How F1 drivers have lost their power - The Undercut with Damon Hill and Mark Hughes
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What are the initial concerns regarding the 2026 F1 regulations?
You're listening to The Undercut with Damon Hill and Mark Hughes.
So on the eve of the Miami Grand Prix, we're going to see the effect of these tweaking of the regulations, which have needed a tweak after just three races. They're a bit of a porridge. There's all sorts of unsatisfactory aspects to them. And. One of the things that strikes me is that from a long way out, maybe a year and a half, two years out, the drivers who are trying them in the Sims were all saying, this is not going to work. It's going to be horrible. This is going to be massive speed differences. off battery to on battery. You're going to have to drive very, very conservatively to get the ultimate qualifying lap. It's not going to be a driving on the limit contest. The overtakes are going to be meaningless.
These all came to be. And yet at the time, the drivers were more or less told, yeah, don't worry. By the engineers, we've got this.
How have drivers historically been perceived in terms of power?
This is just very early stages. Just stay in your lane. Don't make a fuss. So it sort of speaks to how The drivers, although they're an essential part of the show and what they're doing is at the core of why we're all fascinated by it, but they're not really given any real power. How does that strike you? Has that changed over time? And how was it when you were there compared to your dad's era and compared to now? Because you're sort of in the middle of those points in time.
I think... That one of the things that struck me immediately when Liberty moved in, and it was Chase Carey, I think, and they made comments to the effect of, the drivers are the stars of the show. Do you remember that? And I thought, well, this is a change of approach. They recognise that the pulling power, the fan power, if you like, is driven by the drivers. No pun intended.
What changes have occurred in driver influence over time?
But it is literally, as we've seen that with the Netflix shows, where the drivers have become massive stars, as have the team principals as well, anyone in the show. But the point is, it's the personalities that are a very important part of the show. And I use the word show to differentiate it from the sport, which is what it used to be. But it has always been a show. And let's be honest, people, one moment people buy tickets to go and see something, then it's a show. But what you're showing, what you're displaying is a competition of humans in the raw, I would say, probably more so internationally. in previous eras than it is today, where it's sort of manicured. And the objective is to improve the appearance of the show.
So drivers have got power. They have got weight because they've, Liberty recognised that they can, and all the sponsors and all the, Partners with teams and so forth recognise their power to sell products and get attention. It's huge. But they now have, as you rightly said, was it a case of cloth ears? Was it a case of deaf ears to what the drivers say? Have we got to the point where because there's so much science involved in designing and developing cars now,
How did past driver strikes impact the sport?
that what the driver says is regarded as being almost irrelevant, that they no longer are listened to when they say, well, on the simulator, I can tell you you're going to have a problem in 2026. And they just go, yeah, yeah. they're not listening because they've got into the habit of not listening or they've not come from that era when, if I was to take it back to say the 1980s maybe, when the drivers were the way of understanding the car and if the centre comes in and says, my engine's no good, they change the engine. They change the chassis or whatever.
Yeah.
Because there wasn't the ability for the scientists, engineers to look at the data and go, well, there's nothing wrong, nothing to see here. But in that regime, that's the wrong word, but that management era with... with Bernie and Max that particular period they were I think Bernie was very very aware that the drivers did have power and he was never going to utter the words the drivers are the stars of the show and the reason he would do that wouldn't do that is because he knows if they ever united they ever got together they could pull all the levers yeah
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What are the initial concerns regarding the 2026 F1 regulations?
0:02–1:20
2
How have drivers historically been perceived in terms of power?
1:20–2:21
3
What changes have occurred in driver influence over time?
2:21–3:53
4
How did past driver strikes impact the sport?
3:53–5:39
5
What role do drivers play in shaping future regulations?
5:39–6:56
6
What challenges do drivers face in speaking out about regulations?
6:56–8:23
7
How can drivers unite to advocate for their interests?
8:23–9:06
8
What is the future outlook for driver power in F1?
9:06–51:07
Speakers
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