The World Rally Championship is set to drop hybrid power from its Rally1 cars, beginning from next season.
The future of hybrid power in the WRC’s top class has proved to be a long-running saga this year with the debate re-ignited following a mid-season change to the hybrid unit user guide from control supplier Compact Dynamics.
Prior to last month’s Central European Rally, the future of hybrid power in Rally1 was put to an FIA e-vote. Today the matter was discussed during a WRC Commission meeting where Motorsport.com understands it was agreed to remove hybrid power from Rally1 cars, starting from next year.
This decision is however yet to be officially ratified by the FIA, which is likely to happen at the next World Motor Sport Council meeting.
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This is the second U-turn over the use of hybrid power, introduced alongside the new Rally1 regulations in 2022, this year.
In February, the FIA’s working group formed to “evaluate and recommend the future direction of rallying” proposed to remove hybrid power as part of raft of changes for 2025.
However, WRC teams pushed back against the changes, resulting in the current Rally1 regulations staying put for 2025 and 2026 in what was seen as a U-turn from the FIA.
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But the future of hybrid power came under the spotlight again following the introduction of Compact Dynamics safety guidelines at the Acropolis Rally Greece in September.
The new regulations stipulate that if the 130kW hybrid unit suffers three shock errors over 15G or one over 25G, it has to be stripped apart and sent back to the supplier for a full repair that can take months to complete. Previously these units could be reset on site during a rally.
Teams believe the change will significantly raise hybrid unit repair costs, with M-Sport-Ford arguing it would no longer be financially viable for the team to continue.
“It is not a request to remove it for what it is, it is a request to remove it because we can’t actually repair and run them at an economic price for M-Sport. We are talking a few extra million euro to do it and that is not something we can deal with,” M-Sport team principal Richard Millener told Motorsport.com at last month’s Central European Rally.
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Rich Millener, Team principal M-Sport Ford Rally
Photo by: M-Sport
Speaking at last month’s penultimate round of the championship, Toyota and Hyundai bosses both admitted they would support measures to remove hybrid if it meant it would ensure the current level of participants for the future.
“We will never actively or proactively request to remove the hybrid from WRC. Having said that, we also need to be pragmatic and recognise the fact that the WRC community is a small community, and as any small community, we need to look after one another,” said Hyundai’s team principal Cyril Abiteboul.
“So if there are any steps that must be taken in order to guarantee participants and competitors at the events we will accept to take those steps.”
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Toyota’s Jari-Matti Latvala added: “Performance-wise, the cars are pretty good even without it. But it shouldn’t get too difficult for the teams, and if there is a risk that teams cannot be in the World Rally Championship because they are running out of units, then it shouldn’t be that way.”
MANCHESTER UNITED may need to hold an end of season fire sale to give new boss Ruben Amorim January transfer wriggle room.
The Portuguese will step into the Old Trafford firing line on Monday after finally severing his links with Sporting Lisbon at the weekend.
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Ruben Amorim could look to make signings in JanuaryCredit: Getty
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Striker Viktor Gyokeres could follow from SportingCredit: AFP
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Man Utd may need to sell to meet PSR requirementsCredit: Getty
Amorim will be inheriting a squad that appears way short of what is required for United to challenge at the top of the Prem.
The new manager is expected to play his preferred back three system with his wing-backs required to work up and down the pitch.
But while the United leadership will be keen to give the new manager the tools he needs to make an early impact – the club’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules position is likely to require departures before the end of the financial year on June 30.
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This is due to be the last year of the Prem’s current PSR regulations, with clubs moving to a Uefa-style “squad cost ratio” system for next term.
But the breach penalties handed out to Everton and Nottingham Forest last season mean all clubs including United will know they risk points deductions for next term if they exceed the “permitted loss” limit of £105m over three seasons to the end of this campaign.
United’s summer transfers under now-axed Erik ten Hag saw the arrivals of Leny Yoro, Matthijs de Ligt, Noussair Mazraoui, Manuel Ugarte and Joshua Zirkzee for a combined £172m.
For PSR calculations, those arrivals are “amortised” over their contract lengths, meaning a seasonal cost of £37.1m.
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That outlay came with a huge influx of transfer income, as United sold players including Scott McTominay, Mason Greenwood and Aaron Wan-Bissaka for a total of £86m, more than making up for the money spent.
Three Sporting stars Amorim could swoop for after joining Man Utd
RUBEN AMORIM has ruled out poaching any of his Sporting Lisbon players in the January transfer window.
But the Portuguese side’s chiefs expect Amorim will come calling in the summer – with his cheque book wide open.
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Here’s are three Sporting starts United could swoop for… but they won’t come cheap:
VIKTOR GYOKERES
Age: 26
Position: Striker
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Cost: £84million
Swede has shone since joining Sporting last summer from Coventry — catching the eye of all Europe’s top clubs.
Hit 43 goals in 50 games last season and boasts 18 strikes already this term.
GONCALO INACIO
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Age: 23
Position: Defender
Cost: £50million
Ball-playing centre-back was handed his debut by Amorim and has since become a key figure in Sporting’s recent title successes.
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Can also slot in at left-back if required and has 12 caps for Portugal.
MORTEN HJULMAND
Age: 25
Position: Midfield
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Cost: £40million
Dane is one of the top holding midfielders in Portugal — and made skipper by Amorim.
He could be the man to replace Casemiro.
But United’s amortisation bill for this season does not just include the summer 2024 spending.
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The club has to include the money spent over the last SIX years, with accumulated costs of £44m for last term, just under £45m for the previous campaign, Jadon Sancho’s 2021 arrival costing them £17m even though he will spend the season at Chelsea.
Dimitar Berbatov tips Viktor Gyokeres to follow Ruben Amorim to Man Utd
United’s amortisation spending even includes £42m for the arrivals of Harry Maguire and Bruno Fernandes in the 2019-20 season – when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was in charge.
That adds up to £168m in PSR transfer costs for this season.
United’s wage bill last term was £364m, with the club announcing losses of £69m, added to the losses of £11m in 2023 and £87m the previous years.
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That does not mean losses of that size in their PSR accounts, as the £105m limit is reached with significant discounts for spending on infrastructure, the youth and women’s teams and community projects, with United also benefitting last term from the final Covid adjustment.
But new club chief Sir Jim Ratcliffe has already noted that United were close to the PSR limit last season.
And with the club in the Europa League rather than the Champions League this season, it will mean a reduction of up to £50m in TV revenues – although it will also see wage bonuses reduced.
The rules do not prevent clubs from spending in January – but they do have to balance their books by the end of the financial year.
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Selling the likes of Antony or Casemiro is not as easy a get-out as it might appear either.
They would have to receive a fee of £30m for Casemiro to get to zero in accounting terms, with Antony’s five-year deal meaning £49.2m would be taken off any agreed fee received.
Alternatively the Red Devils could sell an academy graduate like Marcus Rashford as his transfer fee would count as pure profit, since he did not cost United a penny.
But if Amorim is going to be allowed to bring players in – there are no limits in the Prem but clubs can only change a maximum of three players in their Uefa squads for the knock-out stage – it appears likely that exits will have to come before the end of June.
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The end of last term saw the likes of Newcastle, Aston Villa, Chelsea and Everton engage in a series of deals that saw them get under the PSR limits.
United might have previously been above those sort of financial requirements.
But they may not be this term – especially if Amorim demands some significant action in the winter window.
Our staff picks feature includes the consensus picks from MMA Junkie readers. Simply cast your vote for each bout below, and we’ll use the official tallies that are registered by Thursday at noon ET (9 a.m. PT).
Those reader consensus picks will be part of the main card staff predictions we release ahead of UFC Fight Night 247 (ESPN+), which takes place Saturday the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Former Philadelphia Eagles player Jason Kelce has said he is “not proud” of throwing a person’s phone to the ground after a homophobic slur was used to refer to his younger brother and NFL star Travis.
Footage on social media shows Jason Kelce walking through a crowd at a stadium in Pennsylvania when someone aims the insult at Travis, who plays for Kansas City Chiefs and is in a relationship with singer Taylor Swift.
Jason Kelce then grabs a person’s phone and throws it to the ground and then appears to repeat the homophobic slur at the person when they ask for their phone back.
“Everybody has seen on social media everything that took place this week,” Jason Kelce told ESPN. “I’m not happy with anything that took place. I’m not proud of it.
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“In a heated moment, I chose to greet hate with hate and I just don’t think that’s a productive thing, I really don’t. I don’t think it’s the right way to go about things.
“In that moment I fell down to a level I shouldn’t have. The bottom line is I try to live my life by the golden rule that I’ve always been taught – I try to treat people with common decency and respect.
“I’m going to keep doing that moving forward, even though I fell short this week.”
Jason Kelce is now an analyst with ESPN after retiring in 2024 following 13 seasons with the Eagles.
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He and his brother also host a podcast in which they interview celebrity guests and discuss their own lives.
Usman Nurmagomedov is already Bellator’s best, and if his coach is to be believed, his ceiling is much, much higher.
Recently, Nurmagomedov said he’s targeting a move to the UFC in the future, to follow in the footsteps of cousin Khabib Nurmagomedov and current UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, two of his training partners. In an interview with Red Corner MMA, Usman’s coach Javier Mendez was asked if he sees the fighter surpassing Khabib and Makhachev’s accomplishments and he answered with glowing praise for the Bellator lightweight titleholder.
“As far as passing the torch, I see Usman as being pound-for-pound the greatest fighter, myself,” Mendez said. “He’s got all the attributes. He’s the most talented I’ve ever trained. In regards whether he ever goes to UFC or not, I don’t know if it’s going to matter as long as he keeps showing people how great he is. So, to me, if at one point he never goes, great. He’s still going to be regarded as one of the great ones. He will, you watch.
“He will be regarded as one of the great ones because what he does in that cage is like nobody, I’ve never seen anybody do the transitions, the movement that he does.”
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Nurmagomedov is yet to be defeated in 18 pro bouts and has rarely been threatened in the cage, with his most recent win being a methodical unanimous decision nod over Alexander Shabliy this past September. He has successfully defended his Bellator championship twice (this does not include title fight win over Brent Primus that was overturned to a no-contest when Nurmagomedov later tested positive for a banned substance, which was attributed to a prescription drug).
In Mendez’s eyes, Nurmagomedov is nowhere near his prime and no matter where he ends up fighting for the rest of his career, he believes Dagestan native has the potential to be a legend.
“He’s unbelievable, and he’s only 26, he’s only getting better,” Mendez said. “Let’s see what happens, but you never know. He may be a PFL fighter, a Bellator fighter the rest of his career and, for me, I’m happy about that because he’ll be a successful one. So wherever he goes it’s going to be a success.”
McLaren has continued to push developments of its MCL38 at the back end of the Formula 1 season, as it knuckles down to try to secure the constructors’ championship.
And while its rivals pretty much steered clear of any upgrades in Brazil for what was the third race of a triple-header, it was interesting that McLaren elected to bring a new rear and beam wing arrangement.
McLaren’s approach on this front has been fascinating this year, as it is head and shoulders ahead of its competitors in terms of the sheer scale of development that has been undertaken in this area.
The team has introduced seven different rear wing configurations to cope with the different downforce and drag characteristics that each venue demands.
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New options were added to the pool in Saudi Arabia, Imola, Monaco, Great Britain, Belgium, the Netherlands and now Brazil.
Of course, it would all be for nothing if the designs did not combine well with the beam wing solution that is also fitted to the assembly.
That is why we have even seen it arrive with several beam wing options alongside each new rear wing specification to trim the car accordingly.
In fact, the development of the beam wing has been even more extensive, with 12 new options added to its pool during the season so far.
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There were new beam wings at the Saudi Arabian, Miami, Emilia-Romagna, Monaco, Belgian, Dutch, Singapore and United States Grands Prix, whilst three solutions were introduced at Silverstone.
These include everything from more traditional two-piece designs to single elements and numerous bi-plane style arrangements.
McLaren MCL38 beam wing comparison, Brazilian GP
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
In terms of the new Brazilian GP rear wing design, the most obvious difference is the shape of the mainplane.
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This element forms more of a V-shaped profile where it tapers outward and upwards from the deeper central section.
The leading edge, seen in the main image, is also more steeply rolled than its closest kin within the family of solutions available.
Notably, the tip section of the rear wing also differs from other designs in this downforce range, with a squarer profile, like the one used on its highest downforce option.
These design differences are likely the result of an acceptable efficiency trade-off between two of its other specifications, as the reduction in height across the mainplane’s span provides the necessary downforce and drag for the circuit characteristics, whilst also providing more of a benefit when DRS is deployed.
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Meanwhile, the shape of the lowermost beam wing element has a reverse tapering in the central section to discreetly mirror the geometry of the mainplane above.
The difference in beam wing layout to the corresponding rear wing selection can be seen in the comparison above.
But while McLaren ran its new rear wing for sprint qualifying and the sprint on Saturday, when it came to the trickier wet conditions posed by qualifying and the race it opted for its higher downforce arrangement.
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