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Honda are halfway there
They've doubled down on upgrade strategy - crap performance and crap reliability. Plus, running at the back of the field gets them more aero development time to develop next year's car. My money's on Alonso leaving in a huff, Perez taking back the seat, the 2027 car being the class of the field and Perez beating Stroll to the driver's title.
Honda are halfway there
They've doubled down on upgrade strategy - crap performance and crap reliability. Plus, running at the back of the field gets them more aero development time to develop next year's car. My money's on Alonso leaving in a huff, Perez taking back the seat, the 2027 car being the class of the field and Perez beating Stroll to the driver's title.
Shouldn't you add that Alonso goes to Mercedes just as the Mercedes team implodes dynamically for 2027, and they have an absolute lemon of a car for the rest of Alonso's career?
Looks like Ferrari have already started putting some chips on the ADUO…
”Ferrari is known to believe Mercedes is holding back part of its engine's potential in order to keep Ferrari below the 2% threshold and prevent the upgrade system from kicking in … At Maranello, work is reportedly underway on a new internal combustion engine specification“
https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/does-ferrari-think-mercedes-hiding-something-f1-engine/
Looks like Ferrari have already started putting some chips on the ADUO…
”Ferrari is known to believe Mercedes is holding back part of its engine's potential in order to keep Ferrari below the 2% threshold and prevent the upgrade system from kicking in … At Maranello, work is reportedly underway on a new internal combustion engine specification“
https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/does-ferrari-think-mercedes-hiding-something-f1-engine/
Can't Mercedes just point at McLaren and say, "Look, the engine's shit in their team?". They claim they're not more than 2% better, and it's all down to the skillful driving of their drivers.
At Maranello, work is reportedly underway on a new internal combustion engine specification“
I assumed that all the engine manufacturers would keep developing their engine specifications anyway so that they have something ready if they do get an upgrade allowance in the future. Plus, they would run a "reliability" upgrade program anyway - even if they didn't improve the peak power, having more durable engines means they can run them harder and are less likely to get penalties for exceeding the permitted number of engines per season.
I confess I’ve not read anything that makes it clear what’s in-scope for PU development outside of the ADUO. It would seem odd if PU work largely dried up for any top-performing manufacturers.
At Maranello, work is reportedly underway on a new internal combustion engine specification“
I assumed that all the engine manufacturers would keep developing their engine specifications anyway so that they have something ready if they do get an upgrade allowance in the future. Plus, they would run a "reliability" upgrade program anyway - even if they didn't improve the peak power, having more durable engines means they can run them harder and are less likely to get penalties for exceeding the permitted number of engines per season.
Most PU providers are working on upgrades for their current PU, the rumour that's been going around is that Ferrari are working on an entirely new PU, the one they are currently running being an evolution of the previous one but without the MGUH.
Yeah, great theory but Ferrari and "smart strategic thinking" don't often go together.
"Wait, we are checking"
"Plan C, D or F"
Newey to step down as Aston Martin F1 team principal, Wheatley set to join from Audi
according to autosport, but their article is not working
Came here to post about Newey and Wheatley. There's a joke about a lettuce in there somewhere
Aston Martin really is quite the spectacle. It’s like Lawrence has invited all the big-dicks into a snazzy carbon fibre replica of the Crystal Maze dome, and he’s blowing piles and piles of cash around in the fans, but everyone’s picking up silver notes. When the fans stop and they count up an inevitably negative tally, Lawrence realises that he never put any gold notes in there and he just sits in the doorway sobbing.
It’s compelling viewing. Five stars in the TV Times; tune in next week when Jonathan Wheatley takes on a Mystery game and somehow gets locked in before Richard O’Brien has even turned the sand timer over.
Aston Martin really is quite the spectacle.
I'm hoping they are pre-Brawn Honda, a well-resourced team that just need time for the technical director to sort things out, rather than Toyota, who threw endless money at it but then tried to run it like a Japanese car company (see also Jaguar in this regard).
Aston Martin press releases saying things like "Newey's appointment was only ever meant to be temporary" which is fine as far as it goes, but both Andy Cowell, and Mike Krack - both at some point former Team Principals are still employed in the team, so why do they think bringing in another candidate for the role is going to be a good idea?
It’s all a it embarrassing after all the hype around the spectacle of a pure newey designed car
Andy Cowell, and Mike Krack - both at some point former Team Principals are still employed in the team, so why do they think bringing in another candidate for the role is going to be a good idea?
As far as I can tell from my distant armchair, Stroll’s strategy seems to be to hire all the expensive people first and then see what sort of structure shakes out around them—rather than create an effective structure and put the right people into the right positions. Didn’t McLaren learn this exact lesson a few years ago? As in, immediately before they went from the back of the grid to the front?
TBF a lot of people were surprised when he took the TP role rather than "just" design the car, but if this was a planned change they could've confirmed him as temporary TP originally.
Wheatley confirmed to be leaving audi "with immediate effect"
https://www.audif1.com/en/news/2026/Team-Statement-Management-Structure-Update
Meanwhile, Stroll’s statement is baffling:
“We do things differently here, and while we don't currently adopt the traditional Team Principal role that you see elsewhere – it is by design.“
So they don’t have a normal TP role, and that’s by design… but only currently. The implication being that they know the design needs to change?
I know Wheatley’s keen to work from the UK, but there must be a lot of pretty green on the table to make this omnishambles of a team look like fun.
there must be a lot of pretty green on the table to make this omnishambles of a team look like fun.
perhaps he's thinking it can't get any worse, therefore it must get better, therefore I can take the credit for that. I don't think I'd take that choice, but hey, I wasn't offered it.
I know Wheatley’s keen to work from the UK, but there must be a lot of pretty green on the table to make this omnishambles of a team look like fun.
Yeah Bild were saying a day or two ago that he wasn't getting on with Binotto and also that his family wanted to move back to England. Who knows if that's true though.
Presume he'd be on gardening leave now anyway so wonder what will happen at Aston in the meantime.
Presume he'd be on gardening leave now anyway so wonder what will happen at Aston in the meantime.
I would imagine that’s quite an extended period of time
New controversy for Mercedes. It appears that their front wing can be closed in two stages, allowing increased stability under braking and faster corner entry for fast bends. I can't see it reported in the usual places yet though...
Ferrari are apparently seeking clarification from the FIA...
As far as I understand, that front wing the issue is that the rules say it must go from open to closed in 400 ms.
The Mercedes front wing does go from open to closed in 400 ms. It then spends another second or so going from close to really, really closed.
The rules don't say there can't be a position beyond closed that is really, really closed, so therefore it's legal.
Actually, I think the rules say they can only be in two positions, open or closed, but they don't specify that closed has to be a fixed position. Therefore, it could be anywhere between where the Mercedes wing is travelling in 400 ms and where it ends up a few seconds later. I really hope Mercedes has got some good lawyers.
Just seems like standard practice of pushing the grey areas of the regulations so that it complies with a plausible interpretation, even if it ignores the intention. Same with the Ferrari "windscreen".
It would appear to have been explained, at least the FIA are happy....
The Mercedes front wing is one that operates with hydraulic pressure being used to push the wing element into corner mode, rather than having a system that gets it pulled down for straightline mode.
The result was that then when the corner mode was activated, there was not enough hydraulic pressure to push the wing back into its final fixed position when the car was travelling above a certain speed, because the forces it needed to counter were too high.
It was only when the speed came off, so the forces experienced by the wing travelling through the air were less, that it was fully able to close.
Mercedes first became aware of the wing problem in qualifying in China, and it was that experience that prompted a front wing change for George Russell during that session.
It believed that fixes had been put in place for the race to prevent a repeat, but those were clearly not enough as Antonelli suffered similar problems.
https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/mysterious-mercedes-front-wing-behaviour-explained-f1-2026/
Verstappen's refusing to speak to a Guardian journalist because of questions they've asked about last year.
"I'm not speaking before he's leaving"
Snowflake.
It would appear to have been explained, at least the FIA are happy....
The Mercedes front wing is one that operates with hydraulic pressure being used to push the wing element into corner mode, rather than having a system that gets it pulled down for straightline mode.
The result was that then when the corner mode was activated, there was not enough hydraulic pressure to push the wing back into its final fixed position when the car was travelling above a certain speed, because the forces it needed to counter were too high.
It was only when the speed came off, so the forces experienced by the wing travelling through the air were less, that it was fully able to close.
Mercedes first became aware of the wing problem in qualifying in China, and it was that experience that prompted a front wing change for George Russell during that session.
It believed that fixes had been put in place for the race to prevent a repeat, but those were clearly not enough as Antonelli suffered similar problems.
https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/mysterious-mercedes-front-wing-behaviour-explained-f1-2026/
Im sure the FIA are happy, the rest of us think it stinks. Are we really meant to believe that they didnt know this would happen after testing in practice and the sprint race. Im sure teams are accidentally underweight or have excessively worn planks but thats an DQ penalty.
Williams also had problems with their front wing failing to return.
The mechanisms are open source so I'd be impressed if they managed to hide something in the design without the other teams being aware.
Are we really meant to believe that they didnt know this would happen after testing in practice and the sprint race.
When you have complex systems that are designed to push performance right to the limit and with very limited time to test everything, you'll get little glitches slipping through.
Are we really meant to believe that they didnt know this would happen after testing in practice and the sprint race.
When you have complex systems that are designed to push performance right to the limit and with very limited time to test everything, you'll get little glitches slipping through.
Im not buying that in this case. They must have known during practice, quali, and the sprint race that this was happening and chose not to fix it. Teams have glitches that mean they get the plank wear calc wrong, or glitches that mean they fail the minimum weight test at the end of the races or glitches that mean there is insufficient fuel left to test. Yet still get disqualified. Why should this glitch not result in a DQ for gaining an advantage?
Why should this glitch not result in a DQ for gaining an advantage?
It didn't give an advantage, it did the opposite, they had less front downforce under braking so their braking power was reduced.
Are we really meant to believe that they didnt know this would happen after testing in practice and the sprint race.
When you have complex systems that are designed to push performance right to the limit and with very limited time to test everything, you'll get little glitches slipping through.
Im not buying that in this case. They must have known during practice, quali, and the sprint race that this was happening and chose not to fix it. Teams have glitches that mean they get the plank wear calc wrong, or glitches that mean they fail the minimum weight test at the end of the races or glitches that mean there is insufficient fuel left to test. Yet still get disqualified. Why should this glitch not result in a DQ for gaining an advantage?
(According to Merc) they changed the front wing and some settings and thought they had fixed it.
I believe the issue was raised by Mclaren outside the window allowed for DSQ so there was zero chance of that happening anyway.
Why should this glitch not result in a DQ for gaining an advantage?
It didn't give an advantage, it did the opposite, they had less front downforce under braking so their braking power was reduced.
Right. Best to stop believing things on YouTube. Under braking you benefit from not just downforce but also drag, so a system that reduces both of those would be a pretty crappy design.
Why should this glitch not result in a DQ for gaining an advantage?
It didn't give an advantage, it did the opposite, they had less front downforce under braking so their braking power was reduced.
Right. Best to stop believing things on YouTube. Under braking you benefit from not just downforce but also drag, so a system that reduces both of those would be a pretty crappy design.
I agree that would be a disadvantage. But on the straights before they hit the breaking point is an advantage especially this year when top speed isn’t just before you brake
But on the straights before they hit the breaking point is an advantage especially this year when top speed isn’t just before you brake
The wings are in low-downforce mode for the straights. They are returned to high-downforce mode for the braking zone. The issue here is that the Merc front wing takes longer than the mandated 400 ms to switch between the two. This makes zero difference to straight-line mode and gives a small disadvantage in the braking zone.
I have issues with people posting comments like “the rest of us” or “nobody likes it”, as if they have asked everyone for their opinion, just to make sure these are factual.
Ferrari looking a bit on the back foot in FP1 + 2. Might see a Mclaren back on the podium...
Good to see the Maclarens back at the pointy end, d'you we think they've sorted their issues with the engine? Would be great to have both Norris and Piastri mixing it with the Mercs and Ferraris...Especially at Suzuka
The issue here is that the Merc front wing takes longer than the mandated 400 ms to switch between the two. This makes zero difference to straight-line mode and gives a small disadvantage in the braking zone.
If it's a disadvantage in the braking zone why is there a mandated time for the wing to close?
(Do you think that just maybe it's because sometimes it's not a disadvantage to have the wing open a bit longer?)
2 reasons. 1. Because it might be disadvantageous for the first braking zone, it might be significantly advantageous for the next sector overall if it happens to be more open. 2.) Because F1Teams LOVE a loophole. If it's never, really, not in reality, fully closed, can it ever really be said to be open too early? Open and closed create static states.
Delighted to see kimi on pole again with fresh air behind him to George.
Has anyone else noticed that Haas are 4th on the constructor’s? It will be crazy if they can keep that up
I’m really enjoying this season so far, the racing has been incredible and it will be really interesting to see how the teams engineer their way out of the challenges of this new formula
Piastri looks to be more of a threat now he’s learned how to do a formation lap.