F1's Latest Problem Has Arrived 

May I ask to those who know, how the WEC target budget differs when compared to the budget cap in F1? Why spending more money in WEC doesnt bring more value to the team? The details were not explained in the video. Thanks!

F1 is like a tv drama with a motorsport in the background. Everything off track is more interesting than anything on track.

WEC: the pinnacle of Motorsport

plus some of the teams live stream their 24h race views, for free on youtube.

another thing is, when we get lots of overatakes, they arent memorable. They are really just repeats with drs and quite easy. There arent many memorable battles and crazy jockeying for position.

Not only WEC, IMSA as well is much more entertaining. I paid 400£ for F1 Silverstone, and this year, i paid 50£ for hole Lemans 24 event. Pinnacle of endurance racing for much less money.

Another big element is Hypecar is 2 different types of cars. You explain the LM Hypercars but there is also LMDh which is the successor to DPi (which followed blueprints of the Corvette DP), LMDh cars only supply the engine and bodywork, the chassis is supplied off of one of the LMP2 manufacturers which is an easier barrier of entry for teams looking to cut cost with the lost of a bit of innovation

WEC: look at me look at me, *Im the pinnacle of Motorsport now*

the W in WEC standard for “worth watching”

Two things, WEC needs a better management of their youtube channel to make it more accessible to fans around the globe, and it does NEED to stay very far away from the drama narrative like F1 is pushing, especially with drive to survive and everything related to social media. Who would have thought that making a good racing series would be successful, instead of a reality tv show with very expensive cars?

F1 has lost America to NASCAR and is losing everywhere else to WEC.

who hurt Cadillac!! Jesus that engine just is insane.

F1, the 48 hours of monaco with 15 construcors, imagine that, half the grid dnf before halfway through

I'm ironically going to my first WEC race this year and skipping F1. The price difference is insane...not to mention F1 being utterly predictable.

F1 is a rich man’s club, and you are not invited.

The problem that the WEC has over F1 is that it is more difficult to follow along with, keeping an eye on 20 cars in 10 different liveries is hard for someone who doesn't watch much racing, but watching 60 cars in 3 different classes with 3 different drivers across a 24 hours race is impossible if you don't know the drivers beforehand. I can sit down with my mum for instance and watch an F1 race and she knows what's going on, I sit down with her and stick on a WEC race and she hasn't got a clue. Why's he getting out of the way of him? Different class What does that mean? They're different cars they're not actually racing each other So who is he racing? The other GT cars What's that thing? It's a delta wing So that's in it's own class? No But it's a different car? It doesn't have to make sense. Obviously an old example chucking the delta wing in there but you get my point, WEC is just harder to watch for non fans.

Quite the karma-back in 90s one man forced down the sports car racing to keep F1's throne of the pinnacle, but look at how things goes now.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, LEMANS IS OFFICIALLY BACK

Is f1 losing teams to wec when they aren't even letting new ones in?

Also F1 treats their drivers as celebrities rather than actual drivers with their mini games and Q&As and even when you apply for an F1 team like Andretti , other teams will complain to the FIA cause they’re greedy and when the FIA was met with this problem, instead of just being them and letting Andretti all in, they rejected them a entry for 2026, in WEC (like you said) doesn’t have that problem and they can be the FIAs new golden child if F1 decide to not make anything different and for rookies, teams would rather go for old and experienced drivers just for more succession than giving rookies their big break, and to summarize F1 right now, they act like spoiled brats trying to always make money rather than give good racing, fight me in the reply section

The WEC has closer races after 24 hours than most F1 races. Watching them banging it out for the lead in the last hour (or 15 minutes for Daytona) is amazing.

I’ve been watching F1 live for just under a year now, and, it’s been alright. But this year I tuned in to watch the 24hrs of Daytona, and it Absolutely blew me away. It had close competitive racing, and it was just insane to see how much better than F1 it was. I’ve switched from being an F1 fan to now watching IMSA (also, you can watch IMSA for free), NASCAR, and WEC

A few notes: - The fields spread in F1 qualifying has never been closer. Yeah, in race trim it seems to be a different matter, but the current rules have made the gap between the front and the back smaller than it has ever been. - While it is fantastic to see a healthy grid in WEC, I have doubts this will continue for a very long time. Why would any of the participating manufacturers stay in a sport that they do not do well in? Finishing P15 in WEC is surely something that no corporate board would like to see (the same applies to F1 or any other racing). - And finally, comparing endurance racing to shorter races is like comparing apples and oranges. For example, in track and field competition, is the 100 m sprint better than marathon? Having said this, as an F1 fan for almost 30 years, I'm definitely looking forward to Le Mans -- probably more than any of the Grands Prix this year.

Even though multiclass racing can be a bit confusing at times I love it because if one class isn't really doing anything you can just take a look at the other classes to find some action.

The issue in f1 is not really that the cars are that far of each other, look at the quali times differences from now and from any other time(closest ever), but the dirty air which makes it so difficult to race as it causes the drivers to be more spread out during the race and makes overtaking so difficult. wanted to add this as i think many people dont understand that even if everyone was driving the rb20 we won’t have races like 2010 and 2012.(quali would be more fun tbf)

Also I think what's worth mentionning is that in WEC the stars are the cars which is way more sane imo. There is more respect and less ego between the teams, and the fanbase is more sane than the F1's too. Despite having our own team, we can enjoy all the cars

WEC should do a 1 hour sprint race and see how it does. Dark days are ahead for F1. The new engines are pathetic

F1 does have a way to beat WEC: Political shenanigans

As a casual motorsport fan my main issue with WEC is the fact the races are so long I definatly agree the on track action is better then in F1 I just don't like sitting down and watch a 6 hour race I tend to just watch the highlights.

I love WEC, but I'm personally more tuning into IMSA this year (american counterpart with daytona24h and sebring12h) since my two alltime favourite drivers are racing there, on the same team too (Filipe Albuquerque and Louis Deletraz). Shame LMP2 got cut, would've loved to watch them race in WEC again this year.

I don´t like WEC BOP because people just sandbag their way around it. The way to solve predictable seasons is to open up the rules and allow teams to experiment as much as they like in a safe manor. You can mandate just a few things like fuel type, ride height and car length etc and just allow the poor teams to catch up with creativity. It´s what made racing great in the 80´s and 90´s until the investment firms started getting involved.

Here’s hoping liberty media doesn’t pull a Bernie Ecclestone and buy the series just to ruin it so f1 can thrive…

6:41 Your info is wrong. I pay 75€ per year for F1TV. That includes all sessions all teams all cams live and replay...

Cost cap, bigger cars, shitty ground effects regulations, 1 team and driver dominating, DTS, no real championship fight, just some issues F1 has. Ever since Abu Dhabi 21 F1 becoming more of a circus.

The biggest sell of WEC for me… Was the fact that I saw much better and more exciting racing in one hour of WEC compared to one F1 race.

I'm not going to lie - i stopped watching F1, a couple years back, (~2021). Back them i switched to WEC/ IMSA, and i got completely hooked. Granted, i didn't switch because of any reasons mentioned - but rather because of assetto corsa competizione. regardless, i love the series and am amazed by the rise it recenty has had.

I'm just glad WEC is in a good spot again ❤

After 40 years of uninterrupted watching of F1 (live 2002 in Montreal, 2004 at Spa (Schumachers last world championship), 2007 (Hamilton's first win) & 2008 in Montreal and 2023 at Silverstone) and 10 years of Le Mans (all on TV but for the full 24 hours) I can confidently say, none of the issues you raise are problems with F1, they are what make F1 great and why it remains the pinnacle of motorsport. WEC is brilliant, but it is different and is not F1 and I never want the two to be the same. F1 and WEC should develop independently. They can learn from each other, but you seem to think F1 should merge more towards what WEC is doing, which is totally wrong. Can you imagine 20+ x 6 hour races per year - this would be gruelling on the drivers and the fans. F1 already brings in more fans and more ticket sales than WEC, so why would it want to change? I love all motorsport and I love all the different formats and formulae. I spent 10 years regularly watching many lower series races from the pit wall at Kyalami and I shook Nigel Mansell's hand and got his autograph there and watched him race to a win (Race of Champions - he beat Emerson Fittipaldi)). F1 is unique and the pinnacle of motorsport and I want it to remain that way. WEC and F1, and all the other formulae and categories, are completely different and for all the teams, drivers, fans and sponsors out there should remain so. We should be supporting diversity in motorsport and bringing in more different categories. There are problems with F1, but you haven't touched on them.

I've been watching WEC and IMSA from before they were called that (ALMS and World sports car championship). To watch both series grow into what they are now is heartwarming. What seemed to be an underground niche, is now extremely popular. IMSA has been PACKED the last few years at Road America where you now have to basically reserve your camping for the following year. It's good for motorsports and good for the manufactures. It's good for the world, honestly

WEC is just as worthy or more prestigious than F1 historically. I hope the FIA doesn´t destroy WEC and turn into the Toyota/Audi snooze fest that it became in the past 10 years. I am glad we are finally seeing manufacturers investing into motorsports again instead of just focusing on F1. I CAN´T WAIT for LeMANS 24HRS!

If WEC was more open, like streaming for free like IMSA, or more TV channels that could broadcast it, not just eurosport in europe, than it would explode im sure

I don't want to sit down for 6+ hours to watch a race. 1.5-2hrs is excellent. For the rest: i agree mostly

Ah this championship where constructor are just here by name but don't need to build the best car. The BoP is there to make sure everyone can participate.

Don't think WEC is a problem for F1. F1 problems is itself. I can agree that most of your point, WEC does better. But racing is so different between the series that it wouldn't be a problem for either of them, that one of them doing good. I do not have time to watch 24h or 6h race, It is just too long to keep me exiting and no way I have that much free time on the weekend. Compare to just a F1 race that is just 2h.

F1 is a tech series, imsa/wec is endurance/racing series. Fundamentally they are different philosophies. Even with cost cap, it doesnt close up the gap if a team doesnt get the aero or engine philosophy right the first time. If you want racing, go endurance, if you like tech with drivers to bring the cars to its limit go with f1

I personally think f1 is not only a sport it is also a battle ground of many car manufacturers and a test of who masters it. Wec on the other hand is probably thinking of a sport than a battle ground. That's why whenever a dominant car is seen bop is implemented so that the dominant team does not benefit from it. But I don't think its gonna claim the title of pinnacle of motorsport.

The purpose of F1 is innovation for the manufacturer. Engineers are trying to make the fastest car on track that eventually translates to the car as we drive every day. One of the biggest examples is the rotary engine. Its was banned in the 24 hour series. So Mazda had no reason to keep producing it. That’s why we don’t have it today. There was no reason to innovate it make it better.

WEC appeals to motorsport enthusiasts , F1 appeals to mainstream audiences.

Real! And If you look back at the old days, WEC has been around for a really long time. The FIA WEC was formerly known as WSC which existed in the early 1950’s; it folded in 1992 and was then revived in 2011 as WEC. Even back then, WEC had a variety of cars and extreme battles in multi class racing. F1 is cool, but it doesn’t compare to the hype that the FIA WEC brings. Also, great video mate!

I just hope bernie doesn't screw this up like when Group C was ending. This F1-WEC problem happened before and i don't want to see F1 ending the diversity of WEC. If anything F1 should open the rule book up except the safety regulations.

Biggest problem F1 has, is its just to insanely difficult to be competitive at the top, engines are way to complex and expensive. Second biggest problem is basically it has few teams, and its not very alluring for new teams to join, spend MILLIONS and win 0 races lol..

A few differences you leave out are non-hybrid cars in the hypercar class can have however much power and the cost cap works different from F1 as Toyota and the VW Group subsidiaries spend billions on the engines, electronics and other components they intend on bringing to WEC. While F1 actually has a cost cap on engine manufacturing electronics and other components and you can't bring different powertrains. All this leads to different cars and different ethos, think of it as the holy trinity(LaFerrari, 918 Spyder & P1) they all have different weights, power figures and powertrains but the lap times show that more power does not equal faster car, it's an equilibrium of all hence P1 being the fastest

One is endurance, the other is more of a sprint. WEC is multi class tuned spec, F1 is a formula.

F1 doesn’t want more new competition. And that’s the problem!

Balance of power is one of the best things about WEC & IMSA. Makes all cars competitive

To me the longer duration is a huge put off, 6 to 24 hours? That's too much time. I do really like the design of the GT3 cars more tho.

I would also like to add my perspective. I work as a motorsports videographer for Audi and McLaren and can say that in Australia Atleast following F1 has become almost like a personality trait and theatrics with little to do with the actual racing. It’s all about the merch and the colours and showing up on the day in the nice booth and watching the latest funny F1 video and nothing to do with racing. Half of the people who showed up to watch the Melbourne GP wouldn’t even be able to name more than 5 racers on the grid. I would also like to add that WEC is given more legitimate status now that it isn’t seen as the place ex f1 drivers go but rather you see drivers going to WEC and saying they outright refuse to go to F1. Good example is Matt Campbell, he has achieved so much an F1 seat is his tomorrow if he wants it but he wants to stick to WEC instead. From a fans perspective, that legitimises the sport. Additionally, F1 doesn’t have anywhere near as exciting racing. By nature of the way that the cars are extremely fragile and expensive there is no real exciting gritty racing. There’s a certain mental state that comes with being 2nd after 23 hours and saying “fuck it. I’m gonna launch into this corner and we either both crash or I get it”, I have seen it live it is very exciting.

I watched F1 religiously throughout the 90s and 2000s but lost interest in the last decade or so. WEC on the other hand has reinvigorated my love of motorsports, F1 feels overproduced and caters to mass market appeal now but WEC feels like pure motorsport. Less rule changes, more even competition, less politics even. Track action is far better, the WEC cars look unique and sound fantastic compared to F1 cars these days. I'm genuinely more entertained with a 6, 9 or 24 hour race than a 2 hour F1 race (heck, I've just finished rewatching Spa and Le Mans 2023 for the 4 or 5th time while we wait for the Imola race!). WEC also drove me to checking out IMSA and the Nurburgring 24hr as well.

F1 has just become a business rather then being a sport like it used to be

My first time watching WEC was the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans. I had watched IMSA's 24 Hours of Daytona and 12 hours of Sebring as well. I started watching after they announced the Garage 56 entry for 2023.

Hey, really enjoyed the video -was really surprised to see you have less than 3k subscribers. I think that's going to go up pretty quickly....

I’ve heard the BMW engine in spa, but I was not ready for that 6:00

F1 would be fkin awesome if they stopped pretending their tech is trying to save the planet. Give the cars maximum engine displacement, ban turbos, let them come with anything from V8 to V12, stop meddling with the rules every single year. Or just let teams race their 2004 cars on slicks against the modern formulas if they want

I think the only thing F1 need’s back is refueling and get rid of the 2 tire compound rule. F1 doesn’t need artificial equality, not every team deserves to win, not every driver deserves to win, hard work of mind and body should be rewarded. Cost cap is already in place.

F1 has always, I my mind, been about the engineering and innovation of racecar technology. If everyone is driving the same car, it becomes Indy Car which is not what I want. I want f1 to push the limits of what humans can make not cause drama.

Please W.E.C. But it has always been better than F1. Cars are not only overtaking for the lead but each other in different classes. In F1 on the other hand you can calculate an average of lap / results for each driver and more or less tell the future results.

This right here is the perfect summary of what is wrong with F1 and why it will inevitably die if it doesn't sort it's shit out. And that's not even hyperbole. Group A racing died because it didn't sort out the problems that arose when the R32 GT-R came along. F1's gonna go the same way if Red Bull isn't stopped in the immediate future.

The race length is the thing hurting wec, it would be much more popular is you could sit down and watch it in a couple of hours. If they did a 2.5 or 3 hour hypercar only race I think it could scare the pants off f1 with how goood the racing product would be.

The switch to V6 can't be overstated. They sound AWFUL. If they bring back the V10s, viewership would skyrocket

Everything comes and goes in phases. The World Endurance Championship hasn’t always been riveting and has had its fair share of challenges, with many incredibly boring and uneventful races in its short existence. When you compare it with the likes of IMSA the racing is quite uneventful. F1 is great, the World Endurance Championship is awesome. I just soak up all the motorsport I can! Typing this as somebody who is highly sleep deprived from watching every session of the Japanese Grand Prix weekend at Suzuka, you bet I will be equally sleep deprived during the 24 hours of Le Mans :) I don’t think WEC is a problem for Formula 1 at all. Formula 1 is growing from strength to strength and attendance is at record numbers at almost every circuit around the world. Sure it’s seen a lot of changes over the years and not all of them for the better especially for those of us who have been life long fans but hey nothing stays the same! the winter break is so boring!

I quite like WEC, but i simply don’t have time for 6h races, to me that length is a MASSIVE downside, i’ll never watch something that long. A sprint weekend in F1 is already a bit too much for me…

Something to add as well. The reason why WEC got so much attention is also part of the Formula 1 cost cap. Teams like Ferrari had an abundance of staff and funds available for racing which they allocated to WEC

1) I pay 75€ a year get 24 Events (Re-Live included), all cameras - can set it up multiview -> Timetable + Trackpostions all synced included 2) I dont want to see BoP. I want to see the fastest being fastest. The stopwatch should be the truth, not the regulation 3) if a good race is only the action about P1 or Podium, well I say its your Problem -> F1 Midfield and even Backfield is insane to watch this year

Good video, but unfortunately F1 doesnt have to worry about any of this. They already have 100x the audience, there's no competition and no reason to change anything. Their marketing is better, their RU-vid channel is one of the best professional sports YT channels. I agree with your points, but it doesn't matter. The best F1 fans can hope for is regulation changes every half decade to mix up the racing. I'm personally hoping for smaller cars, don't care about the hybrid/v6 situation

5:43 well peugeot has a rear wing now..

The difference is that F1 was ALWAYS all about BUILDING YOUR OWN CAR. That’s the origin for it, and that’s why it’s not gonna be changed, because that’s what F1 stands for. If you would like to watch pretty even cars racing, and the outcome is more related to the actual driver performance, then go for WEC/Indycar/Nascar on the first place, but not for F1:)

I'd argue that IMSA is even more interesting than WEC. But by and large, I agree. F1 has no actual wheel-to-wheel racing anymore. It's like watching laps under a full course yellow, just at higher speeds. And DTS is probably the only reason the sport has gotten more popular in the States.

WEC and many other global Motorsports on the rise accept one crucial factor that F1 will never Balance of Performance

I MISS ITS LIGHTS OUT AND AWAY WE GO

I went to the last few WEC races at Silverstone. I paid at most £50 for a weekend ticket and that gave me paddock access, pit walk access, a seat in any open grandstand, access to the wing and an ELMS race on the Saturday. I dare say the prices have gone up since then but that was huge access to an FIA World Championship event for next to no money!!

The main problem with F1 is that the “sport” aspect took a backseat to the “business” aspect, and those two only grow further apart since Liberty took over. The regulations are way too strict. Regarding on-track battles, let’s be realistic, F1 was always kinda boring, at least since the last 30-40 years with the occasional action packed race here and there. Just the innate nature of the sport will never make it easy for the teams to have the same performance from their packages. And with these crap regulations it only makes it worse, it’s a matter of seeing which concept does best and the others just try and copy it. Yeah, F1 may have increased viewership and ticket prices are probably doing very well, because it’s cool to be seen at an F1 race, I genuinely feel the sport itself is not doing too well.

If Formula 1 everybody had the same car it would jusy be Formula 2 but faster, defeating the purpose of it being partially an engineering championship, imo Great video and ive been getting into WEC!

I thought you would have atleast a million subscribers

Really wish Silverstone was back on the WEC schedule. The access to the paddock and drivers is another massive difference between WEC and F1

WEC is excellent but if you want F1 with more car parity, give Indy a shot, it's surprisingly good.

this is gonna blow up

If 2026 regulations don't save f1 then f1 is done

1:16 "... racing wasn't super competitive..." Shows iconic Silverstone battle between Audi and Porsche 🥲

Do you remember James Hunt. He started with the Hesketh team. British nobility with money to spare. A time that you needed a single brilliant engineer (Harvey Postlethwait), a brilliant driver, a few Rolls-Royce's, a bootload of champagne and a few pits girls to calm the nerves in order to win a Grand Prix. And the same, too win a drivers championship a few years down the road.

6hours is to long for me. Also multiple drivers per car, just not a fan. I do agree that Wec is an intriguing race class

I NEED YOUR HELP! I'm always on the look out for more video ideas around the world of F1. But I want your thoughts too! So, if you have any video ideas you'd like to see in the future, you can enter them on the link below: forms.gle/iE1iZDp3srCqpWcQ8

WEC, IMSA, and for open wheelers, IndyCar are great. F1 needs help to improve.

The longer races aren't an advantage, because few people have the time to spend an entire day to watch a race.

the big one for me is the way they regulate. yeah cars are restricted, but its done in a way to make all the cars feel unique. i feel in f1 its tiny details that get changed. its the personality and icon each team has

no motorsport will ever surpass the popularity of f1 the things that make f1 so normie friendly is that the races aren't that long and the fact that its individualistic(makes it easier to cheer for a specific driver or team) and not confusing at all. Like imagine explaining to a newbie all the different classes and why that overtake didn't matter.

I would love to get into WEC or IMSA but as a spectator I prefer the shorter sprint style races. being able to watch the race from front to back in one sitting is a must for me

Weight (and size too) and complexity (the biggest MGU-h - gone from '26) are the biggest problem in F1. More parts strandardization would be beneficial too WEC is set-up perfectly tho. More freedom of engine layouts would be great just put cap on HP should be enough

I forgot to add that wec and imsa are free if you miss the race, if you’re in america, IMSA is available on nbc but the amount of ads are terrible, so most people just get a vpn and watch it in a “different region” Imola and Long Beach this weekend! Should be good fun

HMMM no mention of IMSA. I think WEC would be even better if the calendar was bigger, i.e. more races, hence why I watch all 3, F1,2,3, WEC and IMSA

As an F1 fan, i couldnt agree more to the first half of the video. Also.. fair.