Liberty Media’s vision for the sport of F1 is something that has been talked about a lot, especially with the new engine regulations that will be put in place from the start of the 2018 F1 season.
Liberty is also in process of finalising a ‘spending ceiling’ in order to make the sport of Formula 1 more competitive, a move that hasn’t gone down very well with some of the leaders of the sport(especially Ferrari).
A rough blueprint was released last year, which had standardised parts and no MGU-H. Ferrari and apparently Mercedes too want drastic changes to that initial blueprint, or we could see two of the most celebrated teams in F1, bow out from the year 2021.
According to a Chris Horner, Liberty has already informed the teams about the new blueprint release, which would take place during the Bahrain GP weekend.
“I think it’s important to have an overview of where the sport’s going for the future,” Horner told Motorsport.com in an interview.
“I think everybody’s keen to understand what Liberty’s plans are, and hopefully we’ll see that in the coming weeks.”
“I was told we’ll get the details in Bahrain,” said Red Bull’s Dr. Helmut Marko. “We’ll wait and see what is coming. Let’s see, but I can’t see the MGU-H staying. We agree and we’re sure that there has to be a change on the technical regulations, and also on the cost side.
“It has to be reduced. In whatever way, it doesn’t matter, but it has to be reduced. Look at our neighbours [Force India]. No team is earning money, it’s not a solid and healthy business model.” he added.
Claire Williams is positive about how Liberty Media is envisioning the sport, trying to make it more engaging for the fans, who have somewhat been alienated from the sport in the past few years.
They’ve inherited quite a complicated sport, as we all know,” she told Motorsport.com. “And there’s probably quite a lot to unravel.
“Taking their time, they’ll probably make the right decisions in turning this sport into what we need it to be, and that’s a sport for the future that fans want to tune in to on a Sunday afternoon.
“I think it’s going in the right direction. We’ve got an important meeting in April where they’re going to be talking a lot more about their plans for the future of the sport, so we’ll wait until then.”
The Bahrain Grand Prix now promises to be a historic event in Formula One, not only because the race promises to be an intense one, but because Liberty’s new blueprint could go a long way in determining how our sport would take shape over the next few years.
