BONUS: Will Middle East conflict disrupt F1? Who's the winner from big engine row decision?

0:01This is a Global Player Original Podcast.

0:30race. And is it fair to penalise them for innovation? It's Will. It's Jolie. Let's get you up to speed.

0:48Good evening, good afternoon, good morning, wherever in the world you are, Will. Yeah, good morning. It's 2am here in Florida, which means it's 7am in London. The sun isn't up yet, but an awful lot to go through. A lot. A lot of news this weekend. It's just you and I here for this little bonus episode. DC and Naomi are back with us later on for a very special episode. Taking you behind Drive to Survive. I think everyone had a good weekend watching the entire season. Yeah, I hope they all enjoyed it. Feedback's been good. So, yeah, so that's great. But look, we've got a quick episode to do today because there's some serious stories to get to.

1:28Obviously, the very quickly evolving and emerging situation that's going on in the Middle East, airstrikes obviously in that region. And it feels really inconsequential to talk about it in the context of motorsport and how it affects our seasons. But people are asking those questions naturally, whether there will be cancellations, can teams get to Australia, all of that kind of thing. Yeah, for sure. And I think you put it beautifully that it's very insignificant. But of course, we're an F1 podcast. So we want to help other people, other fans understand. And then on the motorsport side of things, it's been confirmed about the rule changes that are going to be coming in.

2:09Look, should we start first about what's going on in the Middle East? Obviously, F1 has a big footprint in that side of the world. I mean, for what we know right now, there doesn't seem to be any drivers stuck there. that I think there's approximately 120 personnel. 50 from McLaren is what I'm seeming to understand and 50 from Mercedes and about 20 from Pirelli. You know, those personnel are out in Bahrain at the moment because there was supposed to be a Pirelli tyre test this week. That's been cancelled and Formula One and the teams are doing their level best to get them back from Bahrain. Obviously, the UAE is a massive hub for people trying to get to Australia.

2:49Certainly, I think pretty much every time I've ever flown to Australia, I've either flown by a Qatar or I've flown via Dubai or Abu Dhabi to get there. And I know a lot of friends, a lot of colleagues from the Formula One world either were due to or had started their flight out to Australia via those UAE hubs and had to return back to Europe and are now flying west. So they're flying via the US to get to Australia rather than the normal route, which is to fly east and have to fly over that airspace. So from a I think from a simple perspective at the moment, it's it's mostly an issue of disruption.

3:27We have China and Japan following this month. Similarly, some of those flights would naturally go by the UAE. most if not all would be direct but the question mark for fans i guess as well is you know does it affect the australian grand prix and i i don't think it will because the vast majority of air freight will already have arrived in australia a long time in advance and when we look at freight and when we look at the formula on travel schedule while the cars are flown from race to race the teams actually have multiple versions of their garage setups their pit wall setups everything they need at the races and they sort of take this quite incredible ballet around the world so there's multiple sets of these things constantly dancing in between the races so that the setup that the teams have at one race very often won't be seen at the next race because the freight for the second race will have been sent at the same time as the freight for the first race and it'll be a completely different set the the intriguing part is obviously when we get out of march and into April, because that's when we were due to be racing in Bahrain and in Saudi Arabia.

4:38Now, Formula One have said that, you know, as always in situations like this, they're keeping abreast of the situation, they're monitoring the situation, and they're working with the local authorities to get a feel and to get a grip over what's happening out there. I think the only thing we can really say at the moment is there is no news and there is nothing really for us to be able to report on it. It would be, I think, wholly inappropriate to speculate on that at the moment. you know, given the gravity of the situation, given how quickly it's evolving and given the work that, you know, Formula One will clearly be doing behind the scenes to make sure that everyone is safe.

5:11And from a sports perspective, you know, that the show can go on in one form or another. Yeah, I think you said it beautifully there. I mean, the most important thing, first and foremost, is everyone's safety. I've seen a lot of questions online, you know, from fans of, the schedule is so jam-packed this season. When, where, how could it possibly be rescheduled? There's talks about it. If this were to happen, there's a three-week break in May. You've obviously got the summer break, but it's very hot in the Middle East or potentially around Singapore. But I think, look, these are, again, it's not for us to speculate.

5:47It's for us to see and allow those with all the information or as much information as people can have at this time to decide. I guess the last thing to touch on with you Will and obviously not quoting the situations at all but Bahrain in 2011 was cancelled and you were there Yeah, fairly different scenario we were actually out for a GP2 race in Bahrain when the Arab Spring was taking place out there in February 2011 the Grand Prix was subsequently cancelled that year but what I can say from personal experience was the incredible job that Formula 1 did to fly everybody home and to make sure that everybody was safe.

6:26And that has always been, you know, the one thing that's been of most paramount importance is people. So, yeah, slightly different scenario, obviously. But I think the one thing that rings true from both is the priority at that point. It wasn't racing. It was people and making sure that everybody got home safe. But moving on, Jolie, one thing that will affect the racing on track this season or might affect the racing this season, we're not too sure, compression ratios. I'm sick of talking about compression ratios and it's only just March. It's everyone's favourite topic. So to get people out of the feed, it's now ruling that they'll test engines at both ambient temperature and 130 degrees Celsius starting June the 1st.

7:10And at no point can the compression ratio of any cylinder exceed 16 to 1. Yes. So essentially, Jolie, for those listeners who didn't manage to hear one of our earlier episodes, the compression ratio saga is about bang for buck essentially it's about the compression ratio of the v6 engines which means how much air fuel mixture inside a cylinder can be compressed so the ratio that's been said in the regulations is 16 to 1 previously it was 18 to 1 and it was believed although it's never been proven that mercedes had found a way when the engine was operating so fully up to temperature to increase from 16 to 1 to 18 to 1 which basically gives you more bang for your buck right it potentially gives you more horsepower and as dc said there's two things you really want on formula one car uh it's downforce and it's horsepower so if mercedes had managed to find this quite ingenious loophole um then they'd been able to do so because the the wording of the regulations is that the test would be done at ambient temperature so in other words not when the engine was running and up to full temperature.

8:21And as we know, metal at temperature expands, thus potentially allowing the increase in bang for buck, basically. Now, these accusations were leveled towards Mercedes. Audi, I believe, was one of the first teams to have kind of raised this suspicion that something might be going on. And in the end, the likes of Ferrari jumped on the bandwagon. And I think there was some suspicion Red Bull Ford may have been able to do something quite similar. But Mercedes were really, really railed against this in testing. And Toto said that, you know, whatever was going on with their engine, it wasn't worth much.

8:55It was worth a couple of horsepower at best. But what's very, very interesting with this is number one, that it went to a vote because there was no guarantee that the vote was going to pass. The vote did pass and it passed unanimously. The vote was that the tests going forward would be done at both ambient temperature and at race temperature, which is 130 degrees centigrade. And from 2027, the test would only be done hot, not at ambient. So that's the major change. But critically, Mercedes voted for it. So they don't appear to be worried that these new tests will show anything untoward. But either way, they won't come in until we've done seven races of the season.

9:40Now, of course, online now there has been two sides. I mean, there's three sides to every story, but I'm seeing two main sides to how people are feeling. We've got one half that are up in uproar, basically saying, you know, if you see there's an issue, why are you waiting until June the 1st? That gives significant time, you know, for Mercedes to get ahead. What are you doing? And then you hear the other side, which is saying Formula One is seen as the pinnacle of engineering, but they're compressing their creativity. What are they doing? You know, it used to be about the best minds finding these loopholes.

10:16And essentially now you're spoiling everything, FIA, other teams. And I'd be really interested to hear from our listeners in the comment section where they stand. But Will, I would love to hear where you stand on this. For me, the crux of this, the most important part of this is Mercedes voted for it. And turkeys don't vote for Christmas. So if there was something there that they thought that they would fall foul of, I don't see them voting for it. That turkey voting for Christmas is one of my new favourite lines. Thank you for that. We've also seen that, you know, the rival teams are fearing that this loophole could generate for Mercedes and potentially Red Bull an advantage of up to 0.4 seconds per lap.

10:58But as you've said, and with Mercedes voting for it, there's also rumours that it doesn't matter how this is tested, Mercedes will still come out with this advantage. And if they have, good for them. Good for them. Like, honestly, good for them. Because let's look at Ferrari's rear wing. Has anyone else done that? Will anybody else be able to, you know, maybe copy their little wing that they've got at the bottom because they've designed their rear crash structure in a different way to anybody else? Probably not. And good for Ferrari. Good for Mercedes. This is the wonderful thing with new regulations.

11:32People find loopholes. That's Formula One. It's about operating in the grey areas, finding the thing that no one else has. That's why they spend so many millions of pounds every year employing the best minds, the best designers, the people who will come up with these loopholes. The FIA's job is to write the rules. The team's job is to read between the lines and to find the elements where they can let their minds flow and create genius. That is what Formula One has been for 75 years, starting its 76th season, right? It's what it's always been. It's an engineering contest as much as a driving contest.

12:12So I'll say let them go to it. I mean, look, you and James Valls, he's been saying that we shouldn't be punishing. the best solutions. I think it's a big question on everyone's mind is why are we waiting until June when that's already seven races into the season. It gives significant time for Mercedes to get ahead. You know, they've seen this issue. If I realise that there's this big grey area, this big loophole, as we've been calling it, within the regulations, why wait until June? So I think there's a few things here. One is the engines were due to be homologated March 1st, which was yesterday.

12:49And by homologated, that means kind of set in stone. Okay. So no changes to them after that point. And also this is a compromise. You know, they've had to change a regulation very, very close to the start of the season. And so whatever you're changing, I think you need to give a little bit of lead time leading up to that. I think they couldn't just have turned around and said, we're going to do this in Australia when the engines are already in Australia. I don't think the teams would have taken too kindly to that. But again, you know, look, Mercedes voted for this, along with all the other engine manufacturers.

13:22And look, yeah, some teams have, I think, claimed that it could be a big performance advantage. Toto Wolff is claiming it's a couple of horsepower, a lap. Either way, it's going to be interesting. I think it's going to be really, really interesting. If Mercedes-powered teams disappear off into the distance in Australia and China and Japan, then I don't think this topic is going anywhere. And the noise may get even louder over these first seven races. If it's fairly level, if Ferrari win the opening couple of races, then I don't think we're going to hear about compression ratios again. Thank God.

13:59Oh, no. We're talking about favorite topics. the four of us discussed more of your favourite topics, all about Ferrari's wing on Thursday's episode. So if you haven't already, then go and check that out on YouTube, Global Pair, or wherever you get your podcasts. But for now, Will, I think it's time to send you to bed. Oh, no, my day starts here. I'm going to the airport. I'm off. This is just a slightly earlier start than I was due to have. Well, it's been a pleasure speaking to you this early. Let's not make it a habit. No, no, let's do normal times in the future. Of course, a couple of very important topics to cover, and that is what we are here for.

14:39If you have more questions that you want us to answer, make sure you are following us on socials at UpToSpeedShow. And you can email in more questions to uptospeed at global.com. Like, subscribe and follow so you never, ever, ever miss an episode. Well, thank you very, very much. A safe journey. And I'm looking forward to our episode all about Drive to Survive coming out later on.

15:03This has been a Global Player original production.