In the round-up: McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown says the team are still considering whether to team up with a power unit manufacture as a works partner in 2026
In brief
McLaren considering manufacturer works tie-up for 2026
McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown says the team are still considering whether to team up with a power unit manufacture as a works partner in 2026.
The FIA has confirmed six power unit manufacturers intend to make power units for the new Formula in 2026: Ferrari, Mercedes, Red Bull, Renault (Alpine), Audi and Honda. Asked by RaceFans whether McLaren hope to become partners with one of the manufacturers or continue as a customer like they remain currently with Mercedes, Brown said it is something the team will consider over the years ahead.
“We’re very happy with Mercedes,” Brown said. “We have some time to decide what we want to do in ’26 and beyond.
“I think it’s exciting for Formula 1 that you have as many manufacturers coming into the sport. I think that shows the growth and excitement for the sport. So it’s something that Andrea [Stella, team principal] and I are in the process of slowly reviewing. We’re not in a big rush and we are very happy with Mercedes. So we’ll see how things play out over the next year or so before we need to make a decision.”
Piastri told not to underestimate F1 by manager Webber
Oscar Piastri says he’s been told by his manager, former F1 driver and grand prix winner Mark Webber, not to underestimate the challenge of racing in F1.Piastri embarks on his rookie season with McLaren this year after not racing in 2022. He says Webber and his partner Ann Neal have helped him prepare for his debut year.
“There’s been a lot of advice from both Mark and Ann,” Piastri said. “I think to sum it up, I guess not underestimating the challenge of Formula 1.
“It’s obviously a big step up from what I’ve raced previously and also it’s a different dynamic. It’s my first year getting paid to drive race cars, which is pretty cool. So that’s a different dynamic to what I’m used to. And obviously there’s a lot more people in the team. We’ve got about 700 or 800 people here at McLaren as opposed to the 30 that I had in F2 So it’s a lot of different things this year. It’s the pinnacle of the sport. So just being prepared and preparation has been the number one piece of advice.”
Maggotts and Becketts “next level” in F1 – Sargeant
Williams rookie driver Logan Sargeant was impressed by the cornering speeds of the team’s new FW45 during its shakedown run at Silverstone yesterday.
Sargeant drove in four Friday practice sessions with the team in 2022 and competed a day of running in the post-season test day in Abu Dhabi. Sargeant won the Formula 2 feature race at Silverstone last year, but admitted he was impressed driving a Formula 1 car around the circuit for the first time.
“We were flat through turn one there for the most part,” Sargeant explained. “But it honestly felt really good. But to come back here after last being here in F2, just the amount of speed that you can carry through Maggotts and Becketts and all the high speed, it’s just next level. So that felt pretty good.
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Links
Motor racing links of interest:
Matt Bishop’s Post (Matt Bishop via LinkedIn)
"Collaborating with Seb was an honour and a pleasure, and the work that we did together to support LGBTQ+ equality, and to highlight the importance in sport, business and industry of diversity, equality and inclusivity generally, was an inspiration to many - including to those of us who facilitated Seb's DEI activities."
Why F1 shakedown sent Mercedes' 2022 season into a tailspin (Motor Sport)
"We were on the back foot by about a week, because our filming day was when there was a storm in the UK. And it was a wet shakedown. And we just weren’t going fast enough down the straight at Silverstone to experience any porpoising whatsoever. You could barely keep the car in a straight line, there was so much wind. And it was only late in the afternoon that we experienced something, but we weren’t too sure what it was. And that was the end of the day."
Inside Lewis Hamilton's NFL franchise ownership of three-time Super Bowl winners (Express)
"After joining the Broncos as minority owner, Hamilton has been seen in Denver at a game earlier this season after his first trip to Colorado to meet the team. As part of his new role, Hamilton is keen to have a role in improving diversity while working with the NFL to further representation of minority coaches in the sport."
"I am pushing for more events in India and affordable vehicles and we passed that already in the FIA general assembly. We have a new identity for karting and cross cars.” Can the Formula 1 return to India in the near future? “Of course it can comeback… The opportunity is there and I have to break these barriers to ensure it happens. The FIA is for all the members."
"NASCAR rolls into its 75th anniversary season in what could become one of the most defining years in the sport’s history. The sport’s efforts to reinvent itself began before the pandemic and are destined to accelerate. While this season the sport will head to Chicago for the first street race for the Cup Series, NASCAR executives are in active talks to race in the New York City region, a move that would take it into the largest media market in the U.S."
Netflix's golf Full Swing an unappetising TV turn-off that doesn't know its audience (Telegraph)
"In that spirit, and as a golf agnostic, let me say this: Netflix’s new series Full Swing aims to do for golf what Drive To Survive did for Formula One... but shanks it horribly off the tee, into a pond, tries to roll its trousers up and hit the ball out of the pond, falls over in the pond, gets into difficulty, needs rescuing by a frogman, eventually catches Weil’s disease and suffers massive organ failure and dies, horribly, propped up on an uncomfortable chintz banquette in a clubhouse being yelled at by a double-glazing salesman about how many miles to a gallon he gets in the Audi."
Free PS VR2 Upgrade Coming to GT7! (Gran Turismo)
"We are pleased to announce that the PlayStation 5 version of 'Gran Turismo 7' will receive full PlayStation VR2 support through Update 1.29, releasing on 21 February. With this free upgrade, players will be able to experience all the races and game modes (excluding '2P Split Screen' mode) with a whole new level of realism. PS VR2 players will also be able to access an exclusive 'VR Showroom' area from their ‘Garage’ or the in-game car dealerships where they can admire all the stunning details of the ultra high-definition car models in a variety of locations and lighting settings."
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
5th season with @McLarenF1 and i’m ready for it. new car, new challenges, new teammate and i’m looking forward to it all. welcome to the team @OscarPiastri, let’s make this year a good one pic.twitter.com/FZwn8tGQPM
— Lando Norris (@LandoNorris) February 13, 2023
T-minus two days…👌 pic.twitter.com/q4LxLtuC3A
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) February 13, 2023
"I'm really happy with today!" 🙌@alex_albon assesses the FW45 rollout 💪#WeAreWilliams pic.twitter.com/grEQyWaku4
— Williams Racing (@WilliamsRacing) February 13, 2023
We have colleagues at AMF1 that have been directly affected by the Turkey-Syria Earthquake, and in support of their communities back home, we have launched a fundraising campaign to support the Emergency Disaster Committee Red Cross Appeal.
Tap below to donate.
— Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team (@AstonMartinF1) February 13, 2023
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- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Comment of the day
With F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali suggesting that the FIA must ensure there is no controversy when the championship is won this season, @markzastrow believes F1 has a right to be frustrated by the FIA’s approach to its own rules…
Yes, the teams have little excuse to not have understood the rules, since (as you’ve previously pointed out, I recall) they were heavily involved in the drafting of that particular regulation itself; Alan Permane and Andreas Seidl admitted as much in the aftermath.
But ultimately, the FIA is the sporting body. It is their duty to regulate the teams — not the other way round — and protect the sport’s integrity and reputation. While I think they are doing so in some areas, in this regard, I find Liberty’s frustration completely reasonable. I agree with Craig. It does not reflect well on the FIA that their rulebook does not clearly say what it means (a failing that was at the root of the 2021 outcome as well).
It just shows that the FIA needs a team of people with lawyers’ eyes to consult on the wording of the actual regulations and give the entire rulebook an overhaul. There’s a reason why legislation around the world is drafted not by members of parliaments themselves but attorneys in that body’s office of legislative counsel. Drafting precise and comprehensive regulations is a skill, and it’s not one that team sporting directors or even a race director is necessarily equipped with.
Mark Zastrow
Happy birthday!
No RaceFans birthdays today
Alan S Thomson
14th February 2023, 3:33
McLaren would be smart to get a Works engine deal. I just don’t see them winning as a customer team.
David (@nvherman)
14th February 2023, 9:26
The tie-up with Honda was as a works team
Roger Ayles (@roger-ayles)
14th February 2023, 4:27
The biggest problem with the regulations and the enforcement of them is that there’s far too many.
And in an effort to ensure there’s more consistency they have ended up introducing more penalties for every little thing which just makes the sport look like a joke sometimes as there ends up been no room to apply common sense to an incident. Hence why there are so many more (needless) penalties now than even a decade ago.
It’s all too regulated and restrictive now. Rather than feeling like F1, The pinnacle of the sport….. It just feels and looks a bit more like old Indycar.
The far from last year has come true this with all cars (so far) looking virtually identical due to how restrictive the regulations have become. There’s just hardly any room to do anything different or innovate now as stuff gets shut down so quickly there’s hardly any point wasting your budget cap on doing anything too different.
Indycar+ it has actually become!
S
14th February 2023, 6:01
Indycar is and has for a very long time been far more free (sporting context – not technically, obviously) than F1 is.
All those extra rules in F1 that lead to the increased number of penalties were put there by request – primarily from the teams.
Big thanks to Liberty in particular for unionising the teams to get what they want collectively at the expense of those outside of their private group, hey? Who doesn’t love a union…
As for all the teams looking the same – thanks again to the teams and FOM for coming up with these specifications (can’t really call it a formula anymore). This is what they want F1 to be, and largely, what a lot of viewers want F1 to be.
Fastest cars – regardless of racing quality, technical diversity, human involvement or creative ingenuity. Just computers doing everything and, unsurprisingly, all coming to approximately the same results.
Whatever makes the most money in the fastest way possible.
Sounds way worse than Indycar to me – and shows it on track too.
Tristan (@skipgamer)
14th February 2023, 7:22
If you can’t see the difference in the cars you’re not looking… Check out Kyle.Engineers on YouTube. He does a great job pointing out all the different aero elements and how they might be working.
Sure there are restrictions on where the Aero surfaces can be, how many along what axis etc… But you can see there are quite a lot of solutions and philosophies on how to make the best package within the specs.
S
14th February 2023, 8:03
You’re right – I’m not looking at F1 cars with a magnifying glass. I’m simply not that keen.
If it can’t be seen clearly when the car is racing a bunch of competitors on the first lap, it’s probably not that exciting to anyone except the most dull and fastidious of people.
F1 attracted a lot of people in through DTS – I wonder if this game of micrometers and barely changing liveries will excite them.
When you have to put two cars side by side to see the differences – probably not. It doesn’t excite me at all, and I certainly didn’t start watching F1 recently.
some racing fan
14th February 2023, 8:08
You’re right- you’re not keen.
Wayne
14th February 2023, 7:44
I agree in part. But for many years fans have argued the point that its not the driver its the car… So F1 has been moving towards making it more about the driver and less about the car because as max and many others have said… anyone can win in that car… Loosely quoted.
GeeMac (@geemac)
14th February 2023, 5:07
Interesting to read that review of “Full Swing”. I have played golf since I was a kid and am interested to see what the series is like, if the trailer was anything to go by it looks like it’s going to be very similar to DTS, which worries me as golf is a very different sport. Even if it is rubbish I hope they give it a few seasons to see how it plays out, because DTS took a while to get into its stride in my view.
Jere (@jerejj)
14th February 2023, 6:36
A Honda reunion is effectively Mclaren’s only chance of becoming a de facto works team again.
I don’t see an Indian GP return happening anytime soon, if ever, but at least not in the short term.
COTD is spot-on.
some racing fan
14th February 2023, 8:13
Maybe at this point yes but quite honestly the car itself isn’t all that good, and the Merc PU is still one to have.
nordmann (@nordmann)
14th February 2023, 7:10
Being a lawyer, I must say COTD is spot on.
S
14th February 2023, 8:07
Speaking to a lawyer, I must say that lawyers are a prime reason that F1 isn’t as fun or interesting as it used to be, nor is the rest of life.
some racing fan
14th February 2023, 8:12
Then why are you here? Why waste time posting comments on this website?
S
14th February 2023, 8:25
Where should I post comments about F1?
Political forums? LGBTQ websites? Religious pages?
Tristan (@skipgamer)
14th February 2023, 7:13
Wait, 6 confirmed? Thought Honda was flirting with the idea of sticking around with Red Bull but surely the Ford news has nixed that… Have they said who they’d work with?
S
14th February 2023, 8:19
CotD –
Perhaps the FIA should simply remove FOM and the teams from any rule-making permission at all?
That would solve all the problems. No teams can argue that the FIA used the ‘wrong’ interpretation if they had no say over the rule in the first place.
Regardless – lawyers or not – no rule will ever be perfect all the time. Every wording can be interpreted, and in F1 that’s exactly why they are written that way.
The FIA’s interpretation of any rule should always be final, as that’s what they are there for.
Dan Rooke (@geekzilla9000)
14th February 2023, 10:01
With Honda back and some new blood at Mclaren, I wonder if they’ll re-establish that bond and be a full works team?
If they win a championship they should have Ron Dennis accept the trophy with an “I told you so!” t-shirt!
bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
14th February 2023, 11:04
Someone who works at the Telegraph has been on a creative writing course and watched watched Netflix on the same day.
playstation361
14th February 2023, 12:58
I was really impressed watching the FE event. Even though the followers for the motorsport events is very low compared to other regions I see there is a a lot of room for the development. I definitely see a development for other FIA events also and want to see more media content viewed and small races like the Drag which frequently happen.