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It was partly tongue-in-cheek but Ted Kravitz did bring that up with some engineers/Team Principals etc. in the testing coverage and suggest that the new flashing lights on the rear wings (and mirrors?) might actually be good to use as a display for when cars are using Boost or Overtake modes because otherwise it's all a bit unclear what is happening.
I think in BTCC they do this, the side number panel lights up when they're using their boost (although that is only 3? times a race so a bit simpler to keep track of).
Otherwise you'll see one car going a bit slower or faster than another and not really know whether one has a problem, got a worse exit from the corner or is using more power.
I think a lot of the discussion about Boost, Super Boost, over Boost Clipping, Super Clipping, and whatever is just because it's all new. Fairly quickly, I think we'll get to understand what it all means and what the effect is and what actually matters.
If you think about trying to explain to a total newbie all the nuances of last year's Formula One, what was happening, who was doing what and why, it would sound massively complicated and really difficult to explain. This is the same just for people who have actually been interested in Formula One for a while.
It's been a part of F1 for over a decade, basically the cars run out of battery to deploy before the end of a straight so they lose power and start slowing down. The difference this year is that more of the total power comes from the battery so the slowing effect is more severe.
Ultimately, all the energy comes from the ICE, the battery just harvests some of that and allows it to be used at the optimal time over the lap. AIUI, the maximum fuel load is the same, so the cars start the race with roughly the same amount of chemical energy as before, but the PUs will be less efficient at using that because the old engines used the turbo to harvest exhaust energy to charge the battery. So, the new cars have less total useable energy across the race, but increased ability to redistribute that across the lap. They have partially addressed this energy deficit by going to a lower drag design, but it's more efficient to redistribute energy from the end of straights (where aero drag is extremely high) to other parts of the lap, hence the clipping. Every circuit will have a different optimal deployment map, so the challenge for teams is to find that. The entire purpose of these rules is to emphasize efficiency, not running flat out lap after lap. Clipping is a feature of the new rules, not a bug.
It's been a part of F1 for over a decade, basically the cars run out of battery to deploy before the end of a straight so they lose power and start slowing down. The difference this year is that more of the total power comes from the battery so the slowing effect is more severe.
Under the previous rules, the MGU-H was harvesting waste energy all the time from the turbo so clipping was never really slowing the car much.
Now we've lost the MGU-H, that waste energy is just being lost out the exhaust instead, and the energy to charge the battery is being taken away from driving the wheels; so not only is the electric motor not giving power, but it's actively sapping it from the engine.
Well I've watched FP1 now and I think they look perfectly fine on track.
The real test will be Sunday of course - if they race well all this talk of super clipping will be quickly forgotten.
Speaking of different deployment maps for different circuits, the FIA tried to remove a strait mode zone overnight but the teams revolted because it would have meant starting from scratch on the deployment map and car setup with only FP3 to figure it all out.
https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/f1-team-driver-revolt-straight-mode-u-turn-australian-gp/
Verstappen bins it on his first quali lap!
Looking forward to Max charging through the field tomorrow.
Fingers crossed that Hadjar has broken the curse of the TB 2nd seat
That Mercedes pace was ominous
Good things:
Amazing qualifying performance from Linblad, and Hadjar.
Cadillac showing Aston Martin how it's done
Bad things:
Changing down at the end of the back straight doesn't look/sound good.
Brundle thinks that if you finish, your chances of being in the points are pretty high.
Hoping this season doesn’t become a Mercedes procession. Early days yet of course.
I’ve just seen Antonelli’s FP3 crash - seriously impressive that he was able to do any running at all in qualifying. Even the mechanics all appear to be up for this season!
Hoping this season doesn’t become a Mercedes procession. Early days yet of course.
Or at least kimi is allowed to race and not made to follow princess george round
If he does we will have George doing a button as some time champion and hoping everyone forgets it was the car and not the driver that was the deciding factor
Fingers crossed that Hadjar has broken the curse of the TB 2nd seat
I'm hoping it lasts. So far, Hadjar has looked like the real deal. Thing is, Perez looked half-way decent earlier in his Red Bull years. From what I remember, the first Red Bull ground-effect car was a bit overweight and a bit understeery, which suited Perez so he looked competitive with Max. They trimmed a lot of weight out of the front of the car and developed the aero, which made the rear of the car less stable. It was faster, but only Max could exploit it so Perez ended up looking pretty second rate, as did Lawson and Tsunoda. Hopefully the same thing won't happen to Hadjar.
So it looks like this season is going to be a two horse race, between Mercedes doing all they can to be as fast as possible and the FIA doing all they can to nobble them
If I were Mercedes, I’d be making sure that in the race and the next few qualifying sessions, my margins of victory were as small as possible…
I’ve just watched the highlights - it looks like Norris did his final quali lap with a broken front wing. It was in contact with the ground on the LHS as he crossed the S/F line.
Mclaren must but very short on spares to be just taping up Lando's car rather than fitting a new wing.
it looks like Norris did his final quali lap with a broken front wing.
Yeah, almost certainly a result of hitting Antonelli’s cooling fan. Evidently duct tape has its limits.
I see Ferrari have dropped the inverted wing.
Race should be interesting while everyone’s still figuring out their deployment strategies.
I see Ferrari have dropped the inverted wing.
Will be interesting to see if they abandon it completely or it's a circuit to circuit thing, and also whether other teams try it.
I see Ferrari have dropped the inverted wing.
I thought that was a spoof part to get headlines and to distract the other teams. I never thought it was going to be a real thing to use in races.
I see Ferrari have dropped the inverted wing.
I thought that was a spoof part to get headlines and to distract the other teams. I never thought it was going to be a real thing to use in races.
I expect it to be raced. With the development time constraints and the budget cap I wouldn’t think anyone would waste time on a spoof part
Shame about the Red Bull cock up, would have liked to see how quick they are with Max at the helm. They looked quick, although I think Mercedes has pace in hand.
There's more to that car than just engine, it looked very well sorted already.
Audi also a nice surprise & good debut qualifying for Lindblad.
Piastri gets his 2026 season off to a cracking start!
Just waiting for the Piastri conspiracy theories to kick off - McL obviously favour Norris so they must have sabotaged him somehow.
**Early Morning Shit-Show Sweepstake**
How many cars won't actually make it off the grid at the start when lights go out!?
I'll go x3. 😀
Failed on that one!! 🤣
Huge field spread after only 6 laps!
Apart from Piastri’s crash, they couldn’t have asked for a better first 10 laps for the new regs
Bonkers!
Looks like they can follow closely and overtake where they want.
Was that Ferrari being Ferrari, missing a pit opportunity.
Ferrari being Ferrari again - missed chance again?
Yes, yes it is Ferrari strategist asleep. Ffs.
I would imagine Williams are very disappointed with their pace. Not making any progress.
If the Mercs have to pit it could end up looking like a master stroke… which everyone will still assume was a mistake
Lawson being shown up by the rookie. Got to be his last year in F1 - if he sees out the season.
I enjoyed that - went a bit flat at the end. But normal for an F1 race.
5 Brits in the top 8....
I enjoyed that - went a bit flat at the end. But normal for an F1 race.
My exact thoughts too. Fizzled out but otherwise good
Twitter is hilarious this morning - people properly losing their shit!! 🤣🤣
Mainly because it wasn’t as shit as the F1 ‘analysts’ had predicted so they’re pushing new agendas as to why it was shit to justify their last 3 days output.
Trackside shots were generally good. Onboard… maybe not so much. Losing speed on the straights still isn’t a good look
Mainly because it wasn’t as shit as the F1 ‘analysts’ had predicted so they’re pushing new agendas as to why it was shit to justify their last 3 days output.
Not really an aficionado but have a passing interest so I've no shit to lose particularly over new regs and 'purity' of engine tech and the like.
But from watching the highlights this am, seems to me like these changes are brilliant? 3x as many overtakes as last year, lead swapping several times and not just by being better at scheduling a tyre change. On the hoof strategy decisions of when to boost and not. What's not to like?
If you are seriously offended by the fact that they don't go as fast in straight line or make as much noise as in the past - is drag racing not what you're after?
Well I thought it was crap - silly boost buttons and stuff, it’s becoming a video game. When do they get to start throwing banana skins out of their cars?
3x as many overtakes as last year, lead swapping several times and not just by being better at scheduling a tyre change. On the hoof strategy decisions of when to boost and not.
This was the first race of the new regs. The teams and drivers were still figuring out strategies and tactics. They will have those figured out within a few races and the racing will probably become more predictable. Still, good that the most doom-laden predictions didn't pan out.
Twitter is hilarious this morning - people properly losing their shit!! 🤣🤣
Mainly because it wasn’t as shit as the F1 ‘analysts’ had predicted so they’re pushing new agendas as to why it was shit to justify their last 3 days output.
3 days. I wish. Most have been in doom and gloom mode since Christmas if not before