‘Get rid of the battery’: F1 under increasing pressure to make more changes to engine rules
Formula One is under increasing pressure to consider immediate changes and the long-term future of its new engines, with the world champion Lando Norris reiterating after the Miami Grand Prix that the only answer to address the sport-wide dissatisfaction was to “get rid of the battery”.At the race in Florida, which was won by Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli, with Norris second, F1 and the FIA had brought in fresh regulations to address unhappiness and safety concerns prompted by the pivotal role energy management plays under the new 2026 formula.There has been widespread criticism of the formula – which employs almost a 50-50 split between the internal combustion engine (ICE) and electrical energy.And while the adjustments to mitigate the issues which came in this weekend were considered successful, the long-term distaste remains, as Norris noted.“It’s a small step in the right direction but it’s not to the level that Formula One should still be at yet,” he said.
“If you go flat out everywhere and you try pushing like you were in previous years you still just get penalised for it.You still can’t be flat out everywhere.You should never get penalised for that kind of thing and you still do.“ Honestly, I don’t really think you can fix that.You just have to get rid of the battery.
So hopefully in a few years, that’s the case.”Norris’s opinions were echoed by his McLaren teammate, Oscar Piastri, who pointedly noted that, for all the tweaks to the rules, it was the fundamental way the engines were designed to operate that was the problem.“The collaboration again from the FIA and F1 has been good, but there’s only so many things you can change with the hardware we have,” he said.“So some changes in the future are still needed for sure.How quickly we can do it is the big question.
”Piastri’s position is understood to be popularly supported within the sport where there is general agreement for reducing the role of the electrical energy and increasing that of the combustion engine.However even given what is considered to be a relatively straightforward hardware redesign that would increase the fuel flow to the engine, there would have to be agreement from the teams and engine manufacturers as soon as the Canadian Grand Prix in three weeks in order for it to be adopted for next season.Over the weekend in Miami the FIA president, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, said he believed that F1 would in future drop the current V6 hybrid engines and return to using V8s with “minor electrification”.The V8s which were most recently used between 2006 and 2013 were light, relatively simple and very loud, and would run as the current engines do on fully sustainable fuel.“V8 is coming,” he said.
Ben Sulayem quoted a timetable of introducing it by 2030 or 2031 however the immediate focus remains on whether a short-term change to the engine regulations can be agreed.Mercedes, who have the best engine on the grid, considered the proposal worth considering, although the team principal, Toto Wolff, intimated it would not be in time for next year.“Can we tweak it and optimise it in the midterm? Absolutely,” he said.“We will never be against making the show even better.We could extract a bit more performance out of the ICE, great.
Give us enough lead time so we can actually do it.“From a Mercedes standpoint, we are open to new engine regulations.We love V8s.It has only great memories.It’s a pure Mercedes engine, it revs high.
How do we give it enough energy from the battery side to not lose connection to the real world? Because if we swing to 100% combustion, it might be looking a bit ridiculous in 2031 or 2030.”
Nigerian refinery accused of sacking union members is key to UK plan to tackle jet fuel shortage
A refinery in Nigeria accused of dismissing workers for joining a union has emerged as key to the UK government’s hopes of saving the summer holiday amid a jet fuel shortage.Heidi Alexander, the transport secretary, said at the weekend that part of the answer to the strait of Hormuz crisis was to import more fuel from the US and west Africa.The main refinery on the west coast of Africa exporting fuel to the UK for commercial flights is Dangote in Lagos, which started producing aviation fuel in January 2024.According to the market data company Kpler, about 130,000 tonnes of jet fuel was imported into the UK in March from the huge Nigerian plant.Owned by reputedly the richest man in Africa, Aliko Dangote, the refinery has been accused by unions of being a “plantation of exploitation”
Thousands of Just Eat couriers launch legal action to improve workers’ rights
More than 7,000 Just Eat couriers are taking legal action against the food delivery company in an attempt to gain better employment rights including the minimum wage and holiday pay.The employment tribunal, which begins on Tuesday and is set to run until 2 June, will determine if the couriers are classed as workers, a status that comes with improved rights, or self-employed independent contractors.Judgment is expected later in 2026.Just Eat dismissed about 1,700 couriers in the UK in 2023 when it returned to a gig economy model and scrapped an experiment that offered guaranteed minimum pay, sick pay and holiday pay in six cities in the UK and Europe.Under its “Scoober” experiment, couriers who Just Eat said handled less than 5% of UK orders at the time and also worked set shifts, were provided with e-bikes or e-mopeds and had the option to operate from a central hub, where they could pick up equipment and take breaks
Vine video-sharing app is back – and battling AI slop
As a pioneer of the short-form video format, Vine has been credited as one of the most influential – if short-lived – social media platforms.The app, which allowed users to record a looping six seconds of video, boomed in popularity after its launch in 2013, spawning a plethora of viral comedy sketches and internet memes. It hit 100 million monthly active users at its peak and helped launch the careers of influencers such as Logan Paul.It was snapped up by Twitter – now X – soon after its creation, but closed in 2017 after the platform failed to make the sums add up.Jack Dorsey, Twitter’s co-founder, is now backing an attempt to bring back a revamped version of the much-loved platform with a new philosophy: to be the short-form video app offering “freedom from AI slop”
GameStop makes $55.5bn takeover offer for eBay
US video games retailer GameStop has offered to buy eBay for $55.5bn (£41bn) in an unsolicited bid that its boss warned could turn hostile if the proposal is rebuffed by eBay’s board.GameStop, which has quietly accumulated a 5% stake in eBay, said it was willing to pay $125 a share, split 50-50 between cash and stock.It is an ambitious move by the games company, which catapulted to fame during the meme-stock craze of 2021 but is worth far less than its takeover target. GameStop had a market valuation of roughly $12bn on Friday before its bid, while eBay – originally launched as a side hobby by its founder Pierre Omidyar in 1995 – is worth about $46bn
Kent v Derbyshire, Somerset v Yorkshire, and more: county cricket, day four – live
Taunton kept us guessing almost to the end. A great win for Yorkshire, and for Glamorgan, Notts, Surrey, Northants and, last but most memorably, Kent. Thanks for your company over the last four days. I’ll be back on Friday at Old Trafford, for the penultimate round of this spring block of games. Have a lovely bank holiday evening
Shaun Murphy v Wu Yize: World Snooker Championship final day two – live
In the meantime, though, we’ve got plenty for you to enjoy…… but do join me again at 7pm BST for the staggering denouement. No one has a clue what’s going to happen, but we can all relax into the absolute certainty that something will. See you soon!A brilliant afternoon’s entertainment; the evening session is going to be very, very special.Shaun Murphy 12-12 Wu Yize (5-86) Wu has played lovelily these last three frames, the long-potting which is so good it feels like cheating, returning after a brief holiday. He is five frames away form a first world title, and supplanting Shaun as the second-youngest man to win this competition
‘Voting Green will stop Reform’: party eyes kingmaker role in Wales
Why UK voters are impossible to satisfy | Brief letters
Starmer adviser held 16 undisclosed meetings with top US tech bosses
UK politics: Polanski says he would ‘discourage’ the use of ‘globalise the intifada’ chant on marches – as it happened
Polanski says he would discourage ‘globalise the intifada’ chant but warns against march bans
‘We have let them come on to our ground’: Labour fights off Green gains in Leeds