that's as radical as it's got.
So withdrawing your labor is great, except of course
if you just withdraw one person's labor,
then the show goes on, and everyone goes,
who was that bloke?
Do you remember the guy left?
So that won't work.
You need to get all in or all out.
So I'm thinking back to Jedda
when there was the Hooties missile attack,
and there was a little bit of a drama there,
and they spent a lot of time huddled together
in a meeting, and quite rightly,
they were expressing their views,
and they were only able really to do that
since the Duel Bianchi accident, I think,
where drivers, the imperative for drivers to stand together,
I think that united them, and sadly, of course,
it was because of a tragedy that affected them all.
And before that, it was Ayrton and Roland.
When I was driving, so I was in there
with a reconstructed in Monaco first-ever
GPDA meeting for 100 years, wherever it was,
it was suddenly this thing was resurrected,
and we had a meeting in the Auto Club in Monaco, I think,
and all the drivers turned up,
and what do we want? We don't know.
What do we want it now? Kind of meeting.
We just don't want to get killed,
and we don't want to see other drivers getting killed.
We want to do something.
We don't want to be just the muppets that sit in the car.
I think that was really what the expression was,
but very, very interestingly,
all of that meeting was full of the current drivers
at that time, 94, but also Nicky Lauda.
And I remember thinking, Nicky, why are you here?
And I think my strong feeling is he was there
to report back to Bernie.
Really? You don't think he had resonated with him?
I may have done him an injustice there,
but my little radar for just being extra careful did go off,
and I think I almost certainly went back and told Bernie
who the most outspoken drivers were,
and so Bernie knew who he was dealing with.
So it is an issue with anything like this,
because drivers who are in the middle of their career
have so much to lose.
So Jackie Stewart obviously deserves an enormous amount of respect
for what he did in the safety campaigns,
which started off the GPDA,
and my dad was very much involved, as you rightly mentioned there,
but he wasn't leading the championship at the time.
And Jackie had everything to lose.
If he's got a troublemaker,
you just have to look up Peasant's Revolt and Watt Tyler
just down the road from where we were recording this.
He went to have a powwow with, I think it was Edward II, I think,
and someone pushed him and he turned around and raised his fist
and they chopped his head off.
So if you want to stand up and make a scene, then watch out.
Nobody really wants to put their head above the parapet,
but Jackie did and spoke out against lack of safety,
campaign for safety,
and of course if you've got money on the line,
you're the promoter, you're the race organisers,
you've got all these people who have turned up to the race,
and now you've got drivers saying they're not going to drive,
it's going to be a riot.
Somebody's going to get strung up.
So it was an enormous high-stakes game of risk.
I mean, quite apart from racing,
it was just almost as dangerous to be there in Argentina
and say we're not going to race or something.
So a lot of brinksmanship and a lot of courage and conviction
that you were doing the right thing, I think,
was evident in those days.
But that was because they believed,
and it turns out, I think rightly,
that things could be done to make it safer
that we weren't here to see people getting killed
and we didn't think it was good for the sport,
that that was the attraction.
I mean, even during my career,
you'd speak to people who weren't so much interested in the sport,
and they would say,
well, people only go to see the crashes, don't they?
Yeah, you had a lot.
Yeah.
And of course, if you watch the highlights
of anything that happens to do with Formula One today,
of course, the crashes are interesting,
but they're spectacular, but nobody died.
We touch wood, and that's the intention.
It's spectacular.
Everyone gets away scot-free,
and we can start a relief.
It wasn't so funny in the 70s and the 80s.
And it wasn't so entertaining, I should say,
when you have serious injury and death.
So they had a righteous cause,
and much as a sports person,
and Sterling Moss would say,
the challenge is the danger,
and that focuses the mind.
If we remove that, what do we got left?
What kind of sport do we got left?
That is a valid question,
but I would argue that I'm more comfortable
with the safety measures we have today,
Roman Grosjean walking out of that wreck was unbelievable,
and as astonishing as someone going to the moon,
almost, you know, and back,
as far as a technical exercise went.
So their campaign was righteous.
If you're just talking about,
I don't like these cars, they're not very nice to drive,
what's the foundation?
Yeah.
I think bringing it round to this regularly,
I think one of the reasons we've ended up
with this unsatisfactory set of regulations
is that it's had input from so many parties.
You've had the automotive manufacturers,
you've had the FIA,
you've had Formula One commercial management,
you've had team bosses, team engineers,
and there's sort of a,
almost designed by committee set of regulations,
and it's just been far too ambitious
in trying to please all those parties,
and I think it almost needs,
when you're defining how a formula is going to be
for the next few years,
it almost needs sort of a benign dictatorship,
but that's not what Formula One is now.
It used to be in the burning era,
it was the teams negotiated
because of previous abuses
of what they felt previous abuses
of the FIA presidential power together with Bernie,
they wanted an entirely different system of governance,
and they negotiated for that,
and they've got that through Liberty,
but it has led us to this place
where that first set of regulation,
where that's really been set free,
has resulted in this,
and you know, I think we,
it's sort of, it's made it sort of stuck in place,
and I think really one way of breaking that impasse
could be the drivers,
it could be the drivers saying,
no, we're the people doing this,
we're the people that are driving these things,
and we want to have a proper driving contest,
we don't want to be managing an engineering bit of kit.
I mean, obviously Formula One involves engineering,
but that shouldn't be the driver's job just to manage that
and not to have,
to have qualifying not defined by how close to the limit
you can drive is a nonsense,
and that strikes at the very core of what the sport is,
and so if we don't have that,
the regulations have failed at a fundamental level,
and I think that if the drivers were to act as a group
and say, no, if we're tweaking this and tweaking that,
and it's still basically there,
I think they do have the power
if they could convince themselves to act as a group.
So they need to identify what it is they're fighting for,
and if we say they are fighting for what they dreamt of doing
in Formula One,
who was it who said something along the lines of
this isn't what I dreamt, spent my life trying to achieve
to get to Formula One only to drive these cars,
which are not satisfying.
So then it is the ultimate performance of cars.
I mean, we're talking about the appeal being
when you had a thousand plus 1200 brake horsepower
turbocharged cars, flame-breathing monsters
with what tires and engines that lasted one lap,
that attracted people in the same way
that the launch of the Artemis II attracted everyone,
because, oh, my God, look at that thing.
It's unbelievable.
I mean, if we could just get it to do a lap.
Anyway, they probably fry all the spectators,
but you know what I mean.
That's what people come to.
It always used to be,
if you've never seen the start of a Formula One race,
you haven't lived, and that was one of the big pulls,
and that was absolutely true.
You know, the ground shook, and all these cars went off
and very expected.
The racing might not have been fantastic
by the time you got to about an hour into the race,
because there weren't that many cars left.
But anyway, the drivers want...
I mean, I watched, and I think everyone watched,
Max's quality lap in Jeddah,
and that was it that first year,
with Fernando Alonso being interviewed,
and looking up and stopping the interview,
because you can't believe what he's seeing.
And you want to see that.
You want to see Max on the Max,
and the cars need to be impressive.
Now, that's the weak spot here.
If they are campaigning to get
what the fans want as well as what they want,
they've got enormous power.
If they can identify what they want to get back to,
then I think that they will have enormous support,
because otherwise, you'll just get the...
Are they paying millions? Why are they moaning?
You know, kneecapping,
and they'll just lose support.
But I think if they're wanting what the fans want,
and part of the only weak point here is
that the fans also like some of the racing,
so there are people who are watching and going,
what are you complaining about? It's been really exciting.
I've been excited by the overtakes
and the passes and mid-corner passes and stuff,
which is something we haven't seen for such a long time.
It's true, but if a driver then stands up and says,
what you've just been watching is just two algorithms
working out a phase that wasn't actually an overtake,
even if you're entertained by it,
you'd then think, oh, really?
And if enough of that gets through,
I think that could be a very...
not a long-lived thrill once it gets...
...dissimated, that idea.
Completely, and I think Martin Brunel's right to point out,
there is a rule that says the car must be driven.
I'm aided at all times by the driver only,
and if something else is going in there and going...
But I mean, you could say, okay, well, the engine management.
He's not doing the engine management.
But we know what we mean, right?
The throttle, the brakes, the steering.
And I think that there is an objective there,
and if it could be clearly defined,
what it is that you're after is a better show for everyone,
because we get feedback from them.
They only need to...
I've had the feeling for a long time
that they are not really enjoying driving these cars,
and I'm talking about the Venturi Grand Prix cars as well,
because in the races,
they're literally just pootling around trying to save the tyre.
They can't overuse the tyre.
They're just driving to a number.
Well, they haven't spoken out about that.
They muttered, but it's definitely been evident that...
It reminds me a little bit about...
There was a comedy sketch a long time ago
with Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie,
where they interview the winner of a Grand Prix,
and Stephen Fry is going,
you know, well done, you've won the Grand Prix.
Yeah, but the tyres were no good.
Yeah, no, but you won, right?
Yeah, but you won the race.
So, Stephen Fry is the fan going,
I don't understand why you're not excited.
This must be the most exciting thing in the world
to be a Formula One driver and race in a Formula One.
And they're going, yeah, but...
And they're trying their best...
To say it's not what you...
Yeah, but they can't say it,
because they sound ungrateful and all the rest of it.
You're not seeing what you think you're seeing.
Yeah, but really, that's what they wanted to say.
So maybe there is a strong case now.
I think you're right, Mark.
I think there is a strong case for them to say,
look, we really have to speak out about this,
because we spent our lives aiming for something
and expecting something.
And what we've been delivered is,
really, they are neutered in many ways.
They can't express themselves as racing drivers
in this Formula, if it's like it is now,
or even the Venturi days.
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We've introduced this overambitious power split.
And engineers that haven't got an axe to grind,
they're saying you're not going to fix this
by fiddling about with energy recovery
and deployment and battery storage.
Those things are fundamental to those traits that you're seeing
are fundamental.
How it is, you would have to radically change it.
You'd have to seriously up the amount of internal combustion
engine power so that you completely change the power split,
which is getting away from what we're trying to do
to appease the manufacturing.
But so what if they're getting away from it?
So what if they did that?
I don't care.
I mean, if it's 60-40, 60% internal combustion,
I mean, they're using sustainable fuel.
Yes.
So what's the big drama about it?
But that's what I think come back to the point of the,
they tried to please, tried to tick too many boxes
in configuring this regulation set.
They're talking about, oh, what if we put energy recovery
on the front axle?
That would cure some of the problems,
but it would introduce others.
It would, you've got the potential problem there
in reducing stability control
and wiping out the difference and skill between drivers
because you could offset the axles and between the axles
and if you've got the software clever enough.
So I think it really, really needs a rethink from basics.
And I don't think you're going to get that
without some sort of disruption.
And the only...
What do you mean by disruption?
Well, I'm talking about the drivers being the disrupting factor
and acting on that.
So the only thing, obviously they can't design the cars
or they don't want to write the rules,
but so the only thing they can really do is it,
is become an agent for change.
But what is the change?
And if you're saying that the engineers are saying,
this is a fundamental thing, we're locked in with what we've got,
we can't really change.
Am I correct in saying that?
From an engineering point of view,
what are their options with the current power unit regulations?
They're options in the short term,
i.e. for this season,
seem to be just on the electrical side of the equation.
So you have the energy equation with the electrical
on one side and the mechanical on the other.
And they're saying all we have to...
The only regular room we have is on the electrical side.
And if we're talking about increasing the power of the engine,
it's going to lead to all sorts of reliability problems
and it's blah, blah, blah.
The fuel tanks aren't going to be big enough
because we're going to increase the fuel flow.
Some circuits won't have the capacity.
So we'd have to reduce the number of laps
and all those complications.
So they're saying that if you are only attacking
that one side of the equation,
there's not enough potential there to have any meaningful effect.
You can improve it by increasing the harvesting rate
and decreasing the deployment rate.
But fundamentally, you will still...
So that would reduce the top speed?
Yeah.
But they will continue to accelerate
right to the breaking point?
Yes, as hard as possible out of the corner
so that there will still be a reward
for having more battery power at the beginning of the straight
to last you longer down that straight.
There'll be more lap time reward for that
that you can coast through the previous corner
to get that battery charge.
So still fundamentally,
qualifying is not going to be determined
by the ability to drive on the edge better than the next guy.
And that's the fundamental.
I think that's what strikes at the heart of why this is...
So it doesn't really matter about driver power, does it?
Because it doesn't matter how much they complain.
If they all stop working and they said,
okay, we're going on strike until you fix this.
There's nothing they can do anyway.
Yeah, I don't think it would have to...
Yeah, I don't think they would have to be able
to bring the season to a halt.
But I think...
The reserve drivers would be very happy.
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
That's always the problem as well, isn't it?
There's a bunch of other drivers waiting to get in.
But if, say, Max was to say,
this is now into the hypothetical kind of game-playing of it all,
if it was Max to say,
let's say I had enough, you know, I'm off,
got Jampera's left and, you know,
everyone I was with at Red Bull have left
and I've done at these cars, I'm going to go do whatever.
This is always the massive fear with Bernie was the driver.
That's why he made it...
He sort of strangled all the other rival formulas
because he didn't want the competition.
There was nowhere else to go.
But now there is Le Mans cars, there's Indy cars, whatever.
He could do something radical and scarper,
at least for a bit.
And then that presents enormous problems
for the marketing of F1, doesn't it?
It does, yeah, because it's not just a passive act, is it?
And people will ask, why?
Yes.
Why? What's wrong? Why doesn't he like it?
The best driver in the world.
Well, I'm sorry, Lando.
I mean, he's the best driver,
let's say the biggest name or the most demanded talent
decides two fingers to F1.
That would not go down well with the share price.
So I think it would have to be more in the area of,
look, for next year, we want sign off.
We want, you know, to...
Whatever you decide to fix is going to be needed.
Fix this problem, whether it's more engine power, whatever.
Then we want sign off after trying them out.
And until that happens, we're not...
Continuing the astronautical theme,
one of my favorite films is The Right Stuff,
the Tom Wolf film, of the film.
And the drivers, when they were producing
the first Gemini Space Capsules,
they didn't have any windows, they didn't have any controls.
They were literally...
Spam and a can.
So the idea was that they were just going to be
sent into space and brought back to Earth
and then produced a paraded...
Ciccotape Parade.
And they rebelled.
They went, no, we want controls.
We're pilots. We want control.
We're not going.
They spent all this money preparing these pilots.
They didn't have any choice. They couldn't get other people.
They needed these people and they drove them nuts.
But they eventually got what they wanted,
which was a window and some sort of controls on the thing.
They put their foot down and the engineers decided...
took a decision and gave in.
Because, and the phrase they used was,
there's no Bucks, no Bucks Rogers.
In other words, they were the people
that were driving the investment.
They were the stars of the show.
And they were the people who were going to produce
the political gains for the politicians
and what the people wanted.
They wanted to believe in them.
They wanted to believe that these were special people.
Yeah, they are inspirational.
They're what draws us to the sport.
And if this became more...
If that spirit became more visible,
it would make the sport more attractive.
It would make it probably a bit more difficult
for the commercial people to manage.
But so what?
I think it would make the sport more attractive.
I think it would be okay to say,
at this stage of the game,
say, listen, what Formula 1 has tried to achieve
has been phenomenal.
It's a phenomenally ambitious target
to produce the most fuel efficient
hybrid power units ever made
and to drive us round the circuit
at an average speed of whatever,
for two hours or 200 miles,
using only a thimble full of petrol
that's in any case has been produced
from renewable sources.
There, that's what we've been able to do.
I think you can still say that with this formula.
And you can say, this is a challenge,
but this is what we do.
This is what Formula 1 does.
For the teams, they deliver a technical challenge
and they go, right, see if you can fix that.
And they usually set them in competition
with each other to drive the change.
But from the point of view of the governing body,
the governance of the sport,
it would be okay to say, listen,
we may be bitten off a little bit more than we can chew,
but at least we're heading in the right direction
and we're establishing that we can do this.
And for the time being,
we're going to reduce the target a little bit
for the benefit of providing a genuine show,
competition sport.
And we will revisit it
and we will keep pushing in that direction.
I don't think that would be a loss, would it?
No, I think that could be presented.
I think you should get a job in PR.
I think that would be beautifully presented.
Well, okay, I never thought of you as a PR man,
but I can say, I think I found out when I was younger
at school, I liked history in English
because you could just make it up as you went along.
Science is a little more difficult.
You can't, maths doesn't lie.
But I mean, I think I can find an argument.
You made me blush now, oh my God.
So anyway, no, I sincerely believe that's the way
to properly present this is to say,
to be honest with people,
because the audience are not stupid.
They see all this and they don't like.
There's enough people who don't like
the noises coming out of the drivers about it,
that it might have an effect on ultimately the show value
and the share price.
And so there you're back where you started.
You tried to provide entertainment
and actually you ended up tinkering too much.
Yeah, at some point, if the realization comes
that what you're watching is meritless or meaningless,
then you think, well, I'm watching it for them.
But I think the idea of the attractiveness
of drivers as independent spirits.
I remember 100 2007,
where we had the McLaren drivers going off,
going rogue, because they each had beefs
with how they were being managed
in their quest for the world championship
along so in Hamilton.
And I was in the skybox with you.
You were standing in for Martin.
I remember...
Just sitting in.
Yeah.
I remember chatting afterwards and you say,
that was great.
I loved that.
That's exactly what I want to see.
And it was.
Yeah.
Yeah, of course, it created a enormous problem
for the team and Ron Dennis.
But you saw the essence of the humanity
and the ambition and the ruthlessness
and you saw the essence of the sport
just peeking above the parapet for a brief moment.
And it was fascinating.
And I think a lot of people really bought into that.
I think that's the point.
The point of sport is to allow us
an opportunity to show how utterly ruthless
and competitive we can all be
in a safe environment, let's say.
Okay, obviously, if you were to constantly
push people out of the way to get on the train and...
You know...
Do not do that.
We know we do.
Okay, everyone does.
But no, the point is,
you can't do that in a civil society.
You've got to bear it by some consideration
for other people.
You can't do that.
And nobody would expect you to have consideration
for anyone else in a sport.
You wouldn't watch it, right?
Oh, no, I could possibly have taken you right now.
It would disadvantage you.
So that we do...
That's the entertainment value of this.
And we also like to see
human spirit at its best as well.
And that means...
Okay, you can have an utterly ruthless, nasty driver,
but ultimately we're going to go off that person
because they're so selfish.
It doesn't bear thinking about...
But we do like the driver also who can win
and also lose magnanimously and all that stuff.
So it's a showcase for...
Sport is a showcase.
The expression, it doesn't create character.
It shows character.
I think is the right way of putting it.
And some people are quite happy being the villain.
I mean, they're built villains.
They're born villains.
So they don't care.
And so that's fine.
Every good show needs a villain.
Yeah, Fernando Alotto.
But I mean, so...
I've lost my thread there.
So anyway, that was the point of that conversation was...
What was it?
Mark, do you mind me?
Just throwing the show in the humanity of drivers
and setting them in the role.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And as individuals.
Yeah.
And you don't want to think of them as just...
You plug them into these devices,
which then go around and the software works out
when they best deploy the energy.
Yeah, because they're bus drivers, aren't they?
I mean, they literally are just trying to avoid
any nasty incidents.
Yes.
And get through the day.
But I do think the individual things
is a whole subject matter.
And I think the world has changed a bit.
Society has changed a bit.
In that, we used to revere the individual.
I mean, you sent me a little memo about this,
but of course the individual, as a concept,
some people say that you can chase that back
to something like the Renaissance
or humanitarianism or humanism.
Dawn of that is the idea that man is the measure of all things
and if you have a right as an individual
to live your life the way you want to.
And the damaging effect of that
is that you end up with no collective goal.
And we all know we can do more together
than we can as an individual.
Of course, then the problem with that is that the sport...
I mean, I came bike racing with the thing I started with,
although being brought up with these amazing racing
drivers around me, my dad was one.
And I did think they were very special individuals
because they were individuals.
They were all doing with their life what they wanted to do.
And I really admired that.
But someone like Barry Sheen, for example, was a hero to me.
Someone who similarly lived his life.
And you could say, well, Mick Jagger or Rolling Stones,
they lived their life.
And the attraction was that at least somebody
was able to get out of the rut of having to conform.
And that was what Formula One sold.
But the whole show was that.
It literally was, everyone in it was saying,
to hell with nine to five, we're going to work all hours,
but we're going to travel the world
and we're going to put this race on
and we're just going to race each other
and it's going to be one endless party.
And that was very attractive, I think, from that era.
That's what drew people in and made Formula One really what it was.
But now you can't do that anymore.
You can't just be that.
So you have to think of the planet
or you have to think about people's, you know, working conditions
and their emotional needs as well as it.
You know what I mean?
So this is, Formula One is not, it doesn't exist on its own.
It's tried to say and tick the right boxes with society around the world
according to those standards, new standards, let's say.
And whilst they might be appropriate in some conditions,
in some places, when the show's on, you want the raw essence back.
Yeah, yeah, just for that hour and a half
or that hour and qualifying the day before.
Yeah, absolutely.
And even between team principles, you want a little bit.
You know, you like the Hornetoto kind of needle thing, needle match.
You know, pick your winner, pick your fighter.
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This episode is presented by Depop.
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Someone out there is literally searching for it.
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You can have a rebellious force within a collective environment.
I think that is possible and I think what you were talking about before,
when you're presenting how to sell that idea of we've tried to do this,
but we need to come back just to keep the essence of it.
That's what that would be.
And I think my fear is that they just fiddle about at the edges
and try to disguise it and the drivers.
What they should do is acknowledge it.
Is acknowledge it publicly and not say we've got a problem.
Just say, listen, this is a challenge.
We knew this would be difficult and we're just going through the teething phase.
So we want to bring it back to, we don't want the drivers to be not on the limit
and qualifying and we don't want these speed differentials because they're dangerous
and so let's work away at it.
So I think with a bit of an impetus from the drivers,
which would get I think massive public backing,
the fans would listen to the drivers if they're talking as a group
and it would be very difficult to argue against that.
I think that would be the way forward.
But it is in the hands of the drivers to not just stay stumped.
No, but they need a spokesperson.
And this is always the problem is that if you're a current driver,
you've got so much to lose.
And obviously you're looking to the senior drivers, the Lewis and the Fernandos,
who've had loads of experience and perhaps can now sort of take the elder statesman position.
But you've got Lewis saying, I quite like this.
Well, yeah.
Mike Rory's going really well.
His car's good.
So you've got the Mercedes drivers who are in a great car.
So you've spent all this time trying to get to this position
where you're going to have a tilt of the title.
Are you going to protest to change things?
You know.
And I don't think you can do it that way.
I think there needs to be.
But by the way, I'm not pitching for any role at all.
But you do need someone outside of the group.
And we've got Alex Werks, I think is kind of spokesperson for the GPDA.
They need to be able to.
I mean, I come back to Imola with the drivers briefing on the Sunday morning with Ayrton,
setting me up to ask a question of Charlie Whiting before he piled in with his questions.
So he got me and Gerhard to ask a question about the safety car and put the question,
is the Alfa Suda, wherever it was, a suitable car to have as a pace car, a safety car?
It's not up to it.
What's being done about that?
And then Gerhard would ask the question and then Ayrton would ask the question.
The reason he wanted to be last, because he didn't want people to think it was all him.
So this comes back to the issue of who is going to be a spokesperson to demand changes.
No driver, I think, really should.
I mean, Jackie Stewart did.
He had to.
But he had a dominant car unless they were going to kick him out.
Then, and that was a big challenge.
Are you going to kick out the main star?
I mean, we're...
So Kimmy Antonelli is not going to do it.
No.
OK, no one would expect him to do it.
George has been a strong voice, but now he's got a chance for championship.
Is he going to be quite as strong as a voice?
Mm-hmm.
And we had a similar thing in 96 when the FIA...
We had to sign our super license at the start of the first race.
Or was it 96?
95 maybe.
And I went to sign on and Bernie was standing at the foot of the entrance to the room where
we went to get signed on.
He'd got wind of what was going on because we were not...
It said something in the license saying that you will appear anywhere in the world at any
time at our command at your own expense.
And that, I think, was also the issue with the driver strike.
Yeah, it was that you could be traded like a football team, trading a player between
one team and another without the driver having a say.
That was the issue there, but it was very similar to that issue that you talk about.
Yeah.
Well, anyway, he got wind of it and he went, just sign it.
And I thought, I could be world champion or I could be kicked out and I signed it.
So, you know, I don't think it's fair to ask the competing driver, yes, get their views
and everything, but you're too exposed.
Mm-hmm.
So who would be the union leader, as it were?
Well, I don't know.
Let's get away from a question of an individual doing it because the individual would be a
spokesperson for the drivers.
Yeah.
It doesn't have to be the...
Because if you're not careful, that person becomes the conductor.
Yeah.
And then the drivers, well, why are we following him?
Yeah.
You know, so...
My point is, if you look at the sport in terms of the decision making, there are three legs.
There's the teams.
There's the FOM and there's the FIA.
Well, where is the driver?
And I did bring this up a while back because if you look at every other sport, there is
a player's representative body, whether it's the tennis association, whether it's the PGA,
whether it's rugby, football, there is a body that represents the interests of the athletes.
Now, when John Todd was trying to get the International Olympics Committee to accept
motorsport as one of their chosen sports, they said, you need a representative for the
athletes.
And so he started up the driver commission in the FIA.
That was just a box ticking exercise and it's disappeared and I don't know, I've never heard
from it since.
I know that Karun was on it for a bit and Tom Christensen and various people.
So the FIA had that.
It was a box ticking exercise.
Nothing really came of it.
But the point is valid is that if you're going to have a sport with participants, there needs
to be a body that represents those interests or those stakeholders as they go on.
So we're talking about moving it on from just this specific issue that we have with the
power split at the moment to going forward so that this driver representative there on
an issue that may come up.
So to have it in the structure of the sport?
Yeah, I think it should be that the teams would hate it.
FOM would hate it.
The FIA would hate it.
But they're sitting there right now thinking what are we going to do about bringing back
the show that everyone loves and what they've got a great asset, a massive asset in the
drivers if they could just trust that the drivers are going to do the right thing and
not something crazy.
I mean, after Imola, I have to say we went a bit too far.
We put tyres on every chicane and it was getting a bit bonkers.
But we were distracted.
We were working.
We were trying to race.
And we're young people compared to the experienced politicians in the FIA and Bernie and Co.
Well, that's the other thing about the power structure, isn't it?
You talk about the three legs.
The team bosses, the FIA officials, they've been there forever.
The drivers, with a few exceptions, Alonso and Hamilton, are very transient.
They're there for a few years and they come in young and ambitious.
Was it 20 years in the case of Fernando Alonso?
Yeah, exactly.
But by definition, they're more transient and therefore not as empowered.
And I think that's part of it.
I totally agree.
And I think it's very difficult to expect someone to be a competitor in a sport and also
a representative of those issues because they're going to be compromised.
They're going to be a conflict of interest at some point.
And so there is this notion, isn't there, of what the drivers want to do.
I mean, if you were to say to the drivers, OK, clean sheet of paper, I want you to prescribe
a sport that you want to be competing in.
You'd probably get 22 different sports.
You would, yeah.
So that's the problem.
I mean, I know I've got an idea of what car I think would be an ideal car.
And I've tried it on ex-drivers.
I go, this is way, and they go this way.
And then they go, no, not that one.
I've got one as well.
So you've got to take your pick of the last 75 years of what people would like to drive.
Yeah.
Well, you wouldn't be asking them to do that.
You wouldn't be saying, come up with the formula.
You would be making them part of the process.
You would make them part of the process.
But then, of course, you get back into the same issues as you get with teams debating the regulations.
I mean, eventually, you get to run out of time debating, and you have to make a decision.
You've got the season starts in two weeks.
Which one are we going for?
And then people give up.
And that's where I think Bernie and Max were very good at organizing the teams,
as they'd have three-hour meetings.
And then the last 10 minutes, they bring out the decision.
And they've all wanted to go home, so they just signed it.
Whoever signs up first gets the most money.
That was another ploy, wasn't it, for Bernie and the teams?
So, yeah, I think that there is an element where the benign dictatorship model is more suitable.
The Barnum model, you know, it's a circus.
And there is a ringmaster.
And, you know, okay, the gymnast complaining that there's no safety net or whatever.
And the clowns are going, my makeup's running, and these balls won't juggle.
But the show goes on tonight, guys.
And you need to be in the ring, and everyone's paid, and they're coming.
What are you going to do?
So that we don't like that.
Fundamentally, we don't like giving all that power to one person.
There's something that makes us nervous of that.
Yeah.
Well, because a benign dictator doesn't necessarily stay benign, does he?
No.
So, yeah, I think that's...
But how do you...
We kind of... there's something about humans that we kind of like it when someone tells us what to do.
Because we don't have the responsibility anymore.
They've got the responsibility.
Yeah, then you can just moan about it.
We just moan about it, yeah.
Yeah.
Okay.
Is that where we are then?
I don't know where.
I don't like where we resolve that at all.
No, I don't think we leave it there.
Well, the debate goes on.
How to organise society and Formula One.
Yeah, we'll start with Formula One, I think, before we move on to the biggest stuff.
I don't want to get into the other stuff.
Yeah, okay.
We'll probably run out of time for that.
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About this episode
Ahead of the Miami GP, Damon Hill and Mark Hughes debate why F1 drivers seem to have less real influence over car and regulation direction than they did in earlier eras. They contrast simulator warnings about the 2026-era power split and “drive-in on the limit” qualifying with the reality of drivers being treated as showpieces rather than decision-makers. The conversation expands to driver unity, safety activism (GPDA, strikes, tragedies), and whether drivers should push for a clearer, more driver-driven contest. They also discuss governance “designed by committee” versus decisive leadership, and how any meaningful change likely requires coordinated driver action.
On the latest episode of The Undercut, 1996 F1 world champion Damon Hill and renowned F1 writer Mark Hughes discuss the topic of driver power. Many drivers on this year's grid have been notable critics of the 2026 regulations - including four-time champion Max Verstappen. So why didn't the drivers' initial skepticism over the regulations carry any weight and should they make a collective play for more power over future regulations? Those are two of the questions tackled in this wide-ranging chat.
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