Oscar Piastri, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, Baku, 2024

RaceFans Round-up: 24th January 2025

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Welcome to Friday’s edition of the RaceFans round-up.

Comment of the day

The new guidelines published by the FIA detailing how drivers will be punished for “misconduct” drew a lot of criticism:

The biggest issue is not with having a system in place to punish drivers for misbehaviour (although indeed that mechanism has already shown its weak spots and inconsistencies) but that the arbiters of this have been shown to abuse it to punish criticism (including well founded and important cases) of the FIA itself and criteria seem to be far to arbitrary to be deemed a solid mechanism.
@Bascb

Social media and links

Formula E and the FIA introduce Pit Boost charging technology (Formula E)

'Pit boost is an innovative mid-race feature that provides a 10% energy increase (3.85kWh) to race cars through a 30-second, 600kW rapid recharge in the pit lane. This mandatory sporting feature - deploying significantly more power than current consumer superchargers - adds another strategic element during selected races, with the potential to dramatically alter race outcomes and tactics.'

Inside Hamilton's dream Ferrari debut (Daily Mail)

'Maurizio, grey of hair and warm of nature, smiled. 'Perfecto,' he said. 'No arrogance. Tranquillo. He is just right for Ferrari.' He also moved his forearm backwards and forwards in a shoving movement, which meant tough enough, too, when needed.'

Reddit groups ban X links in protest at Musk arm gesture (BBC)

'The subreddits run by fans of football clubs Liverpool, Celtic and Tottenham Hotspur have all instituted the bans, as have communities for many US sports sides as well as Formula 1.'

Liberty Media / Dorna Sports (European Commission)

The European Union has extended the deadline to issue its decision on F1 owner Liberty Media's takeover of Moto GP by 20 days, to June 16th.

Verstappen - Four-time world champion, goals for Team Redline, retirement plans after F1 (Track limits via YouTube)

Round two race two (Formula Regional Middle East Championship via YouTube)

McLaren has recruited former Sauber team representative Alessandro Alunni Bravi to be its chief business affairs officer.

#F1

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— RaceFans (@racefansdotnet.bsky.social) 23 January 2025 at 17:08

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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8 comments on “RaceFans Round-up: 24th January 2025”

  1. Could not agree more with the cotd

    1. El Pollo Loco
      24th January 2025, 10:31

      +1

      Seems like the vast majority of media and fans also agree with this. Only an extremely tiny yet vocal minority want to defend this guy whose power base is, tellingly, delegates from developing countries with poor human rights records, little motorsport and poor ratings for corruption (namely kleptocracy).

  2. punish criticism (including well founded and important cases)

    This aspect feels like a contrived issue.

    Drivers probably have excellent direct access to FIA officials if they have any grievances or constructive criticism.

    In case it is something that truly needs to be said out loud, well, they have world media at their fingertips.

    Such a system of fines makes it just a bit costlier. Like, what, 1/100th or 1/1000th of their annual earnings (possibly, but not necessarily) sacrificed on the altar of free speech. Shouldn’t gag them if they have something important to communicate to society.

    On the other hand, those same fines might help a bunch of (in many respects still immature) multimillionaire 20-somethings learn some verbal discipline when taking part in events. A puerile urge to act cool by using expletives is not really a cause to rally round.

    Of course, any particular fan may not mind the language but a global organization still has some right to dictate participants how they behave towards a global audience.

    criteria seem to be far too arbitrary

    Conduct itself tends to be a rather hazy issue, too, but it might be useful to impose some limits, nevertheless.

    1. El Pollo Loco
      24th January 2025, 10:25

      Drivers probably have excellent direct access to FIA officials if they have any grievances or constructive criticism.

      Is this satire? Because we saw how well that worked last year…

      MBS won’t even agree to tell us or the drivers where the money from these fines are going to.

      Tell me, what recurring problem are these fines addressing? It’s telling that these new powers to crack down on dissent or objection have arisen in response to a problem that doesn’t exist.

      1. crack down on dissent or objection

        My point is that, effectively, it does not crack down on such reactions when they are important and well-founded. (“In case it is something that truly needs to be said out loud, well, they have world media at their fingertips.“)

        Because we saw how well that worked last year…

        What are you referring to? And was it eventually solved by “dissent or objection” which is now sadly being cracked down on?

        All this hullabaloo is created by making out that MBS is an actual dictator while F1 drivers are some oppressed third-world people.

    2. El Pollo Loco
      24th January 2025, 10:41

      Yeah, this all sounds like the trademark of a functional, transparent regime where driver issues will be taken seriously…

      As well as debate over the harshness of the penalty recommendations, what has also emerged as a bone of contention is the way that some feel the vote was effectively pushed through the World Motor Sport Council at Ben Sulayem’s behest.

      Where once the WMSC was a forum for debate and discussion during its regular gatherings, sources say that its processes have notably shifted under the latest regime.

      A move towards more virtual meetings, and more recently the increasing use of quick e-votes without debate, has left some unhappy due to a perception that, when it comes to changes to FIA regulations and statutes, proper due diligence is no longer being carried out.

      While e-votes do fulfil the letter of the legislative process, in that the majority need to back changes for them to go through, sources suggest that there is a degree of unease about things not operating in the way a proper democracy should with open discussion.

      In the case of the new misconduct guidelines, the rush to push them through via an e-vote, without prior consultation with drivers nor championship promoters, nor waiting for the next scheduled meeting, meant it failed to get unanimous support from the WMSC.

      One senior source with good knowledge of the situation said: “It would have been much better to have a conversation with the GPDA and treat them like adults, than do it without proper discussions and deliberation. Drivers need a level of respect given to them.”

      Most significantly, one of those who voted against the proposal was F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali – which is a rare move as FOM does not usually abstain from votes.

      The whisper of discomfort about the way that some feel the governing body’s democratic processes are being bypassed is especially interesting because it comes at the start of an FIA president election year.

      And whereas several months ago it had seemed almost certain that Ben Sulayem would be unopposed to win a second term, the latest play has offered the first hint that perhaps that is no longer the case.

  3. Really not interested in seeing electric cars go around a race track. I can do that at K1 speed or another go carttrack. I dont want to see computers run software

  4. Great stories coming out of Maranello. Hopefully Ferrari has made that small step forward to challenge from the first round. It’s no use to win a handful of random races in the summer. The season might be long, but that just means someone who gets it right at the start can defend a lead – which is always easier than trying to overhaul a deficit.

    The F1 sub-Reddit has usually done quite well to keep the list of approved sources up to date. Banning links to Twitter is a good move, considering how locked down it has become. Direct links still work (somewhat), but an account is necessary to restore basic functionality that used to exist. It’s a much poorer product than it was, and it was never that useful to begin with given the way people had to phrase things on there.

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