James Allison, Mercedes’ Technical Director, in a thoughtful analysis of the future, has pointed out that the cars for the next year will have a strategic role. With the introduction of the new regulations in 2026, the budget cap resources in 2025 will be spent on the new Formula 1 cars. Therefore, it’s reasonable to assume that in the 2025 F1 season, we will only see minor evolutions of the 2024 cars. Is anyone considering freezing developments, similar to what happened in 2021 due to COVID? Would this be fair or not?
The first to talk about it was James Allison, the technical director of Mercedes, in the usual analysis of the team after the Qatar Grand Prix. The experienced English engineer, who was called back to lead the Brackley team midway through the season following Mike Elliott’s disappointing W14, doesn’t just focus on the present but looks at a future that may be longer than expected.
In a subtle way, James hints at a topic that could become very interesting in the context of 2026. Allison, when asked about the W15, which will be a clear departure from the current black arrow design, seeking solutions closer to what’s more prevalent, implied that the 2024 car will have a strategic role and perhaps a longer lifespan.
“It will be important to start the new season on the right foot, even more than usual because with the new regulations coming in 2026, we’re talking about a car that will need to be designed in 2025. It’s very likely that the 2025 F1 cars will have to be close relatives of the 2024 ones. So, it will be doubly important to have a competitive vehicle next year if we want to have good championships while waiting for 2026.”
In 2025, Formula 1 teams will need to study the cars for the unprecedented 2026 regulations, featuring new power units with 50% electric power and new cars with smaller dimensions, lighter weight, and improved aerodynamics. In other words, it’s a revolution that will require time and resources, both financial and human. With the budget cap in full effect, it won’t be easy to develop a 2025 car without diverting too many resources from the project that will take F1 into the new era.
Allison has raised a topic that is becoming relevant: could the 2024 cars be frozen in 2025? Perhaps you’ll remember that this operation was conducted during the COVID era to facilitate the transition to ground effect cars. The 2021 F1 cars were effectively the same as the previous year’s, with only a few technical updates allowed. At that time, the smaller teams, not having income due to the halt of the 2020 season in the first six months, had even risked going under. Many wouldn’t have had the resources to fund the wing cars, and the introduction of the new F1 cars had been rightly postponed by a year to 2022.
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The financial strategy of Liberty Media, the promoter, reversed the economic trend: the teams reached unimaginable valuations until recently, but they have to deal with budget constraints. It wouldn’t be surprising at all if the concept expressed by Allison is embraced by others in the F1 Commission, with the aim of carrying over the 2025 cars, significantly restricting development areas.
Halting evolution would mean putting a brake on Red Bull’s growth, which seems to have opened a cycle with Max Verstappen’s uncontested dominance, to allow others to catch up. Or can those who have a technical advantage maintain it? We will see if the perspective of cost containment leads to a carryover of the cars or if F1 does not want to impose restrictions, leaving the field open for research, as would be fair in the pinnacle of world motorsport. We will discover what the reactions will be.
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