Autobayng News Team
Welcome to Tuesday’s edition of the RaceFans round-up.
Comment of the day
Has the World Endurance Championship shown Formula 1 should be wary of adding too many more teams?
I was always of the idea that the more the merrier, but see what happens in WEC for example. F1 teams needs an incredible amount of money to start, with that dilution fee being 200 million (or is it 400 now?). So the investment is huge.
Who would put all that money besides manufacturers? And even then, you’d end up with a WEC situation where there’s a lot of them, but once they start seeing how difficult it is, and how much more money they have to put to stay competitive, they leave. Alpine is leaving, Lamborghini left already, Porsche too. And I’d not be surprised if more go. Peugeot, for example.
F1 had that pre-2008 crisis. Then everyone left, and it was up to the privateers to keep the series alive. But back then the money spent was a fraction to what it is now, it was a much simpler formula.
@Fer-no65
Social media and links
Introducing our 2026 junior driver line-up (Mercedes)
‘Our official 2026 junior programme drivers are: Rashid Al Dhaheri, 17, Emirati. Ethan Jeff-Hall, 17, British. Andy Consani, 16, French. Luna Fluxa, 15, Spanish. Kenzo Craigie, 15, British. James Anagnostiadis, 15, Australian. Many Nuvolini, 12, French. Devin Titz, 11, German. Niccolo Perico, 11, Italian.’
IndyCar’s IOB unveiled, featuring the same trackside officials as before (Racer)
‘Kevin “Rocket” Blanch, IndyCar’s technical director and head of technical inspection, who joined in 2003 and was at the heart of May’s attenuator dramas that ultimately led Penske Entertainment to cede control of its race officiating and create the IOB, has been hired to perform the same roles for IndyCar Officiating’
FIA honours the race makers who power motorsport (FIA)
‘The Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), the global governing body for motorsport and the federation for mobility organisations worldwide, has announced the winners of the 2025 FIA Awards for Volunteers and Officials, which celebrate the commitment, dedication and passion of those who power motorsport in every corner of the globe.’
Mueller and Schmitz become first women to have Albert Park corner named in their honour (Australian Grand Prix)
‘Turn six will be dedicated to two of Formula 1’s most influential engineers as part of the ‘In Her Corner’ initiative celebrating International Women’s Day.’
Hill returns to Williams as ambassador joining Villeneuve and Chadwick in impressive line-up (Williams)
‘He led the team to the constructors’ championship in 1994, narrowly missing out on the Drivers’ title in an infamous last-race incident with Michael Schumacher. And in 1996 he took eight wins to clinch the drivers’ championship with an emotional final-race victory in Japan, becoming the first son of an F1 world champion to claim the title himself.’
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