“But it’s a long way to the Top, If You wanna Rock
‘n Roll”
VIDEO:
It’s A Long Way to the Top
Think everyone’s heard Ad Nauseum that this
year’s Formula 1 championship sees the most complex set of technical regulation
changes, i.e.; chassis and power unit. With a total of two new PU (Power Unit)
manufacturers joining the fray. Audi as its own Werks supplier, and Ford in
conjunction with Red Bull Power Train. (RBPT) With a total of five PU
manufacturers, i.e.; Audi,(1) Ferrari,
(3) Honda, (1) Mercedes (4) and Red Bull Ford. (2) With Ferrari customers
being Haas and Cadillac; Mercedes being Alpine, McLaren and Williams, and Ford
supplying both Red Bull entities. With Aston Martin becoming Honda’s Werks’
team, dropping its Mercedes customer PU; effectively taken up by Alpine.
RETRO:
A Sad Day for French Motorsports
There’s now a total of 11 F1 Constructors, with
the addition of Audi, who’s purchase of Sauber is now complete. And the brand
new Cadillac entry, as the grid’s 11th team. With Cadillac using customer
Ferrari PU’s until 2029, giving us Yanks two U.S. Flagged F1 Constructors this
year.
Haven’t read the latest gossip over the
reported PU roe, with Mercedes and Red Bull Ford being alleged of managing to
skirt the Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) maximum compression 16:1 ratio
regulation, by having their engines combustion chambers “tighten” up under
extreme heat to circumvent this regulation and increase compression to 18:1 if
I understand this correctly? With cynics suggesting an increase of lap times of
0.4 second per lap.
As nothing like a little controversy to get the
pre-season started, Eh?
On the drivers front, there was very little
change overall, with eight of the 10 Formula 1 teams from last year standing
pat. As only the two Red bull outfits made driver changes. With Isack Hadjar
being elevated to the Big Bulls’, aka Red Bull Racing as Yuki Tsnoda’s
replacement. And the series lone rookie Arvid Lindblad joining thee ‘lil
Bullz’, nee Racing Bulls as Hadjar’s vacated seat.
Veteran F1 drivers Sergio Perez and Valtteri
Botta return to Formula 1 after a year’s absence as Cadillac’s two drivers. And
although Perez is talking Bullish about the team scoring points in its maiden
campaign. I’ll expect there to be the usual teething issues of any brand new
entity…
Cannot say I’m a fan of the Canadian Grand Prix
moving to Memorial Day to butt heads with the Indianapolis 500, especially
since there’s a three weeks gap between Miami and Montreal. Whilst not sure if
any other calendar changes? Other than keeping the usual allotment of six
Sprint race weekends, i.e.; Shanghai, Miami, Montreal, Silverstone, Zandvoort
and Singapore.
While I’ve previously tried briefly chronicling
this season’s massive technical changes
in the preceding No Fenders post…
