2026 Formula 1

[WolfpackIllini]

Any F1 fans here?
Australia Practice 1 starts in a few minutes on Apple TV
Going to be interesting to see how the new cars work - Australia is supposed to be one of the bigger question marks wrt whether the cars can drive flat out, or whether they will have to pull up to harvest energy to recharge the batteries.

 

[WolfpackIllini]

2025 Australian fastest times:

SESSIONS	RESULT	TIME
Free Practice 1	NOR	1:17.252
Free Practice 2	LEC	1:16.439
Free Practice 3	PIA	1:15.921
Qualifying	NOR	1:15.096

 

[IlliniFaninHoosierLand]

I decided to get into more racing this year. I already watch NASCAR and watched last weekend's IndyCar season opener and am planning on watching the F1 race this weekend.

 

[WolfpackIllini]

Fastest times today:
FP1: Leclere (Ferrari) 1:20.267
FP2: Piastri (McLaren) 1:19.729

This year ushers in a completely new set of car regulations, with key changes such as:
- 50-50 ICE/Electric power units (was 80-20 last year)
- slightly lighter and smaller cars, but
- no ground effects, but
- active aerodynamics via front and rear wings

So lots of teams experiencing gremlins in their new generation cars, and lap times about 3 seconds slower was expected, at least in the short run, due to drivers figuring out how to balance driving fast vs harvesting energy for the batteries. Also, teams make lots of tweeks frequently during the first year (or two) of a new generation car, in order to continually improve performance. So who is fastest can change from session to session, let alone race to race.

As it stands, McLaren, Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes look strongest so far.

Cadillac is having some issues and about 3 to 5 seconds off the pace.

Aston Martin is in very deep trouble, amazingly due to its Honda power units being woefully short on power, and worse yet, not being reliable. Plus, Honda forgot to manufacture extra battery packs, and AM is down to their last 2. They are worried they might not even be able to start the race on Sunday. Yikes!

 

[Stevegarbs]

Qualifying was interesting...

 

[WolfpackIllini]

Qualifying was interesting...

As a Max fan, it was a disaster for me.

Max Verstappen Australian GP qualifying crash cause revealed

Max Verstappen crashed on his first run during qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix. Paolo Filisetti, RacingNews365 technical expert, explains what happened.

racingnews365.com

He starts 20th tonight. The new start procedure could cause serious chaos and thin the crowd. If he can get thru that...

One the whole, looks like Mercedes is currently in front, significantly.
4 teams use the Mercedes engine, so it's not just the engine - they have their car dialed in.

Biggest (pleasant) surprise for me is how well Hadjar is doing for RedBull.
If he could podium tonight...

 

[IlliniFaninHoosierLand]

Things are bad enough for Aston Martin that Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll fear that they could have permanent nerve damage in their hands if they drive too long because of the vibration issues going from Honda's power unit to the chassis.

 

[WolfpackIllini]

Things are bad enough for Aston Martin that Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll fear that they could have permanent nerve damage in their hands if they drive too long because of the vibration issues going from Honda's power unit to the chassis.

And yet Alonso said if they can make the car competitve for him, he doesnt care and will race till his hands fall off. Love that guy.

 

[IlliniFaninHoosierLand]

Piastri is already out before the race even started:

https://twitter.com/x/status/2030486559372218682

 

[IlliniFaninHoosierLand]

For those watching on Apple TV, there's a few different options for how you can watch the race. Apple TV's "main" feed will be the F1 TV feed of the race but you will also have the option to watch the Sky Sports feed of the race, which was what ESPN normally used when they had the rights. There are also onboard cameras for all 22 cars, a data tracker, and a track map.

 

[WolfpackIllini]

Here's a pretty good (tho long) article about how the new cars and their rules are affecting drivers and racing this year. For newbies, there is an "overtake" button on the dash, and a driver can hit it to release a big boost of battery power. The driver can make an overtake, but then is out of battery power, and the guy he just overtook can then do the same to him. So the issue is that the back and forth racing has too much to do with whether you have more battery left than the other guy, rather than if you are a better driver.

F1's new rules create 'Mario Kart' racing in Australia season opener

F1 preseason has been dominated by criticism of its new rules, and while Australia's season opener boasted lots of passing, the critiques didn't stop.

www.espn.com

 

[Curbelo Fanboy]

I admittedly did not watch this weekend but have read up on some of the issues. I am a big racing fan in general (primarily dirt racing) & do follow F1, Indycar & nascar to some degree.

Any form of racing where the regulations force the car to lose speed on a straightaway when you should be full throttle is a bit too gimmicky for my taste. I suspect F1 will be tweaking the rules package as they go to lessen the electrical power portion of the equation.

 

[WolfpackIllini]

I admittedly did not watch this weekend but have read up on some of the issues. I am a big racing fan in general (primarily dirt racing) & do follow F1, Indycar & nascar to some degree.

Any form of racing where the regulations force the car to lose speed on a straightaway when you should be full throttle is a bit too gimmicky for my taste. I suspect F1 will be tweaking the rules package as they go to lessen the electrical power portion of the equation.

I sure hope so. But I don't know how they can do it. The problem is that the engines were built for 50-50 power from ICE-EV, so if you run out of EV 80 pct of the way down the straight, FIA can tweek the rules to prevent auto-recharge of the batteries, but you still drop 50 pct of your power when EV cuts out.

Note re above: In Qualifying session 1, on Max Verstappen's first attempt at a fast lap, his batteries were empty and his car went into recharge mode just as he approached turn 1, and it locked his rear wheels without him touching the brakes! He crashed on turn 1 of his first qualifying lap and was out for the day. Insane stuff.

 

[Curbelo Fanboy]

I sure hope so. But I don't know how they can do it. The problem is that the engines were built for 50-50 power from ICE-EV, so if you run out of EV 80 pct of the way down the straight, FIA can tweek the rules to prevent auto-recharge of the batteries, but you still drop 50 pct of your power when EV cuts out.

Note re above: In Qualifying session 1, on Max Verstappen's first attempt at a fast lap, his batteries were empty and his car went into recharge mode just as he approached turn 1, and it locked his rear wheels without him touching the brakes! He crashed on turn 1 of his first qualifying lap and was out for the day. Insane stuff.

I heard some of the stuff about the cars essentially dying on the straight away. In addition to being contrary to the whole purpose of what racing is, a car just dying on a straight stretch is a massive safety risk. As you mentioned the wheels locked up & he crashed. It could also cause a scenario where an oncoming car could be travelling significantly faster & cause a massive crash. Just needless risk it seems to me.

 

[WolfpackIllini]

Mercedes supplies engines to 3 other teams: McLaren, Williams and Alpine. I assumed that the FIA would require these engines be delivered with the same HP output for all 4 teams, but apparently that is not the case. Williams seems to not be able to get the same HP out of their engine as Mercedes does, and Mercedes is giving them the cold shoulder:
https://racingnews365.com/williams-shocked-by-clever-mercedes-trick-in-new-f1-battleground

Also, I heard that Ferrari uses smaller diameter turbos which spin up faster, hence their better engine performance in the current environment than others using larger turbos.

China Practice 1 starts tomorrow night at 10:30p central on Apple TV

 

[IlliniFaninHoosierLand]

Announcement likely coming this weekend about races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia being cancelled. No plan to reschedule due to how congested schedule is late in the season. Only drawback is there will be a 5 week break between races in Japan and Miami.

 

[IlliniFaninHoosierLand]

F1 did confirm today that the Bahrain and Saudi Arabia races have been cancelled.

Though reportedly the Saudis were pushing to have their race go ahead as normal.

 

[WolfpackIllini]

Antonelli Qualified on Pole. He is the youngest driver ever to earn a pole.

Also, his time was only 1.4 seconds slower than the 2025 qualifying time (Last week's qualifying time was 3.4 seconds slower than 2025). So, maybe the drivers are figuring out how to drive this new generation car.

 

[WolfpackIllini]

Things are bad enough for Aston Martin that Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll fear that they could have permanent nerve damage in their hands if they drive too long because of the vibration issues going from Honda's power unit to the chassis.

Chinese Grand Prix: Fernando Alonso 'struggled to feel' hands and feet in Aston Martin

Fernando Alonso was starting to lose the feeling in his hands and feet before finally retiring his Aston Martin from the Chinese Grand Prix on lap 33.

www.espn.com

 

[WolfpackIllini]

Mercedes supplies engines to 3 other teams: McLaren, Williams and Alpine. I assumed that the FIA would require these engines be delivered with the same HP output for all 4 teams, but apparently that is not the case. Williams seems to not be able to get the same HP out of their engine as Mercedes does, and Mercedes is giving them the cold shoulder:
https://racingnews365.com/williams-shocked-by-clever-mercedes-trick-in-new-f1-battleground

Also, I heard that Ferrari uses smaller diameter turbos which spin up faster, hence their better engine performance in the current environment than others using larger turbos.

China Practice 1 starts tomorrow night at 10:30p central on Apple TV

I have been watching every F1 race for 5 years now, and I don't recall seeing a top car having sudden inexplicable problems, minutes before the race (!), and not get out of garage in time for the race. McLaren's 2 cars qualified 5th and 6th (ie they were solidly dialed in), and yet both (!!) of their cars experienced sudden electrical problems with their engines (supplied by Mercedes, without proper documentation or support - see Williams article above). Article below says McLaren and Mercedes will be meeting to figure this out - probably ought to be in a soundproof room without any available blunt objects!

McLaren launches Mercedes investigation after double Chinese GP disaster

McLaren has launched an investigation with engine supplier Mercedes to investigate why both of its cars suffered terminal electrical faults that ruled them out of the Chinese Grand Pri

www.espn.com

 

[WolfpackIllini]

As far as the actual race, the 2 Mercedes and 2 Ferrari cars went back and forth, passing each other many times, with the crowd roaring each time. Antonelli, the 19 year old rookie, ended up pulling away and winning, with Russell, the other Mercedes driver, coming in 2nd. All 4 of these drivers said they had a lot of fun racing like this, going back and forth.

Max, otoh, started 6th (after the 2 McLarens didn't show up), which is good enough, but then he bogged down again at the start, dropping to 18th or so (!!), for the second race in a row. Usually, the start is his forte. He got back up to 6th, but then his car failed (trans?) and he limped to the pits with 10 laps to go. He reiterated his dislike of the new rules/cars - bear in mind that Max is Dutch, and if you have any friends from Holland, they are usually very matter-of-factly-honest, and their talking points are usually unfiltered, but pretty objective and without much animosity. That's been my experience, anyway, and that's how I read Max and what he has to say.

Max Verstappen slams F1 regulations again; 'Terrible, political, really a joke'

Max Verstappen has said anyone who enjoys watching Formula 1 in 2026 does not understand true racing, labeling the sport's new formula "a joke."

www.espn.com

FWVLIW: I'd like to see F1 go back to V10's and dump EV completely. Ground effects, active suspension, active aero, etc would all be negotiable, just dump the EV. Pretty unlikely, but I won't give up hope.

BTW, the already is a Formula E, 100 pct EV

Next race is in 2 weeks in Japan (Suzuka), then a 5 week gap due to cancellation (postponement?) of Bahrain and Saudi, returning to Miami May 1-3. so a lot of time for the teams to make major fixes.

 

[sbillini]

I have been watching every F1 race for 5 years now, and I don't recall seeing a top car having sudden inexplicable problems, minutes before the race (!), and not get out of garage in time for the race. McLaren's 2 cars qualified 5th and 6th (ie they were solidly dialed in), and yet both (!!) of their cars experienced sudden electrical problems with their engines (supplied by Mercedes, without proper documentation or support - see Williams article above). Article below says McLaren and Mercedes will be meeting to figure this out - probably ought to be in a soundproof room without any available blunt objects!

McLaren launches Mercedes investigation after double Chinese GP disaster

McLaren has launched an investigation with engine supplier Mercedes to investigate why both of its cars suffered terminal electrical faults that ruled them out of the Chinese Grand Pri

www.espn.com

It used to happen all the time. Will happen for a while this season as teams figure out these new PUs.

As for the Mercedes customers team issues relative to the works team, might be something there. Works Mercedes only has so much incentive to help customer teams, especially a top tier team like McLaren. I’d be shocked if there’s something generous going on, but there is probably a gray area of how much support they really get given how much the PUs have changed. It’s the risk you take by not having a works partner

 

[IlliniFaninHoosierLand]

Verstappen says he's considering retiring at the end of the year.

 

[WolfpackIllini]

Verstappen says he's considering retiring at the end of the year.

I wouldn't blame him a bit. Alonso and LeClair strongly echo Max's sentiments, altho not to the point of retiring.
Max is why I watch F1 - he is amazing. He takes a new car out and takes it to its limits on the first or second lap.
And now, you can't take a car to its limits because you use the formerly high speed corners to harvest.
Alsonso said his team's chef could drive this gen of F1 cars, they have to go so slow in corners.

Separate issue, and I fell asleep and missed the kid who crashed in Japan due to excessive overtake speeds,
but some pretty harsh "we-told-you-so's" from Sainz.

I am glad they have a month off and have a chance to address some of these things - hope they are successful.

 

[2X2L]

I've been following Formula 1 since the mid-60s - Clark, Hill et al. Free on ABC Wide World of Sports. Stinks that I must pay to watch it now. I won't.

I love the movie "Grand Prix".