Formula 1 in Miami: A storm is coming

Formula 1 has pitched its stable tents at the restart after a five-week compulsory break in the middle of the Miami Dolphins’ football stadium. For once, the anxious faces there in the improvised paddock do not apply to the regulations that were so controversial after the first three races – with the drive mix of combustion engine and electric motor that is so difficult to control for most people. Rather, it is the violent thunderstorms that are forecast for the Miami Grand Prix on Sunday (10 p.m. CEST).

But where the weather is becoming a big issue for the new generation of racing cars, which have so far only been tested in dry conditions, four-time world champion Max Verstappen also chooses a metaphor from the world of water: “That’s just a drop in the ocean,” says the chief critic of the field of drivers about the regulations that have been changed in some points.

During the non-racing weeks, the Formula 1 management, the governing body of the world automobile sports association FIA, the team bosses and, for the first time, the drivers discussed several times how the safety concerns due to the often high energy surpluses in racing could be eliminated. But also how pilots can be spared the incapacitation caused by the excessive intervention of the electronic driving aids. Verstappen, who had vented his frustration several times through unsubtle threats of resignation, is only extremely satisfied on one point: “We’re behind the wheel and we know exactly what it takes to be a good sport. It’s therefore positive that we’re now sitting at the table. If that had been the case five or six years ago, then we certainly wouldn’t have the rules that we have to live with today.”

If anything, he sees, the pure one Racer, a clear possibility of change only for the coming year. For reasons of feasibility and cost alone, engine manufacturers do not want major hardware corrections. The series management does not want to discredit the extremely successful Formula 1 product worldwide through hasty reactions.

Top speeds are the essence of motorsport, saving energy is not

The criticism of many protagonists should not go unheard, which is why the racing drivers can push their sports equipment to the limit in a more natural way this weekend, especially in qualifying. In concrete terms, this means that the drivers have more power available to them than before in Miami. They can go full throttle again in the last corner before their fast qualifying lap and thus fight for the starting positions without having to worry about the battery. Top speeds are the essence of motorsport, saving energy is not.

The advantage of electronics, which is so hated by drivers, is that such modifications can be made comparatively easily via the software. Being able to at least live life to the full again on Saturdays is something, perhaps even the “good step in the right direction” that Verstappen’s Red Bull team boss Laurent Mekies sees. Still, it remains complicated.

The races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, which were canceled because of the Iran war, are becoming an additional technical problem because the hybrid cars do not behave the same on every track, so a little more experience would have contributed to more meaningful data and a better solution to the problem. The course correction is only a first attempt, more are to follow, also when assessing the balance of power among the engine manufacturers, where Mercedes has so far been the lonely leader.

Formula 1 wanted more overtaking and more variety, while at the same time achieving top marks in terms of sustainability with the combination of synthetic e-fuels and powerful electrical components. True to her nature, she probably overdid it. As a reminder: Since this season, for reasons of sustainability, the cars’ drive has been supplied half by the battery and half by the combustion engine. If you use up your electrical energy too quickly per lap, you have to drive slower in the later part to recharge the battery. The only question is whether a compromise formula will help in the current situation or whether more severe intervention is needed. Simpler racing engines are already being discussed again for the end of the decade.

The hope that it will be Miami Autodrome However, there is a change in the mood and a change in mood is due to the numerous upgrades that were created in the racing factories during the long break in the season. The defending champion McLaren, initially plagued by technical teething problems, is racing to catch up. Ferrari has significantly revised its aerodynamics, Audi is trying to get its transmission problems under control. Many racing teams have already tested the changes at so-called film days, where people are actually allowed to drive 100 kilometers in the current car for marketing purposes. It is on such occasions that the true strengths of Formula 1 become apparent: always hoping for a better future and fundamentally encouraging oneself.

Whenever series boss Stefano Domenicali, who sees himself as committed to tradition as he is to big business, the negative vibrations become too great, he asks the values ​​​​of the pollsters who are constantly scanning interest in Formula 1 on his behalf. The record viewer numbers and the presence on social media prove him right; in general, the majority thinks the races are better today than before because there is significantly more overtaking. Even if this is exactly the point that racing drivers brand as the “yo-yo effect” and consider it too artificial. “The audience is not interested in discussions about megajoules,” says Domenicali, “we just have to properly convey to them what it’s about.”