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🏎 Aero Overhaul

🏎 Aero Overhaul

F1 is forced to reassess their 2026 active aero plan after alarming findings

Kyle Dager
April 10, 2024

Good morning! Happy National Sprint Car Day! Today is one of my favorite days of the year simply because it just so happens to have the same numerical value as the amount of cubic inches in a sprint car engine (4/10).

And if there is one thing that growing up in Indiana has taught me it’s that sprint cars are badass! If you haven’t ever been to a sprint car race, you are missing out on one of the most thrilling and dynamic types of racing out there.

Have you been to a sprint car race?

Parker’s POV

Would You Walk Away From The Lottery?

Written by: Parker Kligerman

Racecar drivers don’t know how to retire. How do I know this? Let’s just list a few of the multiple high-profile “retirements” & returns that have occurred in the last few decades: Michael Schumacher, Nigel Mansell, Fernando Alonso, Mark Martin, Matt Kenseth, etc. And now, apparently, Sebastian Vettel wants to come back, of course.

Yet, at the same time, after a few tough races to start the 2024 F1 season, many of you are calling for Daniel Riccardo to stop. That this should be his farewell tour. After he has fought back from the void that is life-after-F1. He should now just turn it off, take off the helmet, and say goodbye to the only dream he’s ever had. He won’t…

He’s a professional racecar driver. We can’t do that. Now, many will say because it’s akin to an addiction, this whole driving fast thing. But that’s all wrong, and diminishing the big of it all.

When you make racing your pursuit, your game of desire. All you envision are the great laps, passes, wins, & championships.

The part that comes after seems so far away that in many ways, it feels impossible to imagine it happening to you. The now is all that matters, and the next win is right around the corner.

I was at a Counting Crows concert last year when the lead singer Adam Duritz, toward the end of the concert, in a waterfall of emotion, sadly and proudly in a way only musicians on a stage can seem to cry so visibly to a crowd and it not feel, uh, weird, proclaimed: “The average career of a rockstar either never happens or is 1-2 years, and we’ve been doing this for 30 years because of all of you.”

I immediately knew what he meant. See being a rockstar or a professional racecar driver is much the same in its less an addiction and more like winning the lottery.

The great racing promoter Humpy Wheeler said, “Great racecar drivers don’t hang around, they 'fade away',” which is pretty much true of rockstars too, because wouldn’t you want to squeeze every bit of juice out of a massive lottery prize?

So when you ask why a driver continues to do it as they struggle or that they should move on. You’re effectively asking someone who has won the lottery to say - no thanks, I’ll go slog it out in a cubicle the rest of my life.

Unlike other sports that biology and time make it almost impossible to keep going. Driving racecars is something that a human can do for more than half their lives at the top of the game no less. Much like golf, we can be competitive for a very, very long time. Which like them means that at times for the lucky ones, the decision to stop is yours and yours alone.

This comes with a level of privileged torment that only inheritors of billion-dollar fortunes can relate to.

Imagine, you’re doing the thing you love, that feels like you one-upped the world, but suddenly you are now tasked with deciding to stop. Like having Sydney Sweeney in your bed and being asked to run away, so she can never find you - impossible.

Daniel Riccardo can’t be expected to make this decision, and I will understand if Sebastian Vettel decides to come back.

They one-upped the world in almost every category and have seen life without it. Like proper professional racecar drivers before them, that have all been tasked with this weight.

They will make the wrong decision because there is no right answer. They won the lottery and whatever they choose to do with the winnings is up to them.

🗣️ NASCAR says they need “to work harder” to fix short track package

✌️ PREMA confirms two-car IndyCar entry in 2025

🏁 Dale Jr. set to compete in CARS Tour race this weekend

💸 Kostecki Supercars fallout sees major sponsors cut ties

🙏 Team Manager has fatal accident in paddock at Barcelona

Aero Overhaul

F1's ambition for 2026 has hit a bit of turbulence, with alarming simulator results prompting a rethink of its active aero strategy. The dream of dynamic wings adjusting for optimal grip in corners and streamlined speed on straights faces a roadblock.

The core issue? "Concerning characteristics emerged," with cars becoming nearly undriveable at high speeds causing spins down the straights, and couldn't manage even mild curves without the rear losing grip.

This instability was a result of an aero balance shift, estimated to be three times the disruption caused by currently open DRS—turning high-speed laps into a high-stakes gamble. This imbalance led to performance that could lag behind today's F2 cars.

In response, the FIA is steering towards a more integrated front and rear wing design to mitigate the erratic aero balance. Christian Horner's comments underline the sport's commitment to adapt, ensuring that the quest for a perfect blend of speed and efficiency doesn't sacrifice control.

With the June deadline approaching, the race is on to refine F1's 2026 vision into something that's not just fast, but also firmly planted on the track.