LH just lost some leverage and Toto, the fast thinker that he is thought it was not in their best interest for GR to take the win in Sakhir. Lewis is exactly in the situation Toto was trying to avoid. Not a GR fan but two years is all it would take for him in a Mercedes to be a top shelf driver in a Merc.

Toto is protecting his own. He needs Hamilton for right now but he also needs Russell since he owns him too.

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The problems of the rich Bob. Something I will never have to deal with.

:iagree::iagree::iagree:

It might have been the easiest (to pass) track, but also one of the fastest. He passed nearly every car on the grid at least once and most twice. Nearly won the race three times (leading from quali, restart, and after that bloody awful pit stop). Thinking that he would have won by a Lewis margin had the team not screwed up the tires as badly as they did. Or maybe I'm remembering it wrong.

Yeah, he doesn't have Lewis' seat time. Good judgement comes from Experience. Experience comes from bad judgement. For sure he's done a bunch of bone-headed things at Williams where it didn't matter so nobody noticed (except crashing under a SC - seriously???).

How badly does Mercedes need Lewis Hamilton? What more do they have to prove in Formula 1? Seems that Lewis needs that seat more than AMG/Petronas needs him in it for 2021 and beyond.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMwqR9M4SM8 - James on video with explanation new rules and aero

Mercedes technical director James Allison believes that Formula 1 aerodynamic rule changes mandated for this season will initially trim performance to 2019 levels.

The changes were introduced to reduce loadings on Pirelli's tyres by negating the natural increase in downforce that teams would have made with their 2021 cars, given that aero development is not restricted by the freeze that impacts other aspects of the package.

An initial change to the floor was followed by three smaller tweaks that were agreed late in 2020.

In a Mercedes video, Allison says that what appear to be four relatively minor changes add up to a significant overall cut in downforce.

"The combination of those four effects in their rawest form just cut-off and trim back in a way that the rules require brings the performance of the car way back to sort of somewhere near 2019 levels.

"It's been our challenge over the weeks and months since those rules were set in stone to try to recover as much of the performance as possible.

PLUS: What the first look at 2021's F1 aero rules tells us

"That has been quite an entertaining ride in the wind tunnel and in CFD to try and make sure that we get that performance as far as possible back onto the car."

"There has been a triangular cut-out to the edges of the floor in front of the rear wheels which when you see it you'll think, 'that doesn't look that big,' but on its own in its rawest form if you just chop that area off your car it'll take about a second a lap away from the car.

"At the back of the car underneath in the diffuser area the fences were reduced in height so that they can't go as near to the ground, [and] they can't create as good of an aerodynamic seal to the ground as they did previously. And again, they shed a bunch of downforce when they are trimmed upwards.

The changes were mandated because it was anticipated that Pirelli's 2019 tyres would be carried over for a third season in 2021.

However in the end there was a change to the construction for this year, in an attempt to make the tyres more durable, giving the teams another variable with which to deal, including a revised profile on the fronts.

The change in construction also means that a set of 2021 tyres is around 3kg heavier.

"We got a first glimpse of these new tyres back in Portimao in 2020," said Allison.

"We've had two other occasions where we could test them, and they were in Bahrain and then in Abu Dhabi the last race of last year.

"That's not really very much opportunity to take on board a new tyre and get ready for a new season with it because these tyres will affect the way that the car performs, and they affect the way that you have to design the aerodynamic platform, and the way that you have to set up the car.

"So it's been a big challenge for us to try and stretch out that testing data that we had at the tracks last year and to try and make as much as we can out of the tyre data supplied to us by Pirelli."

^ And then, F1 cut the winter testing time down! So the teams won't have much chance to fully digest the meaning of the changes in real track situations before the first race.

The start of the season is going to be a bit crazy until everyone figures out what they can and cannot do in order to get the most out of the 2021 car (drivers and engineers).

But that's OK - it's all going into the bin in about 11 months, in favour of a from-the-ground-up design change for 2022. Well, except for engines if RBR gets its way, LOL.

True and the great thing - the new TYRES no one likes as well LOL :happydance: :rofl2:

Not really 2021 F1 related, but KMag starts the 24 hours at Daytona in P7.

He turned down opportunity to be F1 Mclaren reserve and test driver.

Smart move!

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:iagree::iagree:

How F1 teams are tackling the new challenges of the cost cap

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/15...cap-challenges

It's no secret Formula 1 teams always work flat out through the winter as they ready the new cars and adjust to the requirements of the latest technical regulations.

There's a long established routine and rhythm to the process, but this particular off-season has required a fresh approach for a variety of reasons.

Firstly, the 2020 season ended so late, running until the Abu Dhabi finale on 13 December, which was two weeks later than originally scheduled, and in addition all teams are having to work around tight COVID-19 restrictions.

Then there's a significant change to the usual R&D and production schedules that has resulted from the freeze on most mechanical parts, which means that large areas of the cars are carried over from 2020 and haven't had to be redesigned.

At the same time that R&D is ramping up early for the 2022 cars ahead of the biggest package of rule changes F1 has undergone for a while.

On top of all this is the initial impact of the cost cap, the key part of the new FIA Financial Regulations that this season are being imposed for the first time.

The three best-funded teams - Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari - are the squads most obviously affected by 2021's $145m spending limit. These three team have had to make the biggest adjustments, for example by allocating staff to non-F1 projects in order to remove their salaries from the equation.

However, the big three are not alone. With the glidepath down to $140m in 2022 and then $135m in 2023, McLaren, Alpine and the expanding Aston Martin team are nudging towards the cap limits and they've have also had to react.

It's about efficiency in all areas, and making the best use of resources that have never previously been formally restricted by the FIA.

"It's a competitive paradigm of moving away from who is spending the most, to who is spending the best," former Renault boss Cyril Abiteboul said last year.

"It's a new way of thinking, a new way of doing things, that should reward planning, that should reward management of the resources, management of the talents, management of a good execution, rather than only recognising just the ability to spend the most in this sport."

Mercedes technical director James Allison admitted last week that from the many challenges his team has faced heading into the 2021 season adjusting to the lower spending levels was the most significant.

"The biggest of these by far is trying to understand and assimilate the new financial regulations, the so-called cost cap regulations, to make sure that we can adapt our organisation to be able to operate within the much tighter confines of this new regulation," he said.

"And we have been working on that all the way through 2020 and carried on working through it over the winter to try and make sure that we've first of all understood what the regulation was saying.

"And second of all try to find every opportunity that was presented within that set of regulations, because every regulation brings opportunities once you can see exactly what they are saying, and then to adapt our operation and our company so that we can make the most from it and to be ready for the challenge of this new era of F1 operating under a cost cap.

"And that has been a huge body of work that has kept us really on our toes for a long, long time."

It's a learning process for all the teams, and one that will be ongoing as they refine how to allocate spending.

"It's a three-year journey as the cost cap comes down each year," McLaren boss Zak Brown explained in December.

"We're ready for 2021, and we have a plan for '22 and '23. We have those plans in place, but we don't need to execute against all of those plans yet, because we want to leave ourselves room for understanding what's going to be the most efficient and performance-oriented way to run at the reduced cap.

"So we're ready for '21, we have a plan for '22 and '23, but that plan has a couple of different forks in the road if you like, based on what we learn [in 2021] as to what's the most efficient way to get maximum performance out of the money that we're allowed to spend."

McLaren has faced a unique challenge this winter, as its switch of power unit supplier from Renault to Mercedes has generated more changes to the fundamentals of the package than were necessary at other teams. It has needed to allocate resources accordingly, and juggle elsewhere.

"There are some significant elements of carryover as we enter the cost cap," the Woking team's production director Piers Thynne noted recently.

"The FIA created a list of Transitional Carry Over [TCO] components that are outside of this year's cost cap.

"These are parts that can be used in 2021 if they were run on last year's car. We've pushed these TCO regulations to the absolute maximum to allow us to carryover as much as possible, such as gearbox internals and some suspension components, and therefore not have to use a portion of our 2021 budget on their design and production."

Thynne says the cap is just another challenge that each team has to meet.

"F1 has always been about working under a set of constraints, whether it's technical constraints, time constraints or cost constraints.

"Having said that, the nature of the new cost constraints is quite different to what we've experienced before. It will require a slight change in approach, because there's a real trade-off between cost and performance.

"Yes, you've got to meet the cost cap, but you've got to do it without losing performance.

"You can't just make a cheaper car. If you do, you'll make a slower car. You've got to look at the problem holistically to drive efficiencies in all areas but not to the detriment of the car's performance.

"I don't think you're going to see which teams have really got a handle on this approach until next year because the TCO regulations have skewed the picture for 2021. The real test will come with the design and manufacture of the '22 car."

The team in the most intriguing position with the cap is arguably Aston Martin. In its previous incarnations the Silverstone outfit was renowned for efficiency, in other words getting a big bang for its buck.

Under Lawrence Stroll's ownership the headcount has been steadily built up ahead of a move into a new factory (below), currently scheduled for August 2022.

The expansion process has had to take into account where the cost cap will land in 2022 and 2023.

PLUS: Why F1 is vital to Aston Martin's rejuvenation

At the same time the team has had to be careful not to sacrifice the very skillset that has made it so successful in recent years - bigger isn't always better. It's a tricky equation to manage.

Aston Martin technical director Andy Green is adamant that the traditional major teams have lost a key advantage they appeared to have when they could throw money and people at any problem.

"I think those teams now are dinosaurs, and you've got to be small, lean, efficient," Green noted late last season.

"And I think that's our strength. I think, as far as the financial side of the regulations are concerned, they're coming to us, they're definitely going to allow us to be able to compete with what used to be big teams, because they can't be big teams anymore.

"They are going have to come back down, get much closer to our level. And we've been doing it for years. We've been at this level for a very long time. And I think we do a reasonable job at it.

"But by no means I'm saying we're doing the best, or couldn't do better. Of course we could. But we have been doing it a long time. And I think we have put systems in place and groups in place who know how to work in a cost driven environment. I think that's going to help us."

The headcount has risen since Stroll came on board, but Green insists that it won't continue to expand simply because the new factory will have more space.

"We're still not planning to fill it with 900 people, it's a different strategy," he said.

"The factory is taking the manufacturing aspect that always been outside of our control. Because being such a small team, we do have to outsource a huge amount of manufacturing.

"And starting to bring some of that in-house, so we can shorten the lead time. So I think that's a big part of the new factory. It isn't to have this huge increase in headcount. It's to improve our efficiency even further.

"And I think with a blank sheet of paper, knowing what the rules are now and how we need to operate, we're in an absolute ideal position to design ourselves a factory that is absolutely custom built and designed for the new era of F1."

As Thynne pointed out, the picture will become clearer beyond 2021, as we start to see who did the best job of getting through the current season while preparing for the next, and the huge challenge of the new regulations. It will be fascinating to see how it unfolds.

Just wait until they add a "carbon cap" or some other nonsense on top of all this.

I get that it was becoming an arms race where the cost to play was creating a class structure that resulted in the top team(s) being unassailable, but I'm pretty certain that teams, being businesses, were already running pretty efficiently. So are we going to continue seeing massive developments, or is F1 on a glide slope to becoming a spec series?

BOP is making all professional level racing spec racing!

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Sorry - what's "BOP"? I'm not familiar.

LMAO, you know what I'm talking about....Balance of Performance! Every professional Motorsports venue is into it.

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A bit on Perez - https://www.espn.com/racing/f1/story...la-one-success

4 minutes ago
New

Formula 1 chiefs are weighing up the possibility of starting the 2021 season with a double-header in Bahrain if the coronavirus situation scuppers plans for a race in Portugal.

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/15...uese-gp-backup

The current schedule is for the season to start in Bahrain on 28 March, with a race at Imola scheduled to follow on 18 April.

That would then be followed by a race on 2 May which was at a venue yet to be confirmed, but was widely expected to take place at Portimao in Portugal.

However, hopes of that happening are fading with the country facing a fresh coronavirus outbreak amid growing concerns in Europe over the spread of variant strains of the disease.

F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali is due to hold lengthy talks with various race promoters over the next few days to try to better gauge the situation before making a decision about how the season will start.

While he is hopeful that the current dates can still work, and he is adamant Imola is not under threat, Domenicali has said that contingency plans are ready to be rolled out if necessary.

Well crap, here we go again!! :facepalm:

At least they are more flexible, as they've been through it already last year and know what has to be done.

Pirelli must be starting to get worried, though, as those tires need to be made any day now. I suspect they would be different compounds for sprig in Portugal vs the desert.

Yes and NEW one's tested last year! No team liked them lol :driving::driving:

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/15...-hamilton-deal

Toto Wolff says the decision to only agree to a one-year contract extension with Lewis Hamilton was the result of both parties wanting time to finalise a longer deal.

Mercedes ended weeks of speculation on Monday when it announced that seven-time Formula 1 world champion Hamilton would be staying on with the team in 2021.

But the fact that only a single-season contract was agreed prompted some surprise, and fuelled talk that 2021 could be the British driver's last season in F1.

Speaking to media on Monday, Wolff explained the background to Hamilton's contract length - and made clear that there was a desire from both to delay lengthier discussions regarding 2022 and beyond until the current season got going.

Wolff said that complications caused by both he and Hamilton catching coronavirus, which derailed hope of talks taking place towards the end of last season, forced a change of plan.

"We jointly agreed on a one year deal," said Wolff.

"First of all, there is a substantial regulation change in 2022.

"We also want to see how the world develops, and the company. Plus on the other side, it's because we kept it very late.

"We wanted to discuss the contract at the end of the [2020] season between the Bahrain races and then obviously, Lewis didn't feel well.

"In the end, we started our conversation just before Christmas so it was important to get it done as soon as possible.

"And in that respect, we thought, let's postpone the discussion about 2022 and onwards to a later stage in 2021."

Wolff explained that the ongoing uncertainties about the impact of coronavirus on F1, and especially in relation to team budgets, meant that it was difficult to make certain commitments now about a longer term contract.

That is why he feels contract talks in summer will be much clearer - and will allow time for proper discussion.

PLUS: Why F1 driver contracts are fraught with peril

"There are uncertainties in the world that affect the way that the sport can operate, that have an influence on our revenue, TV monies, and on sponsorship income," he said.

"Daimler, Mercedes, is in a huge transformation towards electric mobility and that means investments. So we are living in a financial reality that is very different to what it was a few years ago.

"But having said that, we are totally in line, Lewis and me and the wider group at Mercedes about the situation. So there was never any discrepancy in opinion.

"It was just that we felt we could get a good signature on the 2021 contract because we just need to get going and then find some time during 2021, earlier than this time around, to discuss the future.

"And it's not only specifically to 2022, but also beyond. And that is not something that we wanted to carve out via videoconferencing between Christmas and the end of January."

Wolff also rubbished any talk of Hamilton demanding a driver veto in his contract to avoid being partnered with another superstar driver, like Red Bull ace Max Verstappen.

He added that suggestions pay talks had hit a sticking point over a potential revenue share of Mercedes incomes were "baseless".

"On the specific clauses that were out there in the media, I don't know where they came from because none of that is true," he said.

"I actually read about this, and I found it interesting, but the truth is that there was not one second of discussion about any driver specific clause.

"He has never asked for that in the last eight years and it's a team decision.

"And the other clause about a revenue share - that came out of nowhere.

"That rumour was baseless too, so none of that was ever part of our discussions."

LMAO!https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...726498729e.jpg

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Schedule update:

"Formula 1 has given the green light for the Portuguese Grand Prix to take the vacant slot on the calendar, Autosport can reveal, with teams to be informed on Thursday."

Refers to April 30-May 2

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/15...race-decisions

An engine freeze, the final 2021 calendar and a sprint race experiment will dominate talks between teams and the sport's chiefs in a meeting of the Formula 1 Commission today.

The meeting, which will be attended by F1 management, teams, and the FIA, is set to vote on a series of changes that could have huge ramifications for the sport over the next few years.

As Autosport revealed yesterday, F1 is expected to tell teams that it has given approval for the Portuguese Grand Prix to go ahead on May 2.

The move, while finalising the opening stages of the season, will however require some extra commitment from teams because of quarantine restrictions in the United Kingdom.

Portugal is currently on the UK's 'red list' of countries where anyone returning needs to complete a 10-day hotel quarantine on arrival.

With elite sports having not been granted an exemption, it means F1 personnel are included on such a requirement, so any staff attending the Portuguese Grand Prix will be unable to return home prior to the following event in Spain.

One of the most interesting decisions that will be taken is whether or not to approve a proposal from F1 to trial Sprint Races at three grands prix this year.

F1 wants to run a Saturday 100-km sprint qualifying race at the Canadian, Italian and Brazilian Grands Prix this year to see if the change of format helps improve the weekend experience.

While a previous push to trial reverse grid races failed to get unanimous support, because Mercedes was wholly against the idea, there may be more backing for a sprint race format.

Furthermore, a new governance structure that has been introduced for 2021 as part of the new Concorde Agreement means that unanimous support is no longer needed.

Now a 'super majority' of 28 votes out of the 30 available (F1, the FIA and teams have 10 each) will be enough to get it passed.

The most complicated discussions of the meeting, though, could revolve around the possibility of an engine freeze from 2022.

The proposal has been pushed hard by Red Bull, which wants a freeze in place so it can take over the Honda engine project from next year without the need for an expensive development budget.

But the move is not just about Red Bull, because F1 is clear that if a freeze is in place from 2022 onwards, then that will mean manufacturers can focus their efforts and budgets solely on a future powerplant that should come into play for 2025.

The situation is quite complicated though, because a push to use ever-greater sustainable fuels means that there could be the need for some engine developments in the short term.

Furthermore, there are some concerns that if one engine manufacturer finds itself on the back foot at the start of 2022, the lack of any development could leave them facing several years of struggle.

One idea being looked at, but not yet agreed, is for some form of equalisation structure to come into play - which will allow for all the power units to deliver roughly the same amount of performance.

This could be achieved through allowing an increased fuel flow for any engine that is down on power at the start of 2022.

But such a 'Balance of Performance' strategy for F1 risks opening a can of worms and has not so far had universal approval from all teams.

Results!

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/15...-plan-for-2022

Formula 1 teams have approved plans for an engine freeze from 2022 and are open to the idea of sprint races, but have requested more details.

Following a meeting on Thursday of the F1 Commission, made up of teams, the FIA and the F1 organisation, Autosport understands that unanimous approval was given to an engine freeze to come into play from the start of next year.

The push for a freeze was originally led by Red Bull as it hopes to take on the Honda engine project after the Japanese manufacturer pulls out of F1 at the end of this year.

Red Bull was clear that it had the resources to continue running the power units for the next few years, but could not afford to take on the project if it also had to develop the engines itself.

While there had not been initial full support for the freeze when it first came up at the end of last year, discussions have moved forward in recent weeks and teams are now in agreement.

F1 teams also discussed the idea of sprint races, which have been proposed by F1 management as a trial for this year to see if the concept can work.

PLUS: Why F1 shouldn't wed itself to tradition over sprint race decision

F1 wants to run an experiment of the sprint race format at three grands prix this season - in Canada, Italy, and Brazil - to see if it can help improve the spectacle of a race weekend.

The idea is for F1's official qualifying session to be moved to Friday afternoon, with Saturday's action then being dominated by a 100km sprint race that will decide the grid for Sunday's main race and potentially offer half points.

It is understood that, while the plans did not get a formal green light to be put into the rules, teams were open to the idea and have requested more time to look into the finer details.

The introduction of sprint races could result in some unintended consequences, so teams will likely want their sporting directors to look at potential pitfalls before committing fully to the idea.

F1 teams also discussed with the FIA and F1 the idea of a salary cap coming into force over the next few years, but no final decision was made on whether to proceed.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/56030222 - Better report on today via BBC

How would you like to be working in the garage (especially for Red Bull or Aston Martin) if you have to repair the damage from a first lap collision on a Saturday sprint race for the Sunday main feature? Sounds really dumb to me - in a sprint, every corner is important and there's bound to be carnage.

So, if they qualify on Fridays for the Saturday grid, when do they get to practice / set up the car?

Don't know why that one is even in discussions. Make three Sunday races on the calendar into sprints - they are exciting at this level as we saw last year (when red flags and late race SC's caused several races to become multi-stage sprints).

Engine freeze? How is it that this would be from 2022 if Honda is out before then? RBR wouldn't develop for 2022 but the other teams could? Or the engine has to be used in 2021 to qualify (in which case, it is mostly the 2020 engines moving forward as only a few changes have been allowed, as I understand it - Ferrari being a notable exception).

Hope the changes that Ferrari are planning for 2021 amount to something. If they have to keep running their 2017 spec engine through 2025, they might as well throw in the towel now (along with the customer teams). They had some neat plans to split the turbocharger and supercharger, similar to Mercedes' design. But I thought that was a 2022 enhancement. They are reportedly still working on that.

Sprint race them in a bunch of Alfa 4C's not F1 cars. Very very very very very STUPID! Qualy should reflect the speed of the best cars in order not some silly sprint event NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

RedBull can leave for all I care. They asked, by choice to take over Honda PU system. So LIVE WITH IT and PAY FOR IT. Dont make others WAIT For you.

Alpine issued a statement on Thursday evening confirming that Alonso was "conscious and well in himself", pending further examinations.

In an update issued by the team on Friday morning, Alpine confirmed that Alonso had undergone a successful operation, and that he would be remaining in hospital for the next two days.

But it is anticipated that Alonso will be able to resume his preparations for the new season soon, and be fit for the opening round in Bahrain next month.

Per Alpine earlier today:

"Following his cycling accident yesterday Fernando Alonso was kept under observation in hospital in Switzerland," the statement from Alpine reads.

"Medics discovered a fracture in his upper jaw and conducted a successful corrective operation. The attending medical team are satisfied with his progress.

"Fernando will remain under observation in hospital for a further 48 hours.

"Looking forward, after a few days of complete rest, he will be able to progressively resume training. We expect him be fully operational to undertake preparation for the season."

Mercedes admits it is battling some "issues" with its engine preparations for the new Formula 1 season, but is confident it can have fixes in place for the first race.

The German manufacturer is chasing an eighth consecutive F1 title double this season, having been undefeated during the turbo-hybrid era.

But, as it ramps up work for the start of the 2021 campaign, its engine chief Hywel Thomas has revealed that it is facing some early year challenges.

"We have got some issues with the power units," he said in a video released by Mercedes.

"We know we have issues but we have plenty of plans in place to fix all of those issues.

"I'm sure it will all be ready for the first race."

Mercedes is no stranger to facing dramas in the pre-season build-up, and 12 months ago its then engine chief Andy Cowell admitted that the team was facing troubles in its preparations for the new campaign.

While the team endured some reliability dramas in testing, it was eventually able to get on top of the matter by the time the delayed season started in July.

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/15...e-preparations

Sure, and "everybody else looks faster than us" and "I don't think that these tires are going to last". Sounds like just more BS from MB.

Same story just a different year. :shakes head:

Under promise, over deliver. MB/TW poker-faced, pre-season mantra.

Boring and efficient but winning. Mercedes have a system that works. Easy to not like them but admirable as well. Most teams strive for such situation!

Why can't Red Bull put a muzzle on Helmut Marko? He says the stupidest things.

Race starts in: 41 days 23 hours 49 min 27 sec
Circuit: Bahrain
Race: 57 laps / 308.238 km

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/15...-engine-freeze

After months of back-and-forth between Formula 1 teams, an agreement was reached last week to introduce an engine development freeze from 2022.

Ever since Honda announced at the start of October that it would be ending its involvement in F1 after 2021, Red Bull had been pushing hard to get an engine freeze implemented.

The team always seemed relaxed, even confident, about its future despite appearing to have lost an important ally that offered it works status. As momentum gathered for an engine freeze that would allow it to take on the Honda IP and run the project itself after the Japanese manufacturer's exit, it was clear what the endgame was.

The debate went back and forth in the weeks that followed. Ferrari was initially the chief opponent to Red Bull's plan, saying it was "firmly against" suspending development, only to then change its tune a few weeks later after a compromise was reached to bring the next generation of power unit forward by one year to 2025.

But as Ferrari and Red Bull also pushed for a mechanism to be introduced that would ensure any drop in performance could be made up for, using means such as permitting a higher fuel flow rate in the event of a horsepower deficit, Mercedes dug its heels in. While it supported an engine freeze from a cost perspective, it did not want to give a complete free pass. Renault was aligned with Mercedes, leaving the plan facing uncertainty going into the winter.

News emerged from Thursday's F1 Commission meeting that the engine freeze had not only been approved, but had been so with unanimous agreement between the teams. Importantly, no mechanism to balance performance was agreed or seriously considered. While not all parties would have got the complete deal they wanted, there had at least been consensus.

The agreement was largely good news for Red Bull, which is now able to proceed with plans to acquire the IP for the Honda power unit and take over the running of it from the start of next year. This was always Red Bull's preferred route, avoiding an awkward reunion with Renault just three seasons after their divorce, and giving it greater control over its future.

Even with development frozen, establishing a division to oversee the power unit will be costly for Red Bull. Work is already underway to adapt part of the team's facilities in Milton Keynes to focus on running engines, which is no cheap exercise. But considering how costly an engine agreement would have been with another manufacturer, Red Bull won't be that much worse off.

Crucially, it also sets Red Bull up perfectly for the introduction of the new power units in 2025. The F1 Commission meeting furthered plans for the future, committing to making the power units simpler, cheaper and more attractive for possible manufacturers. The cost element is particularly appealing to Red Bull, which confirmed at the end of last year that it may even build its own power units under the new regulations.

"If the hints become true that the new engine is much simpler in design, that the MGU-H is eliminated, and that it remains innovative but the annual cost limit is somewhere around 50 million, then it's no longer such a complex issue as the current engine," Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko told Autosport in December. "That means you could then do the development for such an engine with the paraphernalia we will have in Milton Keynes."

The door would be open to work with another manufacturer, should the new regulations be appealing enough, but developing a new power unit in-house is a decent back-up option. Even if it did link up with a manufacturer for a works deal, having an established engine division with greater know-how is also only going to strengthen Red Bull. The flexibility is there.

On the cost front, Red Bull will also be able to use the independence it has to market the power unit however it wishes. Amid the first fractures of its relationship with Renault six years ago, Red Bull rebadged the power units under the watch brand TAG Heuer. A similar sponsorship deal will now be possible for at least the next three years, again helping bring in some added revenue.

It's an exciting development for Red Bull's future - but it does not guarantee success for the team in the next three seasons.

In announcing its exit, Honda stressed its commitment to developing a new power unit for the 2021 season that it hoped would allow Red Bull to launch a proper title challenge. But it is not clear what assistance there will be from Honda in sorting developments ahead of Red Bull's inheritance of the project.

While Ferrari, Mercedes and Renault will all be working throughout 2021 to ensure their engines are as strong as possible for when the freeze comes into force at the start of the 2022 campaign, Red Bull cannot afford to lose ground in the meantime. As it gets up to speed with its engine division, a helping hand from Honda to ensure the first Red Bull in-house engine is not lagging behind will be important.

This is where the lack of correction mechanism could prove costly. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said at the end of last season that "to lock in performance for three years" could be "quite damaging" for any team that did undershoot, hence his desire for some kind of balance of performance system if required.

The possible cost of getting the power unit so badly wrong is shown by Ferrari's struggles last year. With no development permitted in-season as part of the cost-saving measures forced by the COVID-19 pandemic, Ferrari was stuck with its underperforming power unit for the entire season, leaving it and customers Alfa Romeo and Haas painfully down on pace.

It is therefore perhaps no surprise that Ferrari was aligned with Red Bull for the correction mechanism. But the fact the plan has now been pushed through with unanimous support indicates a change in stance. The noises coming out of Maranello over its new power unit coming for 2021 have been positive. Has this confidence prompted Ferrari to get on board with the freeze, banking on getting back to a competitive level come the start of the 2022 campaign?

Red Bull may have got the breakthrough it wanted with the engine freeze, allowing it to plan not just for the post-Honda era, but for the next power unit rule cycle starting in 2025. Long-term, things are looking good.

But without any kind of balance of performance system in place, the pressure will now be on to ensure that by the start of 2022 - regardless of what the Red Bull-run power unit is called - it is competitive enough to at long last take the fight to Mercedes.