Q: I was discussing this with another racing fan and we understand that in F1, DRS opens the rear wing and in IndyCar Push to Pass gives you more turbo boost, but we don’t understand in F1 (and soon to be in IndyCar) what the battery does. On the broadcasts they say in F1 that the driver is “charging the batteries” but how does that energy get applied to the drive train? How does that extra energy get applied (physically) to the cars? Is there an additional electronic motor?
Jim Doyle, Hoboken, NJ
CHRIS MEDLAND: Yes there is, Jim. Put as simply as possible, you have two motors: the MGU-H that harvests energy from the exhaust’s exit gases (via the turbo spinning), and MGU-K that is linked to the crankshaft and recovers kinetic energy under braking. That energy is then stored in the battery (or Energy Store as F1 likes to call it) and then the MGU-K can switch to deployment mode to provide additional power under acceleration using that energy from the Energy Store.
The more complex MGU-H can also switch to be a motor when the driver is off-throttle to keep the turbo spinning in order to reduce lag and ensure smoother power delivery when they then get back on the throttle.
The battery can hold more than a car is allowed to deploy over a lap due to the regulations, which can make its use strategic. That power is usually utilized accelerating out of slow corners onto long straights to get a car up to top speed more quickly, and in qualifying teams will know exactly when they want to deploy it and how long for to get the most out of the available energy in the fully charged battery (which is one reason why drivers sometimes can’t just push for consecutive laps if they’ve depleted the battery).
In races, though, the drivers might play around with the deployment at different stages, using it to attack or defend. But that means when you’ve run out of energy in the battery you need to wait for it to give you some more charge, which can lead to a leading car becoming vulnerable if under pressure.
Q: F1 could have spared us the word salad and simply said the teams don’t want to dilute the revenue share by adding an 11th team.
Matt
Q: Why can’t F1 just be honest and say we don’t want to dilute the prize pool? Like the Andretti name somehow has less value than Visa Cash App Racing Bulls or Stake.
Ryan, West Michigan
CM: Not that I agree with the decision, but you could argue that’s what F1 did with its statement as it gave a number of reasons why it felt Andretti’s entry without GM as a power unit supplier wouldn’t bring more commercial revenue into the sport to outweigh the dilution of the payments it makes to the teams. Basically, it stated it wasn’t going to make more money by letting Andretti in before 2028.
I think we all agree on the value of the Andretti name compared to some others, and I’ve also seen the finger pointed at Haas for its recent form but a) we’re still talking about teams that were all within a second of each other at some circuits (someone has to be last) and b) it was never a decision based on replacing another team, so those comparisons are slightly pointless in that respect.
IMO Andretti would bring more to the table than some other teams look like they might over the next few years, but if you kicked one out to allow another in then you’d completely lose all confidence from the existing teams and the entire business would fall apart. Those existing agreements and licenses need to be honored.
Q: For all of the talk about Andretti and GM being technically eligible to apply to F1 in 2028, I have a hard time understanding how — just on the “will they be competitive” grounds alone — their follow-on bid has a much better chance of success than this submission? I’ll admit the 2025 timing did seem like a big mistake on Andretti and GM’s part, though it was what Haas did (in a pre-cost-cap era, it must be said).
However, if you’re GM now and looking at waiting until 2028 for a chance to maybe get into F1, why wouldn’t you just literally buy the entire IndyCar series from Roger Penske? I highly doubt Roger’s price for buying IndyCar would be unaffordable for GM. On the other hand, given the 2028 entry time frame to F1 and a new Concorde Agreement in 2026, GM and Andretti are looking at a $600 million dilution fee just to buy into the right to have a team — at a minimum. As F1 keeps growing, we should expect that dilution fee to continue to grow with it.
If GM bought IndyCar, though, it could morph it to serve as an outlet for the types of powertrain development it wanted to do. You could still have Dallara build a spec car — this time closer to an F1 car in terms of downforce / performance — but use the series to push the limits on powertrain (the Formula E model, basically). As I think “Drive To Survive” has established, a majority of the current F1 fan base, especially the new generation, don’t care about car development. Fans care about seeing quality driving over seeing a new front wing endplate or clever innovation that upends the field.
I completely understand the reasons that Roger Penske has for keeping the series as low-investment as it is to this date. As Mailbag writers have commented ad nauseum though, you could very easily expand the scope of it from just a national series to a truly international one. That would entail bigger bills, to be sure, but certainly from a promoters perspective, the series would be welcomed at venues like Montmelo, Estoril, Hockenheim, Le Castellet, Portimao, the Nurburgring and Sepang that have all been effectively abandoned by F1. Not to mention the driver talent.
If you can’t join em… beat em?
Or spend $2B+ to buy a deeply uncompetitive Haas, your choice…
Elliott
CM: While I’m not an expert on where Penske’s interest in selling IndyCar stands, and what the price could be, I can only imagine that purchasing an entire series would be getting close to figures of paying the higher anti-dilution fee to become an F1 team. And as you point out, F1’s growth means the value of teams is so high that $600m for a team that may well be instantly worth more than $1 billion is smart business, isn’t it?
Also, expanding IndyCar in that way would also take major investment and risks trying to make it too like F1. Both series have more chance of being successful if they don’t cannibalize each other and have unique selling points.
The reason GM is more likely to be targeting F1 is the global reach that brings, and the marketing value that comes alongside the technological leanings and R&D.
I’m with you that buying Haas is a last resort, though, because all you’d want is the entry and then Andretti and GM would have its entire own set-up so far less value in the operational side of the team (although some personnel and equipment would be useful).