Goodbye V10 engines, 20 years from Alonso vs Schumacher to Imola, Esteban Ocon is amazed by Haas

Formula 1 is looking for solutions for concerns about new engines

In Thursday's meeting, the Formula 1 Commission of the International Federation of Car (FIA) made some key decisions that will have a direct impact on season 2025 and the regulation that will be introduced next year.

The current regulation has undergone some changes. The most important ones refer to the Grand Prize in Monaco, the closed park and the situations in which the transport of the teams delays to the races outside Europe. Earlier this year, several teams faced such problems, with their equipment late at the China's big prize, receiving the special permission to violate the program on Thursday night to prepare their cars.

The Commission has made final changes regarding the mandatory introduction of two stop stops in the principality race, in order to make the competition more interesting and dynamic. Changes in the regulation of the closed park refer to the use or not of the cooling systems by the pilots.

Other changes are aimed at the financial regulation, especially the additional expenses related to the entry of new teams. This is done in view of the Cadillac team, which is currently making higher expenses in preparing its debut next year.

The problem of grass fires, which significantly affected the weekend of Japan's Grand Prize, was also discussed. The teams agreed to look for an alternative material from which to build the floor boards, to produce fewer sparks to light the vegetation around the tracks. Also, the possibility of the respective areas with grass has been discussed to be treated to become more resistant to fire.

Ferrari had both pilots disqualified in China // Photo: Guliver/Gettyimages

Regarding the Regulation for 2026, the Commission discussed an idea of ​​principle regarding the modification of the distribution of power between internal combustion engines and the hybrid system. Also, the financial issues that a producer could be discussed whose engine is either too weak or too reliable were discussed. All these topics will be discussed more detailed by specialists within the respective consultative groups.

The Commission also received a detailed report on the meeting that took place between FIA, FOM and motor producers in Bahrain last week. Within it, an agreement has been reached, at least for the moment, so that the sport does not return to the V10 engines.

Haas has exceeded Esteban Ocon's expectations

Esteban Ocon, 29, acknowledged that he was pleasantly surprised by how the HAAS team works outside the track, saying that the American team works twice as fast as other teams, despite having much less employees. The Frenchman joined Haas at the beginning of the year, after the separation of alpine.

However, the season started disappointing for the American team, Ocon and Oliver Bearman being far from the rhythm of others in Australia. Then, many predicted that Haas will focus on the monopost for next year, sacrificing the current campaign.

Only a week later, these predictions were denied, after Ocon and Bearman finished in five, eight places, in China. Bearman also pointed out in Japan and Bahrain, while Ocon only succeeded in Bahrain.

Thus, after the first five stages of the season, Haas ranks six in the builders ranking, with 20 points, five points behind Williams. The way Haas reacted after a difficult start of the season to surprised on the ocon, accustomed to a much slower work.

I will not make comparisons with other teams, but from my perspective, this team does not feel like a small one. It reacts much faster than what I am used to producing parts, solutions and extracting information from data. It's great to see that. Yes, from the point of view of the number of employees, we have fewer, but they work twice as much as we have seen in the past. I have never seen a team find a solution in two weeks, that is to produce a new piece in response to a problem. It is satisfactory to work with such a team, which reacts so quickly to correct things. We can be proud. In China I felt great relief, because we could fight. For us it was a shock to see how much we stayed behind in Australia. Many have said that it will be all this year and that we will always be the last, no one has believed in us. But we knew there was potential in a monopost, we just had to unlock it
– Esteban Ocon

Esteban Ocon / Photo source: IMAGO

20 years from one of the most memorable duels in Formula 1: Fernando Alonso vs Michael Schumacher

Exactly 20 years ago, the fans of Formula 1 witnessed one of the most memorable duels in the history of the World Championship. We are talking about the battle between Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher for Victoria in the Grand Prize in San Marino, on the “Imola” circuit.

The race began with a domination of Kimi Räikkönen, who abandoned the nine tour due to a fault at the deck of his car. This left Fernando Alonso, who was piloting with a defective engine, first, and many were expecting an easy victory for the Spanish.

This is where Michael Schumacher, who started from 14th after an error in Sunday's qualifications. With a very good strategy and excellent tire management, it managed to recover land. The German, however, failed to overcome Alonso, the two being separated at the end of only 0.215 seconds.

A year later, Schumacher managed to take revenge in the same race, when the roles of the two reversed, and he was the one pressed by Alonso. Many of the old fans of Formula 1 indicate the battle between Alonso and Schumacher from “Imola” in 2005 as an example of a true duel, in which the pilots' skills went out in the foreground.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnzfdxtgz0k