Can Formula 1 freeze its 2024 cars for 2025?

The first person to talk about it after the Qatar Award was James Allison, Mercedes technical director, in the usual analysis that the German team does after every race. The experienced British engineer was called in to take over the wheel midway through the season after the failure of the W14 Mike ElliottIt is not limited to analyzing the present, but also looking forward to a future that may be longer than expected.

James hints, in a subtle way, at a topic that could become very interesting in the perspective of 2026. In fact, when asked if the W15 car will be completely different, looking for solutions closer to those of other competitors, he hinted that the car will have a turn for 2024. Strategic, and perhaps longer-lasting.

“It will be important that we start the new season right, even more than usual, because with the new 2026 regulations around the corner, we are talking about a car that will have to be designed in 2025. It is very likely that F1 2025 will have to be the cousins ​​of 2024. Therefore, It will be doubly important to have a competitive car next year if we want to have good championships before 2026.

In 2025, Formula 1 teams will have to study cars according to the unprecedented 2026 regulations: new power units with 50% electric power and new cars that are smaller, lighter and more aerodynamically efficient. In short, a revolution that will take time and economic and human resources. With budget constraints coming into play more than ever, it will not be easy to develop a car for 2025 without consuming a lot of energy from the project that will take Formula 1 into the new era, the 2026 era.

Allison threw stones at an issue that has become topical: could 2024 cars also be frozen in 2025? You will remember that this operation was performed in the middle of Covid-19 To manage the transition to ground effect vehicles.

The 2021 Formula 1 cars were, in effect, those of the previous year, with few technical updates allowed: at that time, the smaller teams, who had not received income from the 2020 season being halted in the first six months, had It was in danger of this happening and having to disappear, and so many did not have the resources to finance new cars, that the application of ground effect rules was postponed by a year until 2022.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB19

Financial strategy of the promoter Media freedom The economic trend has reversed: teams have reached prices that were unimaginable until recently, but have to deal with closed budgets due to spending limits. We would not be at all surprised if the concept expressed by Alison is adopted by other members of F1 Commissionis trying to move next year’s cars to 2025, with very limited development areas.

Does halting development mean a slowdown in the growth of Red Bull, which appears to have opened up a cycle with Max Verstappen’s indisputable dominance to allow others to catch up, or can those with a technical advantage maintain it?

We will see whether a cost containment perspective will lead to a freeze on cars or whether Formula 1 does not want to impose restrictions, leaving the field open to research as is true at the highest expression of global motorsport. Let us know what the reactions will be…