How F1 became hostage to its manufacturers - The Undercut with Damon Hill and Mark Hughes
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
You're listening to The Undercut with Damon Hill and Mark Hughes.
Well, Damon, as we're coming up the Canadian Grand Prix and that gap between Miami and Canada, we've heard a few interesting comments from the government body, the FIA. Senior people, one, the president saying, yeah, we're going to go back to V8s by 2030 or 31. But senior technical people saying, yeah, we probably listened too much to the automotive requests. And that's what's led us to have this trying to get to this 50-50 split, which has caused us some problems and we really need to change that split a bit more. in favor of the internal combustion engine, particularly from 2027 on. And it's an interesting point because certainly some of us have been saying for quite a long time, Formula One is so successful in its own right commercially.
Why is it giving itself such difficulties commercially? just to accommodate the wishes of an outside entity such as automotive and can't exist on its own terms without compromising, in this case, the racing, just to accommodate those wishes. Where do you stand on that?
The whole subject is complicated and fascinating. And I think we're going to try and unravel some of the components of that so that we can help people engage with this debate. Because it's very easy to sit here and say, oh, they're racing cars. We just want loud engines. And there are those who have argued that that's all F1 needs is fast cars. With loud engines. And it wasn't when I was growing up, it was always talked about. If you haven't seen the start of an F1 race, then you haven't lived. This was the big attraction was the noise of the cars on the grid and the revving and all that excitement. And the sounds of them whizzing past.
How do automotive manufacturers influence F1 regulations?
But those were in the days before people started to think about the planet and the consequences of just puking out poisonous fumes with carbon dioxide in them. It's a long story. So why car manufacturers in our sport? And I think it's because there's a legacy expectation. And some people, let's say Renault, get a lot of attention. perhaps they also embarrass themselves at times. So there's a risk to being involved. But currently we have, since Liberty bought F1, they've changed the financial structure of the sport. So whereas in the past the car manufacturers may have been the only people with the amounts of money you needed to be competitive, they would have boosted a team's ability to produce a winning car.
That's not so necessary now. In fact, what's happened is the stability now for the teams and the revenue streams of F1 mean that they're franchises, successful franchises in the sport. Therefore, in a way, it is purely marketing, isn't it? Yeah, it is. And for years, I mean, I used to go for… invited to someone's house and there'd be people talking about Formula 1 and someone would be saying something to the effect of, all of the developments in F1 find their way into our road cars. Well... I'm struggling to think of anything where this, so this is a myth a little bit. Yes, the safety developments in F1 are incredible, but the safety belt wasn't invented for Formula One. And various other things that you could say at disc brakes, they weren't, they might have come in on racing vehicles first.
But if you look at, I mean, rallying for a long time had far more technical relevance to road cars. But anyway, racing is a hybridized branch of the motor industry and the relevance to the demands, the needs, the costs of things can't easily be transferred. So what are they doing? Car manufacturers, what are they doing? in our sport what are they are they showing people that they are capable of living in this highly technical advanced on the edge of um of of sophistication automotive sophistication to prove their product to sell to the public and um the question is is is that is that what formula one needs to follow because we've got this other demand, which is the fan and the drivers, and maybe even the teams, who are quite happy to go down any route that doesn't necessarily need to sell road cars.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:02–2:28
2
How do automotive manufacturers influence F1 regulations?
2:28–5:54
3
What challenges does F1 face with the 2026 regulations?
5:54–10:34
4
Why is road relevancy considered a myth in F1?
10:34–17:58
5
How has Liberty Media changed the financial structure of F1?
17:58–28:51
6
What role do hybrid technologies play in modern F1 racing?
28:51–37:45
7
How are synthetic fuels viewed in the context of F1's future?
37:45–45:22
8
What is the future relationship between F1 and automotive manufacturers?
45:22–51:09
Speakers
3 identifiedMore from The Race F1 Podcast
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