The European season came to a close with an iconic race that featured a surprise winner, but it largely lacked action on track. Off it, however, there were plenty of interesting developments when it comes to potential future drivers, as well as future engine regulations.
Early V8 return falls away
Following the meeting between engine manufacturers, the FIA and Formula 1 in Bahrain earlier this year, there has been a lot of positive progress when it comes to the next generation of engine that will follow the 2026 regulations.
All parties appeared to be converging on a move back to a 2.4-litre V8, with some form of hybrid system. It would mean cheaper, louder and lighter engines, while still retaining the hybrid technology that remains so road relevant.
There were still some sticking points, but all of the momentum appeared to be towards an agreement for their introduction at the end of the decade, until the recent cancellation of a meeting to try and firm up the plans further.
Sources suggest FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem was particularly keen to push the new regulations through as early as 2029, but the majority of manufacturers were against that due to the desire to get maximum value out of the power units developed for next season. Three years was not viewed as sufficient return on investment, and once the support wasn’t there, a meeting this coming week was postponed.
That leaves the actual timeline up in the air, with 2030 still a possibility but the longer there isn’t a final agreement, then the greater likelihood the original timeline – that wouldn’t see a change until 2031 – holds.
Confusion over racing rules
One of the fallouts from Zandvoort related to the stewarding decisions on some of the incidents during the race, with Carlos Sainz in particular voicing his frustration. Sainz and Liam Lawson came together at Turn 1, and Sainz was given a 10-second time penalty, in a decision that appeared to be right by the letter of the driving guidelines, but harsh based on Lawson’s movements and the characteristics of the corner.
Bearman is now close to a race ban
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Similarly perplexing was the fact that the stewards made such a decision in real time – as they should try to do as often as possible – but then decided to hear from both George Russell and Charles Leclerc regarding their incident at Turn 11 and Turn 12 after the race.
Not only were a number of drivers unclear about when they will or won’t get a chance to state their case, but Alexander Albon also admitted he finds the driving guidelines (and their implementation) so confusing that he doesn’t pay too much attention to them.
“I’m not that clear when I go racing on wheel-to-wheel what I’m allowed to do and what I can’t do,” Albon said. “And I play more under my own rules, what is a fair overtake, what is a fair defence, kind of thing. It works for me doing it that way.
“Generally speaking, the door is open for us to speak with the FIA, and they are constantly telling us that is the case, and that is the case. But it does feel like the water’s murky in terms of knowing how you can race. Yeah, it is confusing for me.”
Chicago interest remains, but F1 unlikely to expand
As you may have picked up in a few of these columns, interest from potential new race hosting venues is high in F1 at the moment, with Thailand still seen as the frontrunner to next join the grid, and the sport retaining a desire to race in Africa.
Chicago currently hosts NASCAR Xfinity Series race
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One region that has seen rapid expansion in recent years is the United States, and the commercial interest in the sport remains strong from both sponsors and potential promoters.
A project that is exploring the possibility of hosting a race in Chicago has been working largely behind the scenes, but for now, it looks unlikely that it would find a spot on the calendar in the short term. While the momentum is encouraging for the sport, F1 is keen to consolidate at present, with three races already established and the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal also an option for the region.
Just four years ago, there was only one race in the United States, so F1 is wary of over-saturating the market by expanding too quickly. Chicago could come into the frame in the medium-to-long term, but with multiple races on long-term deals, it is not currently seen as a realistic addition in the coming years.
Dunne’s pain when doubling up
Given McLaren‘s extremely impressive performance so far this year, there are a number of other aspects where the team is excellent that don’t always get the same amount of limelight.
Dunne’s F2 title chances are slipping away now
Grand Prix Photo
Alex Dunne’s progress is one such area, as the Irishman has been one of the standout performers during his rookie Formula 2 season, although he is starting to slip from title contention. He entered the Monza weekend 30 points adrift of leader Leonardo Fornaroli, but also had an FP1 outing for McLaren to contend with, and he couldn’t combine signs of progress with tangible results.
In Austria, for Dunne’s first FP1 appearance, he admitted he struggled to make the quick adaptations required to go from F2 to F1 and then back to F2 machinery, seeing him struggle in qualifying. That led to unrepresentative pace, so the car set-up was modified, but when he got back up to speed in the F2 car, it then led to too much plank wear, and he was disqualified from the feature race.
This time around, there was a stronger qualifying performance, as he was a solid fifth on Friday afternoon in what was a step forward. Unfortunately, he got caught up in incidents in both races – the second very much not his fault as Red Bull junior Arvid Lindblad punted him off at Ascari when he was in the mix for a podium.
It has seen Dunne drop away from the title fight with three rounds remaining, and shows the challenge of dovetailing FP1 outings with F2 races as a rookie.
Herta’s F2 move divides opinion
There was a slightly strange contrast about some of the comments relating to Colton Herta’s future switch to Formula 2 this weekend, as drivers were also asked about the IndyCar winner’s arrival, while TWG Motorsports CEO Dan Towriss was in town.
Not everybody agrees with Herta’s decision
IndyCar
Towriss has been the driving force behind a significant portion of the Cadillac F1 set-up – taking on the role of CEO of the team, too – and through Gainbridge has been a backer of Herta in IndyCar, so he could be expected to be his staunchest supporter.
A slow pitstop for Lando Norris left McLaren tripping over itself at Monza, turning a straightforward race into another uneasy team orders dilemma, as Mark Hughes explains
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Mark Hughes
But Towriss was actually slightly critical of what he described as a danger of “entitlement” from those who are successful in IndyCar, believing that would automatically translate into F1.
Instead, he sees Herta’s pending move to F2 as one driven out of respect for the F1 ladder and European open wheel racing, and its differences from the American scene.
On the flip side, Lando Norris was extremely complimentary about Herta, having raced alongside him at Carlin in MSA Formula back in 2014, and shared a British F3 car with him the following year. The McLaren driver stated his belief that IndyCar should have more superlicence points than F2 gets given the level of talent required to win in the US series, and said he expects Herta to adapt to F1 with ease.
Towriss has now confirmed Herta will be in F2 next season – though the team remains unannounced as it is not quite finalised yet – so we’ll soon get to see just how big a transition it really is for an established IndyCar driver to join the feeder series and the F1 ranks.
