2 Soft Compounds
2 Soft Compounds is a weekly podcast focusing on Formula 1, hosted by radio broadcaster Rick Houghton and motorsport journalist and GrandPrix247 founder, Paul Velasco.
With a focus on unfiltered analysis, behind-the-scenes insights and expert commentary, the podcast offers fans an entertaining and informative take on the fastest sport in the world.
2 Soft Compounds
X-Mode Engaged: F1’s Future, Cadillac’s Big Bet & the Great Hamilton Pushback
X-Mode Engaged: F1’s Future, Cadillac’s Big Bet & the Great Hamilton Pushback
This week on 2 Soft Compounds, Rick and Paul take the plunge into F1’s radical 2026 rule shakeup - and let’s just say, not everyone’s loving it!
With DRS gone, ground effect binned and the rise of switchable aero modes (Z for corners, X for straights), we’re entering a brave new world of active wings and equal parts electric and combustion. Rick & Paul debate whether this is the future of racing or just a glorified slot car series, especially with Lando Norris branding the regs “gimmicky.”
The guys also dig into Cadillac’s full-throttle entry into F1 - including that jaw-dropping $450 million anti-dilution fee and Ferrari engines to start. Paul makes the case for a solid, no-nonsense driver pairing like Perez and Bottas to steer this expensive ship through its early years. It's America’s latest swing at F1 stardom - will it stick this time?
Plus, there's juicy paddock gossip about unrest at Ferrari surrounding Lewis Hamilton’s arrival, questions about his future after cryptic comments and a look at Daniel Ricciardo’s latest setback. Oh, and spoiler alert: McLaren still look unstoppable heading into the second half of the season.
It’s a packed episode filled with controversy, change, and speculation - just the way we like it. Hit play and join the chaos.
Production Credits:
Presented by: Rick Houghton & Paul Velasco
Studio Engineer & Editor: Roy D'Monte
Executive Producer: Ian Carless
Produced by: W4 Podcast Studio & GrandPrix247
I don't make mistakes. I make prophecies that immediately turn out to be wrong.
Speaker 2:Anything can happen in Formula One, and it usually does. Hey, welcome to another episode of Two Soft Compounds with Paul Velasco, the editor-in-chief and founder of GrandPrix247.com, and me, rick. We're still in the summer break, but we do have plenty to talk about in this mid-season catch-up with me and Paul. First of all, paul, we know there's going to be major regulation changes next year. Did you know the full ins and outs of what's going to happen with these cars? Because I found out more information today and it's quite scary.
Speaker 1:I'm the kind of guy I'm not terribly interested in technical side, but it's super important. I know, if anything, guys that are in the know are worried. So I'm going to throw the ball back in your court and say it's not really my area of strength. I'm going to say do you explain it to me? For damage? You know, because that's where I am, the rules.
Speaker 2:Okay. So first of all we know that the power units are changing next year. That was the fundamental thing we were first told about. So the new cars will be smaller and lighter and supposedly more agile. The engines will run a 50-50 split between a normal combustion engine and an electric motor. So it's been more of a combustion engine so far in Formula One. Now it's going to be a 50-50 split between the ICE unit, which is the internal combustion engine, and the electrical motor.
Speaker 2:But there's some other massive changes coming that I wasn't quite sure about. I thought the ground effect that they only introduced a few years ago was going to stay. It's not. It's going no more ground effect on the cars for next year and no more DRS. Have you heard what? They're replacing the DRS with Push to pass? No, not really. That I mean. This is quite scary.
Speaker 2:I found this out this morning and obviously the teams and the drivers have known about this for a long time and it's not the sort of thing that's been in the public domain. They are having active wings, so the front wings and the rear wings will move electronically and the drivers will have two modes. They'll have a high downforce mode called Z-mode, which will be for the corners and a low drag mode called X-mode for the straights. So no more DRS. They'll hit a button when they're on the straight and those wings will electronically move to give them less drag on the straights. And they'll press the z mode button when they're in the, uh, the lower speed corners and that will give them, uh, more downforce for that. So, no drs, no ground effect with the with the floor.
Speaker 2:Uh, we've got this 50 50 split between the engines and it looks as though most of the drivers and most of the teams now are getting into the simulator using these setups for the 2026 car, and the driver's reaction's not been brilliant, I have to say. Lando Norris is saying that it's a bit gimmicky, and pressing a button for different wing settings seems a bit fake. It seems like it's not pure racing anymore. Max Verstappen has said something fairly similar and we already are hearing that the cars, even though they're going to be lighter and supposedly more agile, could be as much as two and a half seconds slower than the current Formula One cars. Now I say to you, paul, is that real racing?
Speaker 1:Look, you've ambushed me here and I've got to meet it. My instinct is to say this is not on, this is not what Formula 1 is about. But I'm going to be devil's advocate here and just say, yeah, I mean, I don't know what to say. Actually, it's astounding that they're taking Formula 1 down this route that actually eventually, eventually, the driver is more worried about I'll delete and return than actually driving. You know what I mean? Yeah, and half these guys are so bad in the car anyway. I mean talking about, you know, some of these rookies and some of the guys we've seen in the past. They can't deal with what there is and now they're going to throw more gizmos. I just think I'd like to see less gizmos. I'd like the rules to be explained simply. I bought an engine, stuck it to the car and it went.
Speaker 2:You know what I mean. Yeah, I mean. All Formula One drivers have been through go-karting. It's the purest form of motorsport. It's four wheels, it's an accelerator pedal, it's a brake pedal and there's an engine bolted onto the rear axle. Now, surely the pinnacle of the motorsport world is Formula One. I know they like to pioneer technology that will eventually end up in your road car, for instance, but I think this has taken it just a little bit too far. You know, the ground effect was a good idea. It meant that we could have closer racing. After a few years they've abandoned that concept. And this is in the era of the cost cap and what they're doing with active rear and front rings. That can't be cheap. I just don't get it.
Speaker 1:That was very exciting. I think that was banned because it was so expensive. It was banned because the amount of gizmos they can put onto that Look, like I said Formula One is how they make the cars really doesn't interest me. I just want to see them at the end of it all. But, like you say, it's become too complicated in a way. I mean, the way I look at it is how Formula One has changed so drastically.
Speaker 1:In 1978, if you remember correctly, walter Wolfe Canadian millionaire at the time, before they were billionaires, but he was very rich and he started a group called Wolfe Racing, walter Wolfe Racing, and they bought, they got a car and they got, I think, harvey Pothaway to design it. They were like the heavy hitters of the time. They showed you to drive it. They bought a Cosworth engine for I think it was $25,000 in those days and they bolted it onto the car. They went to the Argentine Grand Prix of that year and they won it.
Speaker 1:And when you talk to me about these rules, it needs like 500 geniuses just to unpack them. I mean that's where Formula 1 has gone wrong. I mean I think cost, cap and all that kind. You're talking teams these days of 1,000 people. 1,000 people to put two guys on a racetrack. You know, forget the cost cap, have a people cap. You can have 20 mechanics at the race, five PR people at the race. You don't need 1,000 people for a Formula 1 team. I don't believe that. I mean it should well put it this way. You probably do in this day and era but do we need it? Is that really something? That's where we want the sport to be.
Speaker 2:You know, we're going to talk about Cadillac in a minute, though, but when I looked at these regulations this morning, with the Z mode and the X mode and the lack of DRS and the 50-50 power split, I am now I am convinced that the car that's going to be on top for all of next year is Aston Martin, because Adrian Newey I mean you remember, remember he designed the active suspension on the Williams. I mean, he was massively ahead of his time. When that was done, it was winning everything. Then the FIA realized and banned it, and there was some some say that Flavio Briatore kept the active suspension on the Benetton. We've we talked about that before, but if anyone can make these new rules work, it's going to be Newey. They're going to have a rocket ship next year.
Speaker 2:But another thing that Lando Norris was mentioning when he was spoken about the new rules and regulations. He said the simulator is suggesting that there's going to be bigger gaps between the cars. Well, we want to see this close racing that we've had over the last few seasons. We don't want to see big gaps between the cars. It's ridiculous.
Speaker 1:Well, historically, when there's a change in regulations and Adrian Newey said himself these are the biggest changes he's had in his career where they've changed aero and engine at the same time. There's going to be a sort of a shake-up of the pecking order to a certain extent, but I still believe the top four or five teams will be good and, of course, you have to believe Adrian Newey is going to have the best car out the box. I mean, that's what the smart money would be on. But Adrian's also designed some dogs. You know what I mean. Let's not forget that. I'm not to say he's. I think he hasn't designed a dog for a long time.
Speaker 1:But let's be honest, the way the RB19 was a fantastic car. Rb20 was good. But the way that the car has evolved, I must say I'm quite disappointed in it. But maybe it's because his hand's not in it. But you'd think, with the kind of lineage that it had, it would be a very competitive car, but it hasn't been. I'm not going to say that Adrian's not going to deliver the good car, but that's, I think, where we stand at the moment. Anything can happen. Do you remember in 2008 when Honda decided to pull the plug? Mm-hmm Braun? They sold the. They sold the whole operation to Braun for a dollar or whatever, yeah, for a pound. They left at the very New rules which Braun warned them about. He said if you guys go down this route, this is what's going to happen. It was a diffuser right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, double diffuser, double diffuser, and everyone's ignored. It said no, no, no, don't worry about it. And Braun won the world championship and it became Mercedes the following year, 2009,. They were world champions 2010,. They became Mercedes. So what you're seeing, that mercedes could have been honda. You know honda just been patient one more year, yeah, that would have been there. So it's like I say it's you know, and people are saying that mercedes have a handle on the engine rules already. But a lot of people are pooping that, including total wolf, saying how do you know? How do you know?
Speaker 2:it's going to be very interesting. Let's talk aboutac then. Well, let's first start with the team itself.
Speaker 1:Okay, first it was Andretti's bid that somehow the Andretti's got ejected. As it stands right now it is backed by General Motors and TWG Motorsports, which is a subsidiary of TWG Global, which is led by billionaire investor Mark Walter, and he's also CEO of Guggenheim Partners. So the boy is well, well healed. So this thing's got big backing. They paid 450 million anti-dilution fee to join Formula One. So you know they're serious. You don't put up that kind of money unless you're very serious. Having said that, they've got team principal Graham Loudon, who was a Mauritia chap in the past, which was Virgin Racing, if you recall. Really he doesn't have a track record of much success, but anyway he's leading the project and I'd say the key guys involved there are Nick Chester, who's the chief technical designer, and the king of cheats, pat Simmons, you know, like super cheat. Yeah, he's on the engineering side of the car. He's been working on the 2026 car nonstop. So they've got a pretty solid foundation with european headquarters at silverstone. Currently they've got 400 staff. They're looking to build it to 600 650 by 2026.
Speaker 1:Ferrari will supply the engine initially, as you know, the gearbox, from 2026 to 2028, so then it'll transition to a, a GM Cadillac power unit by 2028, which let's see, let's see where they go. They've got sponsors already Tommy Hilfiger's involved so slowly gathering storm gathering steam to invade itself. And I really think, you know, we've got America, we've got Las Vegas and we've got. I'm really thinking that if I'm Cadillac and I want to make a big PR splash, I announce my drivers and teams. They need to announce their drivers. It's enough, there's only two drivers. But before that, I'm predicting that Las Vegas time would be ideal in terms of Formula One is fully focused in America. They'll announce their drivers and I'm going to say this we will see how serious they are and how smart they are by their driver choices. And I'm going to put it out there, straight out, and you can take it from there If they don't choose Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas as teammates to lead this project, they are not serious about it.
Speaker 2:I heard yeah, I mean, they're the two drivers that come to the forefront of all the gossip that's going on. But I also heard they were under pressure, as you would expect, to have an American driver in the car, and of course, there aren't really any American Formula One drivers. But one thing I did hear was that they were looking at the IndyCar lineup and going well, if he can drive an IndyCar, he can drive a Formula One car, and me and you, paul, know that's not the case. But if they're under pressure from their headline sponsors, which of course is Cadillac, a big American brand, to employ an American driver, we've seen it in the past it never really works, does it Well look?
Speaker 1:there's no American driver ready to step into Formula One. We had Logan Sargent, who was just not up to it and, yeah, I don't think he will bring anything to a team. And really, if they are thinking beyond Perez and Bottas, let me be salesman for Perez and Bottas. Okay, they're not greatest of drivers. They got owned by their respective teammates. But you're talking Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. You're not talking owned by Nico Alkenberg or whatever You're talking about. These guys were owned by the big boys.
Speaker 1:Okay, sergio Perez is driven for the biggest teams. He's a Grand Prix winner. He drove for McLaren. He's driven for Racing Bulls. He forced India. He's seen the good, the bad and the ugly of Formula 1.
Speaker 1:And I'm sure he needed that one year off because he was getting pummeled by Max and he couldn't understand why. It was just because it was getting pummeled by Max and he couldn't understand why. And it was just because there was a car that was undriveable. So, once it was realized that no one can actually drive the car, and actually if Perez was in the car now, he'd probably be doing better than the guys they've had in that car now. So Perez is probably chomping at the bit. He's taken a good break. He's ready to go. He's got a deep CV, he's got huge knowledge. He's got huge experience. This is exactly who they need. Now I go to valterri bortas, but he's not. Who's valterri? Valterri bortas is his own worst enemy, right?
Speaker 1:He actually went to mercedes after rossberg left to be number two and accepted that he took it on the chin. Yeah, if you know, I'll just be because you know. I really knew he was going to fail in challenging lewis. When the first press conference held, a journalist asked him the question said are you going to tap into Nico Rosberg because he just beat Lewis? And Valtteri said no, I don't need to get any advice from Nico Stupid. If that year 2017,. He picked up the phone and said hey, nico, you're the only guy who's beaten Lewis in a championship, apart from Jensen. Show me how to do it. Come be my bottle carrier. Imagine Lewis in the same pit garage that brought us in the car and Rosberg handling the water bottle. It would have played in his head. Do you understand what I'm saying? Yeah, but once he came there, he was the number two driver and he did win races. He did see how that operation worked, how to build that operation. So if they're not including him and Perez in the team, then I don't get it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's going to be interesting to see Cadillac step up to the grid next year. Of course, it's going to give us an extra two cars on the grid, which is always exciting. We did a special on Lewis Hamilton. If you missed it, you can go to wherever you get your podcasts. It was recorded and released last week. Really enjoyed talking about that.
Speaker 2:I'm just going to touch on Ferrari and Hamilton a little bit now, because some more news has come out in the last seven days. First of all, an ex-Ferrari driver not in the Formula One program, but he's an ex-driver I think he was driving the Ferrari GT car has come out and said that 90% of the employees at Maranello did not want Hamilton to drive the Ferrari Formula One car. He said it was purely a commercial decision. Most of the purists within the Italian team didn't want Hamilton anywhere near the car. That comes on top of Fred Vasseur, who's announced this week that the messages, the negative messages that Lewis Hamilton was sending out to the media over the last two or three weeks when he was talking about get someone else in the car and I'm useless and all this sort of stuff he said the message he's sending out makes things far worse for his time at Ferrari. And you know, it just seems to be snowballing out of control, this negative Hamilton story.
Speaker 1:Well, I think we said what we had to say. I think some media are taking it a lot further because, like you say, it's very dry news-wise. So I think I'm going to give it a pass and say no, I think people are exaggerating, they're trying to find a lot of fault in Lewis and there's an element of racism involved too. I really do believe that, you know, because at the end of the day, you've got to remember, lewis came into the sport and revolutionized it. It was not a black man's sport, it was a rich white man's sport and a poor black guy came and he wiped them. It was a bit like Tiger Woods did to golf.
Speaker 1:You know what I'm saying? Yeah, so yeah, I think there is a lot of racism involved in everything Lewis does, whether you like it or not. I mean, people will say, oh, how can you say that there is? And I know there is because I know I've stared racism in the face, I know what it's like and just the subtle you know subtle headlines and stuff. I think Lewis should walk. Actually, like I said, I'd like him to walk with dignity.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he's certainly got a legacy that is in danger of being tarnished if this sort of stuff continues at ferrari. And we've got other things to talk about before we finish on the podcast today. So we've got about 10 minutes to go um. One of them is max verstappen. Now he's been pictured once again uh, next to toto wolf, I think. They they park their yachts next to each other on their summer holidays and that's, of course, got the gossips all speaking. Montoya, juan Pablo Montoya, one of my favorite Formula One drivers of all time. He's come out this week and said that Verstappen could have gone to Mercedes, but he reckons he was asking for far too much money. Have you heard this, paul?
Speaker 1:Well, you probably read it on our site, right, because we ran the story and yes, apparently you know I love Monty and I love Johnny and I love all those guys that we run, jack, yeah, but you know they're also being paid to give us information. You know, I think a lot of it is a bit of a thumbs up. We report it because it's part of the narrative. You can't just report brundle and all the, the guys that aren't sky. You know what I mean. You've got to give and I respect these guys. So, jacques villeneuve, I respect immensely montoya, like you. I respect immensely johnny. I respect immensely because, just because, not because they're nice guys or I've met them or anything, just because they are absolute formula one legends, if if you think. Or motor racing legends, if you think where they've been.
Speaker 1:So I think it says now Monty throws in a grenade or two, and he was saying that if this happens, how is he going to know this? And if he did know it, he wouldn't tell us. So he's basically speculating that Max could command $100 million last year because you're on such a high, but this year he can't command that, which I don't really agree with him. I think you know his value is his value but he reckons because the team is not delivering anymore. Blah, blah, blah. I don't agree. I must say, like I said, we publish everything, because I don't just publish what we agree with and I wouldn't say that I would say that yeah, max did. The sensible thing, you know, is by waiting to see what pans out in 2026. That's my call. You know, if you move to Mercedes, imagine you move to Mercedes and the Red Bull is a rocket.
Speaker 2:I think there's a few drivers on the grid who are in that position. You know, carlos Sainz said this week that he's not really that interested in his performance for Williams in 2025. He's there to wait for 26, 27, because he knows these changes are coming and he's more interested in how he performs when those changes come in next year. Oh, carlos, shut up and drive.
Speaker 1:Seriously shut up and drive. You wouldn't be saying that if he wasn't being wiped. You know, I mean, I'm chilling really. Is that what williams want to hear? I got a guy that he's chilling. No, mate. No, seriously, move on next, carlos chef uh, daniel ricardo's been in the headlines.
Speaker 2:He's been hospitalized been hospitalized with a cycling or a motorcycle accident back in Australia. We were talking about Ricardo a few weeks ago and he has vanished from the memory almost. It's really quite a sad story. He was on the up and up with Red Bull and he made those disastrous career choices when he moved from Red Bull to Renault I think his agent at the time played a part in that who was later fired and then taken to court over some financial inconsistencies.
Speaker 2:Daniel Ricciardo, I think, has been talking about life after Formula One and you know, I was friends with Neil Ruddock, who used to play for Liverpool, but when he left football he just he could not adjust.
Speaker 2:So when you're at a big club like Liverpool, for instance, there's someone there who who does your laundry, there's someone who pays your water bill and your electricity bill. You don't have to do any of that and suddenly, when you're out of that world, you've got to do it all yourself. You've got to wash your own car, you've got to, you've got to do your dishes and all this stuff, and he was like I was completely like a fish out of water and I presume it must be the same for a formula one driver like danny rick, who's come up through the ranks. He's done really well, he's earned decent money, he's been in a top team, he's won races, he's been on a podium, and then all of a sudden, bang it's over. Uh, I can't imagine what's that, what that's like, because he's not old enough to be out of formula one. He still had a number of years in him, he just all collapsed.
Speaker 1:Yeah, danny, I think you know his downfall was so slow and so tedious. He was just really at mclaren, they could do nothing to fix him. And then he had that brief return with Alpha Tauri or whatever they called Toro Rosso at the time. Yeah, and I think he was done. I think he was I think the day he left Red Bull. He was done, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I mean, yes, he did win a race for McLaren. It was a bit of an anomaly of a race, but yeah, for me it was a career that just lasted far too long. And then also the aftermath, when they had him parading around like Sergio Perez was replacement. I mean, horner, and those guys were so bad with driver management, do you remember? They had him as a reserve and every moment Dan could open his mouth he'd say, yeah, my goal is to be the number one, the number one, the number two driver to replace Sergio. And they'd be in the same press conference together. Yeah, you know, that's so toxic.
Speaker 2:I think that was when Red Bull put him in the car at Silverstone for a test and he was like he was virtually matching Max Verstappen's times, and I think they went, oh okay, let's put him in the Toro Rosso and let's see what happens, and then we can use him if we need to, if Perez doesn't work out, and then both of them sort of flatlined in that respect. So it never really happened.
Speaker 1:No, really, I think he's done and there's really no reason to talk about him. Okay, good point to move on, but I wish him well If he's hurt himself, of course, yeah.
Speaker 2:He's family, of course, yeah, his family. We wish him well, get better, dan right, listen, next time we speak it's going to be our preview of the return of formula one after the summer break. Zamvort looking forward to that. Um. So let's quickly talk about mclaren. Uh, their two drivers leading the world championship at the moment, uh, nothing seems to be uh standing in their way of uh completing a fairly clean sweep of the remaining races of the season, in that it's either going to be Norris or it's either going to be Piastri who are on the top step of the podium.
Speaker 2:I don't think a massive amount will have changed what a lot of people forget, and someone was talking to me the other day. I said yeah, but you know, they've had like four weeks to sort the other cars out on the grid. I I'm like no, they're not allowed to work in the factories or on the cars whilst the summer break is on. It's a complete flat ban for all teams and all drivers. They're not allowed to do anything. So the order, the packing order, probably won't have changed. Zandvoort is a very interesting circuit which suits some cars really well and others terribly. But Max will be hoping to bounce back when he gets to his home circuit.
Speaker 1:Yeah, uh, I think you summed it up. Maybe we don't have to do a preview, you know? Uh, I haven't thought about it, so I'll just say thank you for that. Uh, mclaren, preview, that I wasn't expecting. Yeah, I'll have a lot to say closer to the time. At the moment I'm still dredging out the dredges, but you're right. Look, the trophy's got either Lando or Oscar's name on it. Yeah, and I'm going to put it out there the guy who wins the most races will be world champion.
Speaker 2:Simple maths. Thank you very much, paul. Always a pleasure to chat with you about all things Formula One. If you want your latest fix of the latest Formula 1 news, gossip and reviews, then head over to GrandPrix247.com. Paul and the team do an excellent job. There's some great stories up there this week if you're missing Formula 1 during the summer break, and we'll be back next time to preview the Dutch Formula 1 Grand Prix from now, from me and Paul Take care and we'll speak to you soon. Thank you very much. Grand Prix from now for me and Paul. Take care and we'll speak to you soon. Thank you very much. Two Soft Compounds was presented by myself, rick Hutton, alongside Paul Valesco. The studio engineer and editor was Roy DeMonte, the executive producer was Ian Carlos, and this podcast is a co-production between Grand Prix 24-7 and W4 podcast studio Dubai. Don't forget if you want to join in the conversation, leave a comment on our Instagram page at Two Soft Compounds, and if you haven't done so already, please do click that follow or subscribe button. See you next time.