Are the 2026 engine regs officially breaking F1 s rules?

[Blib]

Article B1.8.1: states that:

"The driver must drive the F1 car alone and unaided."

For decades, this rule banned traction control, ABS, and automated software because the driver’s right foot was supposed to have sole, deterministic control over the power.

But with the massive hybrid systems, F1 is now fundamentally violating its own philosophy:

• The Engine is "Driving":

Drivers are flattening the throttle to 100%, but the car’s ECU software can actively choose to cut or withhold 350kW of electrical power to save battery ("clipping"). If an algorithm overrides the pedal input, the driver isn't in full control.

• Predictability & Safety:

Drivers like Leclerc have openly warned about losing control because automated harvesting/deployment on partial throttle makes power delivery highly unpredictable, especially in the wet. As seen in Singapore Bahrain. See also Bottas' weird off.

• The FIA's Implicit Admission:

The FIA recently tweaked the rules to allow more "flat-out" driving and is shifting the future power balance to a 60-40 split to make delivery "more intuitive." They are actively rewriting the rules because they know software has taken over too much vehicle control. F1 cars have officially crossed the line from being driven by humans to being managed by algorithms.

Who can we sue? And, for how much?

Or, does anyone really care? H/T George Lucas.

[Siao]

Blib said:

Article B1.8.1: states that:

"The driver must drive the F1 car alone and unaided."

For decades, this rule banned traction control, ABS, and automated software because the driver s right foot was supposed to have sole, deterministic control over the power.

But with the massive hybrid systems, F1 is now fundamentally violating its own philosophy:

The Engine is "Driving":

Drivers are flattening the throttle to 100%, but the car s ECU software can actively choose to cut or withhold 350kW of electrical power to save battery ("clipping"). If an algorithm overrides the pedal input, the driver isn't in full control.

Predictability & Safety:

Drivers like Leclerc have openly warned about losing control because automated harvesting/deployment on partial throttle makes power delivery highly unpredictable, especially in the wet. As seen in Singapore Bahrain. See also Bottas' weird off.

The FIA's Implicit Admission:

The FIA recently tweaked the rules to allow more "flat-out" driving and is shifting the future power balance to a 60-40 split to make delivery "more intuitive." They are actively rewriting the rules because they know software has taken over too much vehicle control. F1 cars have officially crossed the line from being driven by humans to being managed by algorithms.

Who can we sue? And, for how much?

Or, does anyone really care? H/T George Lucas.

That sentence has been violated for years now. Coaching the drivers through radio is not driving alone and unaided, is it?

[Muzzer79]

Siao said:

Blib said:

Article B1.8.1: states that:

"The driver must drive the F1 car alone and unaided."

For decades, this rule banned traction control, ABS, and automated software because the driver s right foot was supposed to have sole, deterministic control over the power.

But with the massive hybrid systems, F1 is now fundamentally violating its own philosophy:

The Engine is "Driving":

Drivers are flattening the throttle to 100%, but the car s ECU software can actively choose to cut or withhold 350kW of electrical power to save battery ("clipping"). If an algorithm overrides the pedal input, the driver isn't in full control.

Predictability & Safety:

Drivers like Leclerc have openly warned about losing control because automated harvesting/deployment on partial throttle makes power delivery highly unpredictable, especially in the wet. As seen in Singapore Bahrain. See also Bottas' weird off.

The FIA's Implicit Admission:

The FIA recently tweaked the rules to allow more "flat-out" driving and is shifting the future power balance to a 60-40 split to make delivery "more intuitive." They are actively rewriting the rules because they know software has taken over too much vehicle control. F1 cars have officially crossed the line from being driven by humans to being managed by algorithms.

Who can we sue? And, for how much?

Or, does anyone really care? H/T George Lucas.

That sentence has been violated for years now. Coaching the drivers through radio is not driving alone and unaided, is it?

I think 'coaching' is a stretch.

Some time ago, I think around 2015, teams were allowed to 'coach' drivers on the radio, for example:

"your team mate is 0.1 seconds faster on this corner"

"your team mate is flat through turn 4"

Nico Rosberg was a particular beneficiary of this IIRC.....

That was then banned the following year and the information passed to drivers is about conditions and car management, rather than actually how to drive.

[Siao]

Muzzer79 said:

Siao said:

Blib said:

Article B1.8.1: states that:

"The driver must drive the F1 car alone and unaided."

For decades, this rule banned traction control, ABS, and automated software because the driver s right foot was supposed to have sole, deterministic control over the power.

But with the massive hybrid systems, F1 is now fundamentally violating its own philosophy:

The Engine is "Driving":

Drivers are flattening the throttle to 100%, but the car s ECU software can actively choose to cut or withhold 350kW of electrical power to save battery ("clipping"). If an algorithm overrides the pedal input, the driver isn't in full control.

Predictability & Safety:

Drivers like Leclerc have openly warned about losing control because automated harvesting/deployment on partial throttle makes power delivery highly unpredictable, especially in the wet. As seen in Singapore Bahrain. See also Bottas' weird off.

The FIA's Implicit Admission:

The FIA recently tweaked the rules to allow more "flat-out" driving and is shifting the future power balance to a 60-40 split to make delivery "more intuitive." They are actively rewriting the rules because they know software has taken over too much vehicle control. F1 cars have officially crossed the line from being driven by humans to being managed by algorithms.

Who can we sue? And, for how much?

Or, does anyone really care? H/T George Lucas.

That sentence has been violated for years now. Coaching the drivers through radio is not driving alone and unaided, is it?

I think 'coaching' is a stretch.

Some time ago, I think around 2015, teams were allowed to 'coach' drivers on the radio, for example:

"your team mate is 0.1 seconds faster on this corner"

"your team mate is flat through turn 4"

Nico Rosberg was a particular beneficiary of this IIRC.....

That was then banned the following year and the information passed to drivers is about conditions and car management, rather than actually how to drive.

Telling them what setting to use and where, which turn, was very much coaching, wasn't it? There's a reason people have been asking for radio ban for ages (apart from emergency issues obviously).

[Muzzer79]

Siao said:

Telling them what setting to use and where, which turn, was very much coaching, wasn't it? There's a reason people have been asking for radio ban for ages (apart from emergency issues obviously).

Not really

Optimising the car's settings is different to telling a driver how to drive.

"Use strat mode 4 in turn 6"

is different to

"You can go flat in turn 6"

But I agree regarding the radio ban - to me it's a simple thing that would improve the show a lot more. Restrict car to pits comms only to emergencies and critical-reliability issues (i.e, "stop the car, your engine is about to blow")

[Siao]

Muzzer79 said:

Siao said:

Telling them what setting to use and where, which turn, was very much coaching, wasn't it? There's a reason people have been asking for radio ban for ages (apart from emergency issues obviously).

Not really

Optimising the car's settings is different to telling a driver how to drive.

"Use strat mode 4 in turn 6"

is different to

"You can go flat in turn 6"

But I agree regarding the radio ban - to me it's a simple thing that would improve the show a lot more. Restrict car to pits comms only to emergencies and critical-reliability issues (i.e, "stop the car, your engine is about to blow")

In fairness they have restricted, somewhat, what the engineers can say nowadays. But for me, any info on how to change settings and help the driver go faster should be banned as well. Drivers had to do this themselves in the past, let them decide what setting to use.

[SpudLink]

Siao said:

In fairness they have restricted, somewhat, what the engineers can say nowadays. But for me, any info on how to change settings and help the driver go faster should be banned as well. Drivers had to do this themselves in the past, let them decide what setting to use.

Back in the good old days, the driver looked after the engine with the use of throttle, clutch and gear lever. The sound and feel of the engine would give them a good idea how the engine was performing.
The modern F1 PU is probably too complex for a driver to know what management it needs at any given moment.

If we are going to ban communication from engineers to drivers, we need to return to F1 cars powered only by traditional engines.

[Siao]

SpudLink said:

Siao said:

In fairness they have restricted, somewhat, what the engineers can say nowadays. But for me, any info on how to change settings and help the driver go faster should be banned as well. Drivers had to do this themselves in the past, let them decide what setting to use.

Back in the good old days, the driver looked after the engine with the use of throttle, clutch and gear lever. The sound and feel of the engine would give them a good idea how the engine was performing.
The modern F1 PU is probably too complex for a driver to know what management it needs at any given moment.

If we are going to ban communication from engineers to drivers, we need to return to F1 cars powered only by traditional engines.

Now we have brake/gas-by-wire too, so it would be very difficult to get a feeling of the engine anyway.