BELGIAN GRAND PRIX
BABY COME BACK
As the yacht rock fades from summer, it’s been a pretty quiet break for F1…
No massive driver changes, team swaps or new regulations to discuss here. Right? Ha.
Leading the driver’s market is Daniel Ricciardo’s Gwyneth Paltrow style “conscious uncoupling” with McLaren. In an Instagram video from what appears to be a college dorm room, he announced that this would be his last year with the team. What’s interesting is that many of the team changes are instigated and coordinated by the drivers, but McLaren was the one to exercise their option to cut Ricciardo. (Rumored to have paid over $15 million to get out of the contract)
It’s a bummer but inevitable. As likable as he is (at times) it turns out the greatest flaw in his driving wasn’t speed or skill - it was adaptability. He could never get into a groove in any of his new teams or their cars. Because of this, he became frustrated and would leave with almost impeccably bad timing. Feels like a lot of his career failures can be blamed on poor advice by his own managers. He’s a brilliant attacking #2 driver who, if he stuck it out with one team, could have had his shot at a championship like Rosberg or Massa.
We all know Formulastradmus accurately predicted Ricciardo’s TV show. I hear he is also available to takeover in driver management if called upon and has gigs lined up for #DJDannyRic in Vegas and Ibiza. But we already know he will be in NASCAR next season getting beat up in the pitlane for trying out his Texas accent.
On the other end of the driver market is future Drive to Survive villain Fernando Alonso teaming up with real-life villain Lawrence Stroll at Aston Martin. In a shock move, just days after Vettel’s retirement and without any warning to Alpine, he jumped ship. Apparently, Alonso listed his contract demands and Stroll responded with “Yes.” They then continued eating canapés on their mega-yacht before taking a dive in the mini-submarine.
I personally like Alonso’s turn into the bad guy and heel of F1. Although we may need to do a welfare check on Lance Stroll, Alonso is going to destroy the poor kid.
Finally, the last card to fall in the driver market is Alpine. They have botched this silly season in an impressive manner. First getting blindsided by Alonso. Then claiming they had hot young driver Oscar Piastri locked up for next year. Only to have him vehemently deny, saying he had no intention of driving for them. Now team boss Otmar Szafnauer is still driverless and left threatening to sue Piastri and Aston. Going to be a good year for the Alpine lawyers.
Now on to this weekend’s race at Spa-Francorchamps in the Belgian forrest. Despite hosting its first Grand Prix way back in 1925, F1 management is threatening that this could be the last. While the glitz of Belgium may not attract any sponsors, this is a proper old school track. I think the drivers will strike if it gets cut.
And why do the drivers love it so much? Two words. Eau Rouge. A sweeping high speed corner that flows like a river in reverse straight up 115 feet. The briefest hesitation or lift will cost you on the long straight on the other side. There is only one way to take Eau Rouge and that is flat out.
The rest of the epic 7km circuit ducks and weaves through a huge valley packed with undulating corners and little room for error. Recent track revisions have also added back the gravel traps. Shock! How could they? Elsewhere the track is so long (2x Monaco) that it can be pouring rain on one end and completely dry on the other. It also has a notoriously short chaos-inducing pit straight. (Ahem Grosjean torpedoing Alonso’s championship in 2012) Lucky for us there’s a forecast for rain on Saturday and Sunday, which should make for a quite a nice day at the Spa.
Whether its Ferrari trick engine, Renault’s hidden fuel tank, the Mercedes DAS system or Richard Petty replacing the headlights on his car with paint can lids to save weight no one lives up to the motto “If you ain’t cheating, you ain’t trying” better than racing. (Except Belicheck) Give me a good ol’ technical cheat over some driver drama any day.
There’s a 7,000 page long rulebook that lays out every inch of the car. Yet teams still find loopholes just like the Aston Martin’s new rear wing. While it’s not the sexiest cheat of all time, the new regulations prescribe a certain circumference for the edge of the rear wing. But what they did not specify was the inside circumference as well.
The rounded wings allow air to wash to the side making it easier for cars to follow. But in doing so, it makes the wing less effective. Better for racing spectacle, but worse for performance. The fugly solution Aston came up with is two tubes in the wing that comply with the circumference rule, while channeling air more narrowly like last years wings to create more downforce.
Preeeeetty, preeeetty, preetty tricky.
Will the FIA crack down on it or will we see teams adopt it at high downforce circuits like Singapore? I’m sure there’s an interesting debate going on in the tech departments to see if this is worth it in the budget cap era.
If you thought talking about wing tips was arousing let me introduce you to the exciting world of sustainable fuels. F1 announced the new 2026 engine regulations that feature bigger batteries and fuel made out of old pizza oil and corn husks. If that doesn't get your motors revving I don't know what will.
Apparently it was erotic enough to entice Audi to make their long awaited return to F1. Unlike their sister company Porsche, Audi is rumored to be buying out 75% of Sauber to become a full manufacturer. Audi has dominated in Le Mans over the years with 13 wins in 16 races across a variety of engine formats. It’s a strong show of strength for the future of F1 and brings more big budget competition to the front of the grid.
While I think the push for new fuels and green tech is admirable, what’s frustrating is the lack of freedom to find solutions. The 2026 engines are still the same 1.6L V6. To the average fan, no one will be able to tell the difference. If you had a variety of engines like in Le Mans it could lead to more competition across the grid. Does anyone care that fuel levels will be cut by 30%? Not at all. But if manufacturers were trading power for fuel efficiency and therefore weight, now we are talking about better racing instead of press releases.
