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2026 Formula One Season Thread

So things still looking grim for the AMR26, with their best time 4.5 seconds behind Charles Leclerc's session-leading time. Lance was only able to log 36 laps on Day 1 in Sakhir and Alonso did 55 laps this morning. Lance also noted that the car's problems extend over multiple areas so they have "a lot of work ahead of them" to get back into contention with the other teams.

www.planetf1.com

Aston Martin 'needs to find four seconds' as Lance Stroll breaks silence on AMR26

Lance Stroll says Aston Martin "needs to find four seconds" to stand a chance of being competitive with the AMR26 car in F1 2026.
www.planetf1.com www.planetf1.com
 
CWallace said:
So things still looking grim for the AMR26, with their best time 4.5 seconds behind Charles Leclerc's session-leading time. Lance was only able to log 36 laps on Day 1 in Sakhir and Alonso did 55 laps this morning. Lance also noted that the car's problems extend over multiple areas so they have "a lot of work ahead of them" to get back into contention with the other teams.

www.planetf1.com

Aston Martin 'needs to find four seconds' as Lance Stroll breaks silence on AMR26

Lance Stroll says Aston Martin "needs to find four seconds" to stand a chance of being competitive with the AMR26 car in F1 2026.
www.planetf1.com www.planetf1.com
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It’s not just slow, it’s supposedly very difficult to drive also. Sounds a bit like the Red Bull cars of recent years.
 
CWallace said:
So things still looking grim for the AMR26, with their best time 4.5 seconds behind Charles Leclerc's session-leading time. Lance was only able to log 36 laps on Day 1 in Sakhir and Alonso did 55 laps this morning. Lance also noted that the car's problems extend over multiple areas so they have "a lot of work ahead of them" to get back into contention with the other teams.

www.planetf1.com

Aston Martin 'needs to find four seconds' as Lance Stroll breaks silence on AMR26

Lance Stroll says Aston Martin "needs to find four seconds" to stand a chance of being competitive with the AMR26 car in F1 2026.
www.planetf1.com www.planetf1.com
Click to expand...
Should have stuck with Mercedes.

Honda and GP2 all over again.
 
CWallace said:
So things still looking grim for the AMR26, with their best time 4.5 seconds behind Charles Leclerc's session-leading time. Lance was only able to log 36 laps on Day 1 in Sakhir and Alonso did 55 laps this morning. Lance also noted that the car's problems extend over multiple areas so they have "a lot of work ahead of them" to get back into contention with the other teams.

www.planetf1.com

Aston Martin 'needs to find four seconds' as Lance Stroll breaks silence on AMR26

Lance Stroll says Aston Martin "needs to find four seconds" to stand a chance of being competitive with the AMR26 car in F1 2026.
www.planetf1.com www.planetf1.com
Click to expand...

Seems allot of restrictions on the PU due to heat. Most cars were around 12,250rpm at peak on the main straight. AM was turning 10,340rpm. I’m not ready to dismiss the PU for the heat issue. Could be a miscalculation from their lack of alignment between their wind tunnel data and their models. They were struggling with this before Barcelona.
 
Glideslope said:
Max was very vocal in his presser this afternoon. “Cars are not fun to drive. Like Formula E on steroids. Definitely don’t feel formula 1 like.” Lewis saying the cars are “ridiculously complicated.”
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I think they are all right. They are racing drivers and downshifting in the middle of a straight to reduce top speed goes against the whole essence of being a racing driver and the hunt for speed. Lando was asked about Verstappens comments and in a roundabout way said Max could walk away now and he doesn't need F1, yet so many comments now suggesting Lando is 'scared' and wants easier competition lol. I mean, is this the depth of analysis these days from people watching?
 
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The-Real-Deal82 said:
I think they are all right. They are racing drivers and downshifting in the middle of a straight to reduce top speed goes against the whole essence of being a racing driver and the hunt for speed. Lando was asked about Verstappens comments and in a roundabout way said Max could walk away now and he doesn't need F1, yet so many comments now suggesting Lando is 'scared' and wants easier competition lol. I mean, is this the depth of analysis these days from people watching?
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I haven’t developed an educated opinion yet. It’s only practice. I’ve seen a couple drivers commenting that the cars are difficult to follow in dirty air as well. There does seem to be a general consensus building that the complexity of the drivers management work load is much higher than expected. I find this interesting as one would think their sims would model this accurately.

Initially I as well as others felt the odd downshifting was for regeneration. It seems pretty clear now that it’s to keep the turbos spooled up. The lack of the MGU-H this year seems more of an issue than anticipated. The turbos were always spooling last generation. Allot of time is being spent in the pits finding the correct rpm to exit from a stop.

The need to LiCo is the largest irritant IMO. What F1 driver wants to LiCo into a turn versus braking as late as possible and exiting under full power? Not many it would appear.

I’m a supporter of HEV, PHEV, EV technology. I drive a PHEV every day. That being said I’ve never supported Formula E. Going to MGU-K may have been a mistake from MGU-H despite its relevance to today’s road vehicles. I think it’s going to be a challenge for the typical fan watching why the cars start to slow down halfway down the straight.

I’ll have an opinion by Japan.
 
CWallace said:
autoracer.it

Caso Mercedes risolto: verso la firma di un nuovo regolamento

I motoristi e la FIA stanno trovando un accordo riguardo le controversie sulle nuove Power Unit, firmando un nuovo regolamento.
autoracer.it autoracer.it
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The technical director of the FIA Tombazis was quite clear about the legality of the new engines: “it must not be a race to those who are more shrewd in interpretations”.
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Yikes. Then what is it?

I can understand Max's remarks about the new cars.

But if he's hoping to race at Le Mans in the future, he'll have to adapt if he wants to do so in the top class, where the cars have required driver/energy managment since the P1H hybrids came into being. Even the current spec-based LMDh cars are more complex to drive than he'd probably like.

I suspect Lando was being mostly cheeky, but there's truth behind what he said.
 
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TheIntruder said:
Yikes. Then what is it?

I can understand Max's remarks about the new cars.

But if he's hoping to race at Le Mans in the future, he'll have to adapt if he wants to do so in the top class, where the cars have required driver/energy managment since the P1H hybrids came into being. Even the current spec-based LMDh cars are more complex to drive than he'd probably like.

I suspect Lando was being mostly cheeky, but there's truth behind what he said.
Click to expand...

I agreed to a point. I do think he understands the differences between F1 and P1H cars. LeMans isn’t Formula 1. I’m more supportive of Hybrid racing in endurance events.
 
Another five star review on the new cars. Though Alonso's comments might be affected by the current state of the Aston Martin.

1770992081461.png
 
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Glideslope said:
Initially I as well as others felt the odd downshifting was for regeneration. It seems pretty clear now that it’s to keep the turbos spooled up. The lack of the MGU-H this year seems more of an issue than anticipated. The turbos were always spooling last generation. Allot of time is being spent in the pits finding the correct rpm to exit from a stop.
Click to expand...

There is also a concern about the start of the race as the engines need to be revved for some ten seconds to get sufficient boost to launch. The FIA suggested an amendment to the starting procedure last year, but Ferrari vetoed it and it is unknown whether they will accept a new proposal.

 
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CWallace said:
There is also a concern about the start of the race as the engines need to be revved for some ten seconds to get sufficient boost to launch. The FIA suggested an amendment to the starting procedure last year, but Ferrari vetoed it and it is unknown whether they will accept a new proposal.

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Of course Ferrari did.

Looked like Mercedes had the power back up today.
 
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Glideslope said:
Of course Ferrari did.

Looked like Mercedes had the power back up today.
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Well, if the reports are true, Ferrari raised the issue about a year ago and it was dismissed by everyone else. So, Ferrari developed around it. I think it’s completely in Ferrari’s right to veto it now after trying to bring it to the forefront a while back but not gaining any traction.
 
Mlrollin91 said:
Well, if the reports are true, Ferrari raised the issue about a year ago and it was dismissed by everyone else. So, Ferrari developed around it. I think it’s completely in Ferrari’s right to veto it now after trying to bring it to the forefront a while back but not gaining any traction.
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I am pretty sure the FIA can just unilaterally make a rule change in the interests of safety so while they appear to be trying to get a consensus with the teams, if we see incidents at Melbourne's start, I expect we will see a new procedure in place at Shanghai.
 
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pachyderm said:
View attachment 2605060

Hadjar is very smol...
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Most of them are shorter than people realise. Back in 2008 I was in a marquee after the race and was shocked how short Timo Glock, Felipe Massa, Rubens Barrichello and Lewis Hamilton were. The tallest drivers back then were people like Jenson Button, David Coulthard and Mark Webber. I think Hadjar and Yuki are amongst the smallest these days lol.
 
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headlessmike said:
167 cm (5’6”) apparently. Max is one of the taller drivers at 181 cm, which is slightly below average for Dutch men.

I did some karting as a kid and was talented but always knew I’d be too big to make it very far, and indeed I’m 2 meters tall.
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As an American I have no idea what that is equal to here... Is that like 3 washing machines tall?

😛

F1 OS headlines:

"Alpine boosted by ‘much better’ 2026 car and ‘big gains’ from Mercedes power unit"

"We have a lot of work to do’ – Stroll claims Aston Martin are ‘four-and-a-half seconds’ off top teams with 2026 car"
 
pachyderm said:
As an American I have no idea what that is equal to here... Is that like 3 washing machines tall?

😛

F1 OS headlines:

"Alpine boosted by ‘much better’ 2026 car and ‘big gains’ from Mercedes power unit"

"We have a lot of work to do’ – Stroll claims Aston Martin are ‘four-and-a-half seconds’ off top teams with 2026 car"
Click to expand...
It's about 6 foot 6 inches. Quite tall.
 
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pachyderm said:
As an American I have no idea what that is equal to here... Is that like 3 washing machines tall?

😛

F1 OS headlines:

"Alpine boosted by ‘much better’ 2026 car and ‘big gains’ from Mercedes power unit"

"We have a lot of work to do’ – Stroll claims Aston Martin are ‘four-and-a-half seconds’ off top teams with 2026 car"
Click to expand...
I’m American too but assumed most people worked in metric in an F1 thread. It’s 19.6 hands.
 
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