Tech Show: F1 control systems explained + How F1 is approaching solving its power unit problems
The Race F1 Podcast
The Race Media Ltd
4.5 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 8 April 2026
⏱️ 78 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
With F1’s key players getting together to hammer out changes to fix its engine problems on April 9, what are the solutions being discussed and will they work? Host Edd Straw and ex-F1 technical director Gary Anderson evaluate the big changes in the works.
We also hear from Haas head of controls and systems Nick Bell about his role and the enormous amount of work that goes into this unheralded aspect of F1 cars. And Gary answers listener questions on a variety of topics from shark fin aero details and front wings in ground effect to whether active aero should be binned and ADUO.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Athletic |
| 0:02.7 | On this week's episode, we hear from Hass Head of Controls and Systems, Nick Bell. |
| 0:14.2 | Evaluate the ways F1 is considering tackling its power unit problems |
| 0:17.4 | ahead of this week's Crunch Rules meeting, |
| 0:19.2 | and tackle your questions on shark |
| 0:21.3 | fins, the front wing in ground effect and aduo calculations. |
| 0:28.7 | Welcome to the race F1 tech show. I'm Ed Strawer, but the real star of the show, of course, |
| 0:33.2 | is Gary Anderson, former F1 technical director who's been in and around F1 for far more years |
| 0:40.1 | than probably he cares to remember. And Gary, we've got this pause in the season now. It's been a |
| 0:46.9 | weird start to the year, hasn't it, with all of the power unit talk and this kind of thing. |
| 0:50.8 | We're going to get into some of the detail of that shortly, but I've |
| 0:54.7 | never really known a season where just so much time has been spent thinking about power units and |
| 1:00.3 | charging deployment and lots of things that people aren't so used to thinking about in detail. |
| 1:06.3 | Yeah, it would be nice to look at a race, a competition and sort of understand that what you're seeing |
| 1:13.0 | is actually what's happening as opposed to not really because it's always appears this season. |
| 1:19.8 | It's always something in the background that's causing grief. |
| 1:21.9 | Well, that's down to skull duggery, I suppose you might call it, compression ratios, or the harvesting usage |
| 1:31.4 | or the harvesting deployment. I don't think really anybody is on top of that, especially, |
| 1:37.9 | you know, us watching. And that's really what this is all about, isn't this it is a sport it is a competition but it is |
| 1:46.7 | you know at the end of the day entertainment and i think the values have got the wrong direction |
| 1:50.9 | here at the moment um it's a bit sad to see it because i love to see something where you can you know |
| 1:56.0 | sort of clip your hands together at the end of the race and say hang on that was that was a good one wasn't it |
... |
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