April 22, 2026 • 9 mins
The new regulations introduced to Formula 1 this year have been controversial, to say the least.
Drivers and fans have been loud in voicing their displeasure and the organisation have finally taken some action confirming nine immediate refinements to the regulations heading into the Miami Grand Prix next weekend.
Mat Coch is an editor for Planet F1, and he joined D'Arcy to discuss.
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sports Talk podcast with Dancy Wildergrave
from News Talk ZEDB.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
News Talk B new REGs been introduced Formula one. This
here controversial, to say the least. The fans, the drivers,
the teams except Mercedes have been loud and voicing their displeasure.
The organization of Funny taking some accent nine immediate refinements
to the regulations ahead of the Miami Grand Prix, which
is a two and a half weeks away. Odd Matt
(00:34):
Koch is the first if I A a credited journalist
out of Australia. He is editor for Planet if one,
so he's a complete petrol weed, he joins us. Now,
I mate, do you mind if I call you a petrolweed?
Speaker 3 (00:49):
You know I am a massive petrol head, purely because
you will never get batteries in me.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
And that's really good that you said that, because that's
what we're talking about. Now. You've been following the lighting
Formula one for decades. The new era has been challenging,
to say the least, for Formula one, so much so
as during the enforced break they've made some abrupt changes
to the way they applying their new laws. Now, let's
(01:17):
face it, Matt, They've not been popular from the teams,
the drivers, the fans. Oh sorry, the Mercedes have loved
it besides that, so they've made some big adjustments. Can
you isolate these adjustments and explain them in layman's terms
as to what actually means for the for the fan,
for the spectator.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Yeah, it is a complex topic, but let's strip it
back and keep it nice and simple. If you think
of car racing, what you think of as drivers at
the wheel of a car driving as fast as they
possibly can. The new rules for this year have meant
that it's actually been faster to not drive as fast
as you can. It's really counterintuitive, and if we're on
it's just a little bit silly.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
It trivializes the.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
Sport, makes the drivers unhappy, it doesn't sound great, it
doesn't look great, and there's some repercussions of that behavior
that some of the passing that we see on track
is a little bit trivial. You know, there's passing and repassing,
and it's been equated to Mario cut with the use
of mushrooms and things and boost buttons, and these.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Are all things that are very unnatural in Formula one I.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Choose to call it artificial. Sorry, man, I call it
artificial passing. This is not real passing. You don't spend
three laps sizing someone up before you make that pass.
You just hit a button. So artificials are the term
I like to use anyway, interrupted carry on, and it's.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
A very fair point, and it's an accurate description of
exactly what's going on now. We can argue about when
passing became over.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
Artificial until the cars come home.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
But focusing on this year, it's just exaggerated beyond anything
we've ever seen in Formula one history. And what that's
prompted is Formula to stop and take stock of it.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
I've actually have a degree of introspection for us.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
Normally it's been arrogant enough to just plower through, but
it's actually stopped and accepted the criticism that it's faced.
The issue is basically, the cars are now fifty percent
powered by the internal combustion engine, fifty percent powered by
the battery. The problem is the battery is not big
enough and it drains really, really quickly, and the cars
need to.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Recharge that over the course of the lab.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
They can't do that well enough at the moment the
way they recharges using the brakes that harvest powered back
into the battery.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
If they lift off the throttle, in harves power back
into the battery, and then they.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
Do what's called a superclip, which is when they're at
full speed and they sipe and power out of the
internal combustion.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
Engine into the battery.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
The problem is the maths around that produces really poor racing.
We see cars slow down on a straight when they're
absolutely full throttle. They slow down because the cars run
out of power because they're charging the battery, which the
drive is going around corners that should be flat out
with a hanging on for dear life, just absolutely cruising
around because they're trying to save the battery.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
And it's just it's been really really garring a watch.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
What Formula one is trying to get to is a
position that we can't do away with the battery.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
We can't strip the engines out and put in a
E eight or a V ten.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
That horse has already bolted. So we have to make
this system work. So what they've done is they've changed
the mass. There is now going to be less capacity
in the battery, which means it takes less time to recharge.
So in theory, as you use the brakes you reacharge
the battery a bit more. There'll be less lifting off
the throttle to reach charge to the battery. There'll be
less of that super clipping in theory to recharge that battery.
(04:39):
They've also changed the rate at which the battery can
be charged, so not only do you have to charge it,
there's less to charge, but charges a little bit faster
as well. All of this is designed to if I
want to to put lipstick on a pig, the regulations
are poor and they're going to be poor. These are,
in one sense, comparatively major changes, In one sense, very
conservative changes, because the risk formula one has is if
(05:01):
it makes too big a jump, it could swing the
needle too far the other way and create a poor
product that wasn't expecting, you know, just thro through bloody mindedness.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
As much as anything, there's also an element of you've
got to protect the competition.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
You know, the rules are what they are, and all
the teams empower unit manufacturers have developed their cars and
engines for the set of rules.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
Mercedes's best Ferrari is quite good. McLaren's not bad.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
They need data, is it to be rewarded because I've
done the best job changing the rules now and panalizing them.
It's not their fault that the rules are rubbish. It's
not fair to panealize them unduly. So we've taken a
small step in the right direction. Some of this was
seen before we saw it in Japan. They changed the
maths in terms of the battery capacity for qualifying in Japan,
(05:47):
and that seemed to work.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
We saw more flat out drivers on the ragged edge
in qualifying.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
Different story in the race, but then it always is
because you've got fuel and tires and everything else. But
that's what we're trying to get to back in the
days where we're seeing the best twenty two drivers in
the world on the absolute of adhesion, wrestling with a
card doing something that's absolutely incredible that we could never do.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Rather than postering around charging off a battery, what.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
Do they hope to achieve? Ideally, what do they want
to get out of this? I get the feeling it
was just convenient that a couple of guys were choosing
a big swinging dick measure in competition in the Middle East,
so they had this break. So they've utilized that break
but what do they want to achieve.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
It's about quelling the criticism. The product is going to
stay as it is. These rules are locked in into
a twenty thirty one, so we're not going to see
massive changes. This is all about addressing core issues that
are alienating the fan base, Weaknesses within the regulations that
should have been picked up three or four years ago
(06:54):
when these rules were first drawn up, that were ignored
and are now being played out in the very public eye.
This is a bit of a public relations black eye
for Formula one. You know, this is an opportunity for
them who have stood at the peak of the mountain
and celebrate their glory and instead they've kicked a massive
own goal. So this is a pr job as much
(07:15):
as anything. But it's also a way of balancing the
regulations because they're not balanced at the moment. They are
overpowered in some respects. There's also safety considerations. We saw
in Japan Oliver bam And had a fifty G impact,
you know, fifty times the force of gravity when he
hit the tire wall because he was surprised how much
he was catching the current front. He took evasive action,
(07:35):
lost control and a fifty G impact. Now, that's fine
in Japan where we've got a big, expensive circuit, but
imagine that in Monaco. Imagine that in Las Vegas or
some of the other street circuits around Singapore, for instance,
that could be a very different response. So there's a
safety element in this as well. But underlying it all
is finding that pig and putting in a lovely shade
(07:57):
of red on its lips.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
In last, but certainly not least, is it going to
keep mex vers stepping from running away.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
It's a very good question. I don't think so.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
And the reason I don't think so is because one
the regulations aren't what he enjoys. There are a lot
of elements in form of the one that he doesn't enjoy
as well, the media being one of them. And his
team is in the process of self self destructing. It's
lost key personnel, it's not performing where it should do,
and there's no sign of light at the end of
(08:34):
the tunnel. So I can see Max jumping ship at
very least, if not even taking a sabbatical. And sabbatical
is the word that I keep hearing every time I
talk to people in and around Max's camp.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
And on that rather depressing note Matt Coach, We thank
you very much for your time. You want to read
all about it, you can Planet if one is where
you need to be, the place has been our mate,
look after yourself.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
Thank you. Anytime. For more from Sports Talk, listen live
to News Talks.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
It'd be from seven pm weekdays, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio
You're listening to the Sports Talk podcast with Dancy Wildergrave
from News Talk ZEDB.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
News Talk B new REGs been introduced Formula one. This
here controversial, to say the least. The fans, the drivers,
the teams except Mercedes have been loud and voicing their displeasure.
The organization of Funny taking some accent nine immediate refinements
to the regulations ahead of the Miami Grand Prix, which
is a two and a half weeks away. Odd Matt
(00:34):
Koch is the first if I A a credited journalist
out of Australia. He is editor for Planet if one,
so he's a complete petrol weed, he joins us. Now,
I mate, do you mind if I call you a petrolweed?
Speaker 3 (00:49):
You know I am a massive petrol head, purely because
you will never get batteries in me.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
And that's really good that you said that, because that's
what we're talking about. Now. You've been following the lighting
Formula one for decades. The new era has been challenging,
to say the least, for Formula one, so much so
as during the enforced break they've made some abrupt changes
to the way they applying their new laws. Now, let's
(01:17):
face it, Matt, They've not been popular from the teams,
the drivers, the fans. Oh sorry, the Mercedes have loved
it besides that, so they've made some big adjustments. Can
you isolate these adjustments and explain them in layman's terms
as to what actually means for the for the fan,
for the spectator.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Yeah, it is a complex topic, but let's strip it
back and keep it nice and simple. If you think
of car racing, what you think of as drivers at
the wheel of a car driving as fast as they
possibly can. The new rules for this year have meant
that it's actually been faster to not drive as fast
as you can. It's really counterintuitive, and if we're on
it's just a little bit silly.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
It trivializes the.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
Sport, makes the drivers unhappy, it doesn't sound great, it
doesn't look great, and there's some repercussions of that behavior
that some of the passing that we see on track
is a little bit trivial. You know, there's passing and repassing,
and it's been equated to Mario cut with the use
of mushrooms and things and boost buttons, and these.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Are all things that are very unnatural in Formula one I.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Choose to call it artificial. Sorry, man, I call it
artificial passing. This is not real passing. You don't spend
three laps sizing someone up before you make that pass.
You just hit a button. So artificials are the term
I like to use anyway, interrupted carry on, and it's.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
A very fair point, and it's an accurate description of
exactly what's going on now. We can argue about when
passing became over.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
Artificial until the cars come home.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
But focusing on this year, it's just exaggerated beyond anything
we've ever seen in Formula one history. And what that's
prompted is Formula to stop and take stock of it.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
I've actually have a degree of introspection for us.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
Normally it's been arrogant enough to just plower through, but
it's actually stopped and accepted the criticism that it's faced.
The issue is basically, the cars are now fifty percent
powered by the internal combustion engine, fifty percent powered by
the battery. The problem is the battery is not big
enough and it drains really, really quickly, and the cars
need to.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Recharge that over the course of the lab.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
They can't do that well enough at the moment the
way they recharges using the brakes that harvest powered back
into the battery.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
If they lift off the throttle, in harves power back
into the battery, and then they.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
Do what's called a superclip, which is when they're at
full speed and they sipe and power out of the
internal combustion.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
Engine into the battery.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
The problem is the maths around that produces really poor racing.
We see cars slow down on a straight when they're
absolutely full throttle. They slow down because the cars run
out of power because they're charging the battery, which the
drive is going around corners that should be flat out
with a hanging on for dear life, just absolutely cruising
around because they're trying to save the battery.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
And it's just it's been really really garring a watch.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
What Formula one is trying to get to is a
position that we can't do away with the battery.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
We can't strip the engines out and put in a
E eight or a V ten.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
That horse has already bolted. So we have to make
this system work. So what they've done is they've changed
the mass. There is now going to be less capacity
in the battery, which means it takes less time to recharge.
So in theory, as you use the brakes you reacharge
the battery a bit more. There'll be less lifting off
the throttle to reach charge to the battery. There'll be
less of that super clipping in theory to recharge that battery.
(04:39):
They've also changed the rate at which the battery can
be charged, so not only do you have to charge it,
there's less to charge, but charges a little bit faster
as well. All of this is designed to if I
want to to put lipstick on a pig, the regulations
are poor and they're going to be poor. These are,
in one sense, comparatively major changes, In one sense, very
conservative changes, because the risk formula one has is if
(05:01):
it makes too big a jump, it could swing the
needle too far the other way and create a poor
product that wasn't expecting, you know, just thro through bloody mindedness.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
As much as anything, there's also an element of you've
got to protect the competition.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
You know, the rules are what they are, and all
the teams empower unit manufacturers have developed their cars and
engines for the set of rules.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
Mercedes's best Ferrari is quite good. McLaren's not bad.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
They need data, is it to be rewarded because I've
done the best job changing the rules now and panalizing them.
It's not their fault that the rules are rubbish. It's
not fair to panealize them unduly. So we've taken a
small step in the right direction. Some of this was
seen before we saw it in Japan. They changed the
maths in terms of the battery capacity for qualifying in Japan,
(05:47):
and that seemed to work.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
We saw more flat out drivers on the ragged edge
in qualifying.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
Different story in the race, but then it always is
because you've got fuel and tires and everything else. But
that's what we're trying to get to back in the
days where we're seeing the best twenty two drivers in
the world on the absolute of adhesion, wrestling with a
card doing something that's absolutely incredible that we could never do.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Rather than postering around charging off a battery, what.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
Do they hope to achieve? Ideally, what do they want
to get out of this? I get the feeling it
was just convenient that a couple of guys were choosing
a big swinging dick measure in competition in the Middle East,
so they had this break. So they've utilized that break
but what do they want to achieve.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
It's about quelling the criticism. The product is going to
stay as it is. These rules are locked in into
a twenty thirty one, so we're not going to see
massive changes. This is all about addressing core issues that
are alienating the fan base, Weaknesses within the regulations that
should have been picked up three or four years ago
(06:54):
when these rules were first drawn up, that were ignored
and are now being played out in the very public eye.
This is a bit of a public relations black eye
for Formula one. You know, this is an opportunity for
them who have stood at the peak of the mountain
and celebrate their glory and instead they've kicked a massive
own goal. So this is a pr job as much
(07:15):
as anything. But it's also a way of balancing the
regulations because they're not balanced at the moment. They are
overpowered in some respects. There's also safety considerations. We saw
in Japan Oliver bam And had a fifty G impact,
you know, fifty times the force of gravity when he
hit the tire wall because he was surprised how much
he was catching the current front. He took evasive action,
(07:35):
lost control and a fifty G impact. Now, that's fine
in Japan where we've got a big, expensive circuit, but
imagine that in Monaco. Imagine that in Las Vegas or
some of the other street circuits around Singapore, for instance,
that could be a very different response. So there's a
safety element in this as well. But underlying it all
is finding that pig and putting in a lovely shade
(07:57):
of red on its lips.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
In last, but certainly not least, is it going to
keep mex vers stepping from running away.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
It's a very good question. I don't think so.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
And the reason I don't think so is because one
the regulations aren't what he enjoys. There are a lot
of elements in form of the one that he doesn't enjoy
as well, the media being one of them. And his
team is in the process of self self destructing. It's
lost key personnel, it's not performing where it should do,
and there's no sign of light at the end of
(08:34):
the tunnel. So I can see Max jumping ship at
very least, if not even taking a sabbatical. And sabbatical
is the word that I keep hearing every time I
talk to people in and around Max's camp.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
And on that rather depressing note Matt Coach, We thank
you very much for your time. You want to read
all about it, you can Planet if one is where
you need to be, the place has been our mate,
look after yourself.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
Thank you. Anytime. For more from Sports Talk, listen live
to News Talks.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
It'd be from seven pm weekdays, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio
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