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2026 Formula One Season Thread

JustinePaula said:
I dispute the Lewis is the most successful.. Sure 1 metric says he is, but... Would Lewis have survived a race in 1950?? By pure naked numbers, Lewis is great, but.. That is all... I don't think he is a great driver, nor was Micheal Schumacher, nor is that kid from Belguim, Max something.. Really, had 1 great save in the rain as a child.. but then, again, 1 driver in a 1 car championship.. Hard to come 2nd..
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I have zero interest in taking drivers and judging them by the scenarios in completely different era's. Could Lewis survive in F1 in 1950? Who knows? Could a 50 year old, overweight Fangio even drive a modern F1 car on the limit for 58 laps? Who knows? Its a completely pointless way to determine the success of any driver and does not even give a quantifiable answer at the end. For clarity, my comment about success was in its simplist form, straight results. Not whether a driver could survive the Pompei eruption or whatever other metric others want to dream up. It wasn't a difficult statement to understand. Thats enough anyway, I regret quoting you and probably never will again. All the best.
 
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That is the problem, "most" is the problem, most by what metric? Sure in this era, but what era? Every few years the regs change, and new drivers emerge, so the old can only be compared within the tight era of the regs that applied at that time...

To say straight results is mute, it is who drives what and against who.. I have no doubt Lewis/Micheal/Max are great drivers, but how much of that is car and how much is that the meat in the seat? Micheal drove in an era of very few computer based systems, Lewis and Max are driving 99% computers and 1% meat in the seat, it is about data control more than car control...

We are seeing the move away from talent and the use of smarts more.. Is Kimi more talented or just smarter at handling the technology than George and Max??? I question, I don't mean to upset, but I apologise if I did upset.. Not my intent..
 
Paul1964 said:
Ask Jos Verstappen about that.
View attachment 2627771
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Indeed, although he was just a slightly lighter shade of red prior to the fireball…

IMG_8027.jpeg
 
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The-Real-Deal82 said:
I have seen those rumours too and think it may be time, even if the journalists mentioned are big Hamilton detractors. The fact he may do it in front of the British fans is very poignant and I hope he does it there rather than at Monza. He'll retire as the most successful F1 driver in the history of the sport and definitely the most impressive I have witnessed in my life time. His legacy is a difficult one to beat and I think it'll be a long time before we see another driver that does as much for the sport/motorsport as Lewis has in terms of appeal.

It also depends whether this is just a rumour though and if Lewis is actually wanting to retire. His massive salary at Ferrari was essentially paid for by sponsors and he has huge market appeal for the Ferrari brand. It would also be great to see him back at Mercedes in an ambassador role, as he owes all his success to them.
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An ambassador role at Mercedes with a Mission 44 tie in could have a positive impact on a lot of people.
 
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I am perplexed, Lewis has his own brands, and own causes, so why would he choose a company he left after a strop, and be associated with coffin nails? Death sticks? Lung cancer? I don't see him modelling images of decayed tongues due to cancer.
 
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I hope F1 revert to an all engine formula, that they only allow batteries for the laptops and the brake fans, batteries are not an F1 thing, look we had hybrids as long as we have had cars, the only reason we never had hybrids for over a century was the very impossible task of getting power to all parts of the US, when it was cheaper and more cost effective to bring a liquid power source... So if we had managed to cure the problem of power to all parts of the US in the early 1900's, from the late 1890's, instead of "gas", then Formula E, would have been the formula Mr Fangio drove in the 1950's.. ICE would never have been viable...


Just an alternate universe take on evolution of F1.. Would ICE power or Hybrid, or pure battery been the choice in 1950???
 
JustinePaula said:
I hope F1 revert to an all engine formula, that they only allow batteries for the laptops and the brake fans, batteries are not an F1 thing, look we had hybrids as long as we have had cars, the only reason we never had hybrids for over a century was the very impossible task of getting power to all parts of the US, when it was cheaper and more cost effective to bring a liquid power source... So if we had managed to cure the problem of power to all parts of the US in the early 1900's, from the late 1890's, instead of "gas", then Formula E, would have been the formula Mr Fangio drove in the 1950's.. ICE would never have been viable...


Just an alternate universe take on evolution of F1.. Would ICE power or Hybrid, or pure battery been the choice in 1950???
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Actually you make good point there.

Very heavy lead-acid batteries were also a bit of an issue but I suppose it’s possible that battery technology would have advanced faster if it was the only power source for vehicles.

Formula E with the Gen 4 cars next year has the potential to be awesome. Also, Monaco for Formula E this weekend. Better racing than F1 round the tight street circuit.
 
CWallace said:
Even without Newey, Red Bull is still developing unique aerodynamic tricks, though the FIA may limit or ban it come 2027.

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I think the common misconception that Newey drew all these amazing aero innovations on the back of a fag packet and got a team of 100 draftsmen to produce them in CAD, is starting to dwindle. A bit like in the Apple fanbase where Steve Jobs gets far too much credit for others brilliance lol.
 
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The-Real-Deal82 said:
I think the common misconception that Newey drew all these amazing aero innovations on the back of a fag packet and got a team of 100 draftsmen to produce them in CAD, is starting to dwindle. A bit like in the Apple fanbase where Steve Jobs gets far too much credit for others brilliance lol.
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With one notable exception all good ideas and companies are a team who all have their part to play in making things happen.

The notable exception? That’s where I work and do all the good things! 😀
 
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At the Miami Grand Prix, Mohammed Ben Sulayem noted that the FIA planned to exercise at least some control over F1 team ownership as a new suitor [New York Mets owner Steve Cohen] has expressed interest in purchasing Otto Capital's 24% ownership stake in the Alpine F1 team, possibly due to recent reports that Gucci is said to be interested in replacing BWT as the title sponsor for the team. RedBird Capital Partners, who is currently a part of Otto Capital's stake, has also stated they have no interest in selling and might make a play for the whole stake.

Renault's Board appears to favor Mercedes securing the stake as it would strengthen the ties between the two teams and would ensure that Alpine would keep Mercedes power when the next set of engine regulations come into effect in the early 2030s (as Wolff has said that they want to drop one of their current customers at that time).

McLaren CEO Zak Brown sent a letter to MBS expressing his concern about Mercedes taking a major ownership stake in another team as it could give Mercedes an additional "voice" on crafting Formula One's rules and regulations like Red Bull enjoys via Racing Bulls. And considering Mercedes had significant input into drafting the 2026 regulations which have dropped like week-old fish, the FIA might not be excited for them to have even more power when it comes to 2030/2031 as MBS also seemed to express support for Christian Horner's bid over Mercedes'.

As for Otto Capital's stake, Renault has veto power over the buyer through early September and may be working to try and secure a deal with Mercedes before that date. The Alpine F1 team board underwent a recent change, with newly-promoted Renault Group CFO Duncan Minto (formerly Alpine CFO) leaving and being replaced by Guillaume Rosso, Renault’s global head of mergers and acquisitions.

sector.world

The 24 per cent Alpine F1 stake - the state of play | Sector

A stake in the BWT Alpine F1 Team is on the market and the battle to acquire it has become one of the most politically charged stories in the paddock
sector.world sector.world

 
The-Real-Deal82 said:
I think the common misconception that Newey drew all these amazing aero innovations on the back of a fag packet and got a team of 100 draftsmen to produce them in CAD, is starting to dwindle. A bit like in the Apple fanbase where Steve Jobs gets far too much credit for others brilliance lol.
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Ha... I wonder how many better designs Stevie tossed in the bin, Stevie had way too many stinkers.. He made 1 huge blunder, that was Final Cut Pro X, destroyed the app.. But a lot of folks seem to think otherwise, so I guess what one person thinks is a stinky heap of some bear called Winnie.. or it is a bed of roses, have to love diversity...
 
I'd post some of Max's overtakes today from the 24hr at Nurburgring to spice up the racing, but it would be too off topic.. 😉

Edit: Timeline
 
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What? There was overtaking? Yikes, too hot n spicy for the FIA.. They find pepper on a plain rice cake too hot to handle.. Overtakes would send the FIA into a fit of rage... They hate overtakes.. Prefer rice cakes...
 
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Glideslope said:
It’s over. Juncadella behind the wheel when the AMG-Mercedes decided to eat its differential. Unfortunate mechanical. Had incredible pace.
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I was watching last night for a bit. Pretty cool. We were on board with #81 I forget who the driver was a t the time. It was around 6:30 pm here ...
 
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Gosh, you would think that by 2026, and the number of races they do. Each team would have a process in place to change everything in under 90 seconds... Did they forget diffs are a consumerable part, that cars love to munch on mid race...
 
JustinePaula said:
Gosh, you would think that by 2026, and the number of races they do. Each team would have a process in place to change everything in under 90 seconds... Did they forget diffs are a consumerable part, that cars love to munch on mid race...
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Audi did that with their R8 Le Mans Prototypes. They could swap the entire back end of the car with the transmission, differential and suspension parts in under 5 minutes.

The Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO), organizers of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, moved quickly to ban it because it was such a massive advantage (a gearbox change in a traditional LMP900 normally took upwards of three hours).

 
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