Ben Sulayem teases changes to controversial swearing rules after all

FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has suggested that controversial new guidelines introduced this year to help police driver conduct could be changed.Drivers can be heavily fined, receive a race ban, or even lose championship points based on a new ‘Appendix B’ in the FIA International Sporting Code, which was published this year to assist stewards in determining the sanction for violations of cer...

Read more: https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/ben-sulayem-teases-changes-to-controversial-swearing-rules-after-all/

'It's complicated' - Why Norris is 'not as on it' in 2025

Lando Norris admits he is "not as on it" as he was in Formula 1 last year, as he struggles to drive McLaren's 2025 car without thinking too much and costing himself laptime.Off the back of winning the 2024 constructors' championship, McLaren has started 2025 with the quickest car on the F1 grid and taken victory in four of the five grands prix held so far - but only one of those victories has gone...

Read more: https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/lando-norris-interview-2025-mclaren-f1-car-struggles/

Ferrari's 2025 car: Can it catch up before upgrades must stop?

A Formula 1 2025 season that began with more lows than highs has left Ferrari searching for answers. The team’s campaign so far has been marked by inconsistency, though a podium finish in Saudi Arabia - third place at a track that seemingly suited the SF-25 - offered a glimmer of optimism.

Ferrari has averaged as the fourth-fastest team across qualifying sessions. In race trim, there have been...

Read more: https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/ferraris-2025-car-can-it-catch-up-before-upgrades-must-stop/

Revealed: The new F1 racing rules that sealed Verstappen penalty

The controversial Turn 1 incident between Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix remains a hot topic in Formula 1, with opinions still divided on who was right and wrong.But one of the factors that has gone slightly under the radar is how revisions to F1’s Driving Standards Guidelines that came into force at the start of this season were key to the verdict that the stewar...

Read more: https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/revealed-new-f1-2025-racing-rules-verstappen-jeddah-penalty/

An Alonso-like skill and ‘addiction’ - Inside Bearman’s real F1 start

One year ago you would have struggled to find a critic of Ollie Bearman when he made his Formula 1 debut stepping in mid-weekend for Ferrari to score points in Saudi Arabia.But 12 months on the young man himself, now a fully-fledged grand prix driver at Haas, is dissatisfied with that effort. “I look back at that race and I kind of kick myself because I know that, given that same opportunity again...

Read more: https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/ollie-bearman-f1-2025-start-haas-ferrari/

Does F1 have a left-field solution to its 'one-stop epidemic'?

Formula 1 may have a super-close title fight on its hands, but the consensus after the opening phase of the campaign is that the racing has been a bit of a letdown.While Oscar Piastri bucked the trend in Saudi Arabia as the first driver to win in 2025 without having started from pole, that was only because the Australian made a decisive move for the lead at Turn 1 - one that paid off later with a ...

Read more: https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/f1-boring-races-strategy-problem-one-stop-pirelli-pitlane-limit/

Stroll's unwanted F1 record: What does it really say?

Lance Stroll is the new holder of an unwanted Formula 1 record: the most Q1 exits since the debut of the three-segment qualifying in 2006.Asked about claiming the record with his 75th Q1 exit last Saturday at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Stroll said: "You put the McLaren drivers in a Sauber for 10 years and they will have the most Q1 exits. It's car-dependent."That's prompted Sundaram Ramaswami a...

Read more: https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/lance-stroll-f1-qualifying-record-unwanted-q1-exits/

McLaren's unraced F1 floor upgrade explained

McLaren opted not to race its first Formula 1 floor upgrade of the season at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix despite testing it in-weekend.The reigning constructors' champion team declared two new upgrades last week in Saudi Arabia - a reshaped diffuser to get more downforce, and new rear brake duct winglet arrangement for better aerodynamic efficiency.McLaren ran the new floor on Oscar Piastri's car...

Read more: https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/mclaren-f1-floor-upgrade-unraced-explained/

Layout for Madrid F1 debut revealed

The layout for the Madrid city circuit that will make its debut on the Formula 1 calendar in 2026 has been revealed.Madrid's IFEMA exhibition centre, situated in the under-construction Valdebebas development in the north east of the Spanish capital, is the base for the circuit, which is being dubbed the 'Madring'.It will not be a conventional city street race but is expected to be more of a hybrid...

Read more: https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/madrid-f1-circuit-layout-revealed/

Mark Hughes: What's triggered Hamilton's untenable Ferrari F1 form dip

The most worrying thing about Lewis Hamilton's Ferrari struggles isn't how far off team-mate Charles Leclerc he has been for the last three Formula 1 races, but how he seemingly believes this is going to be typical for the rest of the season. Because it really is not a sustainable state of affairs. Asked after finishing half a minute behind his team-mate in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - last of t...

Read more: https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/mark-hughes-what-triggered-untenable-hamilton-ferrari-f1-form-dip/

F1 2026 engine catch-up idea agreed, but power change splits opinion

The Formula 1 Commission has agreed to explore ways for manufacturers to catch up next season if their all-new engines are not competitive.But a radical idea to cut back on battery power in races, aimed at helping alleviate fears of cars running out of energy down straights, left opinion divided in its current guise.Senior figures from F1 and the FIA, plus representatives of the teams, met in Gene...

Read more: https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/f1-2026-engine-catch-up-idea-agreed-but-power-change-splits-opinions/

The question mark now hanging over Mercedes' progress

Mercedes' start to the 2025 Formula 1 season had been unrecognisable from 12 months ago until a Saudi Arabian Grand Prix that offered some unwelcome deja vu. The bare numbers after five events still make for encouraging reading compared to 2024: more points (111-52), more podiums (3-0), and second in the championship instead of fourth.And a major strength Mercedes has enjoyed this season has been ...

Read more: https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/the-question-mark-now-hanging-over-mercedes-progress/

F1 Podcast: Your questions on Hamilton's 'terrible' Ferrari start

We answer your questions on Lewis Hamilton’s season so far in the latest edition of The Race F1 Podcast. Scott Mitchell-Mark and Malm Hughes join Edd Straw to evaluate his first five Formula 1 weekends with Ferrari and what it will take to get him onto the pace. We also consider what the future might bring for Hamilton and Ferrari if he continues to struggle, and whether the rules reset of 2026 is...

Read more: https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/f1-podcast-your-questions-on-hamiltons-terrible-ferrari-start/

Gary Anderson: How I'd fix F1's under-fire 2026 engine rules

Since the new Formula 1 power unit regulations for 2026 were introduced, there has been much debate as to whether they are suitable or not, further fuelled by FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem suggesting a return to the eardrum-bursting V10 engines.His statement didn't really offer much stability or show faith in F1's current rules direction, and must have caused a few ripples in many of the powe...

Read more: https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/gary-anderson-how-id-fix-f1s-under-fire-2026-engine-rules/

Why GM pushing back its F1 engine entry is significant

Cadillac has officially rolled back its entry to become a Formula 1 engine supplier until 2029, which opens the door for it to enter at the same time the series could switch to a simpler V8 or V10 alternative.The American manufacturer had originally registered to become an F1 engine manufacturer from 2028. In the meantime, its new F1 team would run with customer Ferrari engines.But following sugge...

Read more: https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/gm-pushing-back-f1-engine-entry-2029-significance/

Ben Sulayem picks top team boss as new deputy after incendiary exit

FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has nominated leading rallying team boss Malcolm Wilson as his new deputy president for sport.In the wake of the surprise resignation of Robert Reid earlier this month, Ben Sulayem has been looking for a replacement to carry him through to the end of his current term.He has now put forward Wilson, with a vote due to be taken at the FIA's Extraordinary General Ass...

Read more: https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/ben-sulayem-nominates-top-team-boss-new-fia-deputy-after-incendiary-exit/

F1 butchered its 2026 cars for an ideal it might now discard

Formula 1’s 2026 regulations were founded upon one key tenet, an article of faith dictating the rulemaking decisions that followed. This was the requirement for an approximate 50/50 split of conventional internal combustion power and electrical power. The fact that, as revealed by The Race, a proposal to drop the power of the electric motor from 350kW to 200kW (a reduction of around 200bhp) is eve...

Read more: https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/f1-major-2026-engine-change-would-be-pragmatic-but-a-failure/

Could Verstappen or Russell trigger a 2026 F1 driver market shock?

Formula 1's annual driver market silly season is already in full swing for 2026 with some fascinating whispers bubbling around the paddock.Could Max Verstappen really be pondering a sabbatical? Is Red Bull sniffing around George Russell to lure him away from Mercedes as a replacement? Could the two drivers even end up swapping teams?

While things do not seem to be quite as explosive as they wer...

Read more: https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/could-verstappen-russell-trigger-a-2026-f1-driver-market-shock/

Verstappen controversy highlights need for an F1 penalty change

Amid arguments over whether or not Max Verstappen deserved the penalty that ruined his chances of victory in Formula 1's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, there's a key overlooked component of the controversy.That's the F1 stewards issuing a five-second penalty, when there could be a solution that creates better racing and solves some of the long-standing problems time penalties can bring.

"The penalty...

Read more: https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/verstappen-controversy-f1-penalty-change/

What happened to 'insane' McLaren pace advantage

Max Verstappen was surprised to be so competitive with McLaren driver Oscar Piastri during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, after what Red Bull Formula 1 team boss Christian Horner described as "insane" practice pace.Verstappen lost a possible win in Jeddah after earning a five-second penalty for going off-track and gaining an advantage at the first corner of the race trying to defend the lead from P...

Read more: https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/what-happened-to-insane-mclaren-pace-advantage-saudi-f1/