F1 2026 Season

Kers was better because it was a relatively even playing field when it came to usage, it gave you the tactical capacity of using it anywhere you wanted but not the overwhelming advantage that makes racing a bit pointless.
 
altodevil said:
Kers was better because it was a relatively even playing field when it came to usage, it gave you the tactical capacity of using it anywhere you wanted but not the overwhelming advantage that makes racing a bit pointless.
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This is fundamentally different, yeah. 50% of power comes from batteries in these new regulations so it's not just a boost any more, and is a fundamental part of the available horsepower. With KERS that was nearer to 20%.
 
Ferrari halo winglets removed from the car before qually, as Ferrari thought teams would protest them, even though scrutineering had approved them.

 
Rooney1987 said:
Hill can be more outspoken on socials so little shocked to see him fall in line. Watching Sky and F1TV the propaganda is real. They just hide all the major stats that so how tough this is to watch at times. Once we get to round 8, its been nonstop domination practice/qualifying but the race looks closer then it should because Mercs let it, how the tone is with the broadcast and F1 legends.
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Agree with this. The close racing is more artificial then it is real. The battery recharge basically acts like an invisible string that at first hides the actual performance difference between cars.

Having said that I'm conflicted on Max and his statements. I get where he s coming from, and I also think it's stupid for people to now jump on him when some of their favorite drivers are doing better and he s been outspoken and consistent about it long before these cars ever hit the track. Just like how he criticized the previous regs for the cars being far too heavy and large for instance.

But- he should be aware the media and probably F1 big shots and their puppies on the grid will hang him out to dry and play up every word he says. Generating hatred for Max sells more than people who started liking him these past few years. Maybe he should take a leave if sorts and come back when he feels the time is better. However, what better way to show the hypocrisy he s trying to call out (it seems) than by working w Red Bull to develop a car that allows him to start winning again. Suddenly we d probably start seeing fans of other drivers and teams cool on these regs and that is maybe the motivation he should use to fuel a return to the front.
 
Redplane said:
Agree with this. The close racing is more artificial then it is real. The battery recharge basically acts like an invisible string that at first hides the actual performance difference between cars.

Having said that I'm conflicted on Max and his statements. I get where he s coming from, and I also think it's stupid for people to now jump on him when some of their favorite drivers are doing better and he s been outspoken and consistent about it long before these cars ever hit the track. Just like how he criticized the previous regs for the cars being far too heavy and large for instance.

But- he should be aware the media and probably F1 big shots and their puppies on the grid will hang him out to dry and play up every word he says. Generating hatred for Max sells more than people who started liking him these past few years. Maybe he should take a leave if sorts and come back when he feels the time is better. However, what better way to show the hypocrisy he s trying to call out (it seems) than by working w Red Bull to develop a car that allows him to start winning again. Suddenly we d probably start seeing fans of other drivers and teams cool on these regs and that is maybe the motivation he should use to fuel a return to the front.
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I haven't seen the media jump on Max at all personally, just analyse whether the changes are good not, and the consensus seems to be some things bad, and some things good. I'm sure there's people talking in social media but I try to stay well away from that.

I disagree about the racing though. I think when people are talking about the close racing, they're generally looking at how close the cars can follow each other now without huge downforce loss and tyre wear, and that seems undeniably better than it was. There's a huge distance in car performance across the grid but that's always the case with new regs and will close back up over the next year.

The regs aren't great at the moment for me though outside of solving the dirty air problem for following cars and the FIA have things to work out.
 
Balljy said:
I haven't seen the media jump on Max at all personally, just analyse whether the changes are good not, and the consensus seems to be some things bad, and some things good. I'm sure there's people talking in social media but I try to stay well away from that.

I disagree about the racing though. I think when people are talking about the close racing, they're generally looking at how close the cars can follow each other now without huge downforce loss and tyre wear, and that seems undeniably better than it was. There's a huge distance in car performance across the grid but that's always the case with new regs and will close back up over the next year.

The regs aren't great at the moment for me though outside of solving the dirty air problem for following cars and the FIA have things to work out.
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Totto has said Verstappen is frustrated with his car.

Wheatley at Audi said Verstappen is probably frustrated with his current competitive situation

Gunther Steiner said Verstappen can sometimes “throw the toys out of the pram” when things don’t go his way.

Basically if Verstappen was in a Mercedes right now he wouldn't be complaining. It's standard fair for F1 under rule changes the guys who are at the front of the grid are happy, the others aren't
 
dinostar77 said:
Totto has said Verstappen is frustrated with his car.

Wheatley at Audi said Verstappen is probably frustrated with his current competitive situation

Gunther Steiner said Verstappen can sometimes “throw the toys out of the pram” when things don’t go his way.

Basically if Verstappen was in a Mercedes right now he wouldn't be complaining. It's standard fair for F1 under rule changes the guys who are at the front of the grid are happy, the others aren't
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Verstappen has been criticising these rules since he heard about them in 2023
 
dinostar77 said:
Totto has said Verstappen is frustrated with his car.

Wheatley at Audi said Verstappen is probably frustrated with his current competitive situation

Gunther Steiner said Verstappen can sometimes “throw the toys out of the pram” when things don’t go his way.

Basically if Verstappen was in a Mercedes right now he wouldn't be complaining. It's standard fair for F1 under rule changes the guys who are at the front of the grid are happy, the others aren't
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I get that Verstappen has said he's frustrated and people in the paddock have mentioned it too, but the actual media don't seem to be jumping on Verstappen for saying those things. I've mainly seen articles like the below looking into what all the drivers have said and the different opinions amongst drivers.

Agreed, that Verstappen would be a lot less frustrated if he was out in front although he's consistently said he doesn't like these rules long before they were implemented.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/articles/c620y1q4djpo
 
pauldyson1uk said:
After reviewing last weekend’s Chinese GP, Formula 1 the FIA will stick to their planned evaluation of the new regulations – but there will be no changes before the Japanese GP.


https://f1i.com/news/561411-people-...wQb9cwZ9Ws7RMMG_bw_aem_uuH41bcH4CUAgNJ7KE_LEA
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I think some patience is probably fair, but at the same time I hope they are clear and don't give the struggling teams in particular idle hope anything will be addressed. From a pure launch and quali perspective though I would say the safety aspects of it needs to be strongly considered, ahead of even the performance concern.

On a related note, this also reminds me of an article I read about the radio exchanges between GP and Max, where there seemed to be some kind of misunderstanding. From how it was described, it sounded like GP told him to take it easy through Turn 1 and Turn 6, which cost him time and, understandably, annoyed him once he realized he didn’t actually need to. On top of that, it also sounds like the Red Bull is significantly overweight, which seems to be down to some unconventional cooling choices for the power unit. So if I had to guess, at least some of Max’s concerns are probably also tied pretty directly to the team’s and the car’s shortcomings overall.

Even so, I still think both his criticism and some of the criticism he’s gotten in return are a bit unfair. Quite apart from the fact that he’s been raising these concerns for a while, some of the backlash from certain parts of the fanbase feels pretty hypocritical to me. I can understand why people like that it looks like there’s more wheel-to-wheel action. But it can also be true that some of that is being artificially created for entertainment purposes, which is exactly the kind of thing so many people used to complain F1 had become.

DRS, turbo boost, and all the rest had flaws too, but my sense is that Max mainly hates two things: first, that there’s less emphasis on pure driver skill when so much now depends on electrical deployment and active aero, and second, that electrical management has become such a huge part of the sport overall — especially all the lifting, coasting, and harvesting. If your view is basically that an F1 car should be built to go as fast as possible within the limits of safety, tyres, and a few necessary restrictions, then yeah, I can absolutely see why someone wouldn’t like the current direction. At the same time, it’s not like he only started complaining now and about these regs only. He also had plenty to say under the previous regulations about the size and weight of the cars, and about how hard they were to follow, especially under the regs ending in 2021.

To some degree, I honestly think he’d rather go back to the early-2000s V10 era: much smaller cars, engines built simply to run flat out, and fewer built-in constraints - many of course tied to safety. And honestly, in his case, that makes sense given his upbringing and how close he is (was?) to Michael Schumacher and the Schumacher family.

Unfortunately for him though I'm not sure F1 will ever return to the glory days as he might prefer them, especially with the ever increasing safety and sustainability requirements, and also the cost cap.

Sorry for wall of text.
 
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Redplane said:
I think some patience is probably fair, but at the same time I hope they are clear and don't give the struggling teams in particular idle hope anything will be addressed. From a pure launch and quali perspective though I would say the safety aspects of it needs to be strongly considered, ahead of even the performance concern.

On a related note, this also reminds me of an article I read about the radio exchanges between GP and Max, where there seemed to be some kind of misunderstanding. From how it was described, it sounded like GP told him to take it easy through Turn 1 and Turn 6, which cost him time and, understandably, annoyed him once he realized he didn’t actually need to. On top of that, it also sounds like the Red Bull is significantly overweight, which seems to be down to some unconventional cooling choices for the power unit. So if I had to guess, at least some of Max’s concerns are probably also tied pretty directly to the team’s and the car’s shortcomings overall.

Even so, I still think both his criticism and some of the criticism he’s gotten in return are a bit unfair. Quite apart from the fact that he’s been raising these concerns for a while, some of the backlash from certain parts of the fanbase feels pretty hypocritical to me. I can understand why people like that it looks like there’s more wheel-to-wheel action. But it can also be true that some of that is being artificially created for entertainment purposes, which is exactly the kind of thing so many people used to complain F1 had become.

DRS, turbo boost, and all the rest had flaws too, but my sense is that Max mainly hates two things: first, that there’s less emphasis on pure driver skill when so much now depends on electrical deployment and active aero, and second, that electrical management has become such a huge part of the sport overall — especially all the lifting, coasting, and harvesting. If your view is basically that an F1 car should be built to go as fast as possible within the limits of safety, tyres, and a few necessary restrictions, then yeah, I can absolutely see why someone wouldn’t like the current direction. At the same time, it’s not like he only started complaining now and about these regs only. He also had plenty to say under the previous regulations about the size and weight of the cars, and about how hard they were to follow, especially under the regs ending in 2021.

To some degree, I honestly think he’d rather go back to the early-2000s V10 era: much smaller cars, engines built simply to run flat out, and fewer built-in constraints - many of course tied to safety. And honestly, in his case, that makes sense given his upbringing and how close he is (was?) to Michael Schumacher and the Schumacher family.

Unfortunately for him though I'm not sure F1 will ever return to the glory days as he might prefer them, especially with the ever increasing safety and sustainability requirements, and also the cost cap.

Sorry for wall of text.
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Don't apologise at all, this an absolutely quality post, and he is speaking on behalf of all the fans too. The V10 era was the best since the millenium, and what we are seeing today is a slap in the face of true racers.
 
Redplane said:
I think some patience is probably fair, but at the same time I hope they are clear and don't give the struggling teams in particular idle hope anything will be addressed. From a pure launch and quali perspective though I would say the safety aspects of it needs to be strongly considered, ahead of even the performance concern.

On a related note, this also reminds me of an article I read about the radio exchanges between GP and Max, where there seemed to be some kind of misunderstanding. From how it was described, it sounded like GP told him to take it easy through Turn 1 and Turn 6, which cost him time and, understandably, annoyed him once he realized he didn’t actually need to. On top of that, it also sounds like the Red Bull is significantly overweight, which seems to be down to some unconventional cooling choices for the power unit. So if I had to guess, at least some of Max’s concerns are probably also tied pretty directly to the team’s and the car’s shortcomings overall.

Even so, I still think both his criticism and some of the criticism he’s gotten in return are a bit unfair. Quite apart from the fact that he’s been raising these concerns for a while, some of the backlash from certain parts of the fanbase feels pretty hypocritical to me. I can understand why people like that it looks like there’s more wheel-to-wheel action. But it can also be true that some of that is being artificially created for entertainment purposes, which is exactly the kind of thing so many people used to complain F1 had become.

DRS, turbo boost, and all the rest had flaws too, but my sense is that Max mainly hates two things: first, that there’s less emphasis on pure driver skill when so much now depends on electrical deployment and active aero, and second, that electrical management has become such a huge part of the sport overall — especially all the lifting, coasting, and harvesting. If your view is basically that an F1 car should be built to go as fast as possible within the limits of safety, tyres, and a few necessary restrictions, then yeah, I can absolutely see why someone wouldn’t like the current direction. At the same time, it’s not like he only started complaining now and about these regs only. He also had plenty to say under the previous regulations about the size and weight of the cars, and about how hard they were to follow, especially under the regs ending in 2021.

To some degree, I honestly think he’d rather go back to the early-2000s V10 era: much smaller cars, engines built simply to run flat out, and fewer built-in constraints - many of course tied to safety. And honestly, in his case, that makes sense given his upbringing and how close he is (was?) to Michael Schumacher and the Schumacher family.

Unfortunately for him though I'm not sure F1 will ever return to the glory days as he might prefer them, especially with the ever increasing safety and sustainability requirements, and also the cost cap.

Sorry for wall of text.
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No need for any apologies, excellent post.
Loved the V10 era.
 
Surprised he jumped ship from Audi they seem like a solid outfit with a lot of potential.
 
He’ll step back into technical director role, he’s completely out of his depth at a team principal level. Stroll probably regrets losing Cowell in the process of appointing Newey.

Wheatley is leaving due to personal reasons, not performance. I’d imagine the challenge of living in Switzerland away from home is significant enough to take a step down in teams to do a similar role.

This sets up Horner to go full steam ahead with Alpine.
 
F-Red said:
He’ll step back into technical director role, he’s completely out of his depth at a team principal level. Stroll probably regrets losing Cowell in the process of appointing Newey.

Wheatley is leaving due to personal reasons, not performance. I’d imagine the challenge of living in Switzerland away from home is significant enough to take a step down in teams to do a similar role.

This sets up Horner to go full steam ahead with Alpine.
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Horner working in a French team still seems like a recipe for disaster :lol:

Also thank you @dinostar77 and @pauldyson1uk for your comments to my wall of text. Cheers.
 
Haas doing a Godzilla livery for Suzuka :lol:



Top notch stuff.
 
F-Red said:
He’ll step back into technical director role, he’s completely out of his depth at a team principal level. Stroll probably regrets losing Cowell in the process of appointing Newey.

Wheatley is leaving due to personal reasons, not performance. I’d imagine the challenge of living in Switzerland away from home is significant enough to take a step down in teams to do a similar role.

This sets up Horner to go full steam ahead with Alpine.
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Aren’t Toto and Mercedes trying to buy Alpine? I doubt they’ll allow Horner to join the team if they’re allowed to buy Alpine.
 
elmo said:
Aren’t Toto and Mercedes trying to buy Alpine? I doubt they’ll allow Horner to join the team if they’re allowed to buy Alpine.
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There's lots of speculation of interest, but it's a Mercedes discussion (not Wolff) they're only looking at a minority share holding. The FIA probably will look to block it if it ever did get to that stage due to the conflict of interest that such a move would generate, including scrutiny on competition from the EU commission. Even then I don't think Renault would want that as a future of the team, even more so with the Mercedes brand involved.

Personally, I think it's just trying to extract more from the Horner bid personally. He also logically provides them with a pathway of success and stability.
 
Mercedes front wing maybe illegal. It has three stages (open-intermediate-close) instead of the permitted two (open-close). FIA are investigating...

 
dinostar77 said:
Mercedes front wing maybe illegal. It has three stages (open-intermediate-close) instead of the permitted two (open-close). FIA are investigating...

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The good thing about Ferrari being at the front again is that the kings of shit housery are back in a position to fully exercise that ability.

Fascinating stuff though. Wonder if other teams complained too.
 
F-Red said:
There's lots of speculation of interest, but it's a Mercedes discussion (not Wolff) they're only looking at a minority share holding. The FIA probably will look to block it if it ever did get to that stage due to the conflict of interest that such a move would generate, including scrutiny on competition from the EU commission. Even then I don't think Renault would want that as a future of the team, even more so with the Mercedes brand involved.

Personally, I think it's just trying to extract more from the Horner bid personally. He also logically provides them with a pathway of success and stability.
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If they were concerned, they would do something about the Red Bulls
 
elmo said:
If they were concerned, they would do something about the Red Bulls
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They hardly seem to benefit from that arrangement in the last several years however. In fact, one could argue racing bulls did better to get ready for the new regs, and was already on the ascendency last season too.

But to put your mind at ease- rumors are Red Bull is possibly selling Racing Bulls. Apparently several offers from China with valuations in excess of 2 billion pounds. This time there might be real weight to it since Red Bull has neither refuted it outright and in fact there are even rumors to suggest they thinks it's a weight around their neck. There is also strong interest from F1 to bring a Chinese manufacturer to the grid. Given how far ahead they are on EV tech compared to the rest of the world, that could get interesting.
 
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elmo said:
If they were concerned, they would do something about the Red Bulls
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It's like comparing apples with oranges. The Red Bull purchase of Minardi was somewhat a different requirement to Mercedes, who from the outside, are effectively buying for its profit gain and to obtain further political power in the sport.
 
Alonso missing press day because of birth of his first child and probably that’s why Friday was planned not to be running on FP1.
 
Ahmer Baig said:
Alonso missing press day because of birth of his first child and probably that’s why Friday was planned not to be running on FP1.
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I thought - many he is way too old to still be having kids! Then i realized I wasn't much younger when I still had one. Good for him though. Hope the kid gets all the love it needs.
 
Rams said:
Pathetic by Verstappen

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/articles/cwy3pggg4zjo
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Nah that reporter is a smug cnt who asked him the same question before and was asked to let it be. The only mistake Max made is that he keeps forgetting journos and F1 always win in these pr battles bc they know a whole bunch of people are frothing at the mouth to jump back on the hate wagon. In that regard he has still has learning to do - which surprises me. Maybe he should start posting cute pictures of animals and other feel good shite on social media like some other athletes. :lol: Get those likes up and be all about positive vibes and what not.

Seriously though - dude needs a better media manager to whisper things in the ears of to see if it's smart from a pr standpoint. Kinda like a GP for off track "Hey Jack, I really wanna deck this cnt, is that smart?". "No, its tempting, but I wouldn't do that if I were you, Max."
 
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Redplane said:
Nah that reporter is a smug cnt who asked him the same question before and was asked to let it be. The only mistake Max made is that he keeps forgetting journos and F1 always win in these pr battles bc they know a whole bunch of people are frothing at the mouth to jump back on the hate wagon. In that regard he has still has learning to do - which surprises me. Maybe he should start posting cute pictures of animals and other feel good shite on social media like some other athletes. :lol: Get those likes up and be all about positive vibes and what not.

Seriously though - dude needs a better media manager to whisper things in the ears of to see if it's smart from a pr standpoint. Kinda like a GP for off track "Hey Jack, I really wanna deck this cnt, is that smart?". "No, its tempting, but I wouldn't do that if I were you, Max."
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He only needs one if he cares about PR, which he doesn’t really seem to do much. He does seem to really hate shite stirrers though, be it certain journos or George Russell :lol:
 
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