Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

2026 Formula One Season Thread

Apple fanboy said:
I often wonder how many of the aero bits at these launches are there to throw the other teams off? Just made up to misdirect.
Click to expand...

Yes I would not put much stock in things like the wing endplates and the barge boards shown in the renders as they are not representative of what we have seen on the initial shakedowns and will change even more during the testing sessions.

That being said, that diffuser is likely what the car will run in Australia. When it was revealed on the W17, many pundits were of the opinion this could offer significant benefits so like the blown diffuser of 2009, any team that does not already have one at Barcelona will likely have one, if not at Melbourne, then by Miami or Canada.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Glideslope and pachyderm
Williams will be skipping the Barcelona Shakedown to focus on getting ready for the formal testing in Bahrain.


Not sure if this is something we should be concerned about. Is the car just not ready to send out to test? There have been multiple reports that the Mercedes customer teams have encountered a fair bit of difficulty in integrating the new PU and are a fair bit behind where they would like to be. For example, McLaren only recently fired up their car for the first time.

Or is there some critical design issue that they are scrambling to address and cannot afford to send staff and chassis to Barcelona?
 
  • Sad
  • Wow
Reactions: Glideslope and pachyderm
CWallace said:
Williams will be skipping the Barcelona Shakedown to focus on getting ready for the formal testing in Bahrain.


Not sure if this is something we should be concerned about. Is the car just not ready to send out to test? There have been multiple reports that the Mercedes customer teams have encountered a fair bit of difficulty in integrating the new PU and are a fair bit behind where they would like to be. For example, McLaren only recently fired up their car for the first time.

Or is there some critical design issue that they are scrambling to address and cannot afford to send staff and chassis to Barcelona?
Click to expand...
eeeeewwww boy... This smacks of multiple PU failures for the upcoming season...
 
1769187038999.png

1769187223417.png

1769187064310.png


A526

1769187166466.png
 
CWallace said:
Williams will be skipping the Barcelona Shakedown to focus on getting ready for the formal testing in Bahrain.


Not sure if this is something we should be concerned about. Is the car just not ready to send out to test? There have been multiple reports that the Mercedes customer teams have encountered a fair bit of difficulty in integrating the new PU and are a fair bit behind where they would like to be. For example, McLaren only recently fired up their car for the first time.

Or is there some critical design issue that they are scrambling to address and cannot afford to send staff and chassis to Barcelona?
Click to expand...

My understanding it’s related to still being compromised on the Frontal Impact Crash Test. I was surprised when James hired Matt Harman from Alpine. Certainly appears to be an Alpine 2024 repeat. Per sources.
 
  • Like
Reactions: pachyderm and CWallace
They look too thin and odd without the winglets over the front tyres lol. RB still the prettiest for me, that blue..

I can see some performance drops with those front wing edges being broken on some of the designs in the inevitable scrap for the first corner.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Glideslope and pachyderm
  • Wow
Reactions: pachyderm and Pezimak
Okay - Did anyone one of us that post in here actually like the F1 movie?

I enjoyed it, more or less, was it realistic... more often than not to sometimes... I guess.

I really don't know what to think about it.

I give :apple: :apple: :apple: 's

Anyone else?
 
I did see "F1" in the theater. It was not in IMAX, but it was a larger screen and Dolby Atmos and on a technical level, I found it very impressive. The story was overall decent enough, though clearly there were parts that strongly stretched credibility - especially for those of us deeply versed in FIA and F1.

Was I entertained? Yes. And that's why I go to the theater, so I consider it a success. >_<
 
  • Like
Reactions: pachyderm
pachyderm said:
Okay - Did anyone one of us that post in here actually like the F1 movie?

I enjoyed it, more or less, was it realistic... more often than not to sometimes... I guess.

I really don't know what to think about it.

I give :apple: :apple: :apple: 's

Anyone else?
Click to expand...

I watched it. It was ok. Didn’t care for the story line. My wife went to see Brad.


CWallace said:
Looks like Aston-Martin is also struggling to pass the test.

www.f1oversteer.com

Another F1 team are now struggling to pass 2026 FIA crash tests after Williams

Will ANOTHER team miss testing?
www.f1oversteer.com www.f1oversteer.com
Click to expand...

Yea, I saw this. Can’t really tell what’s the issue is from other sources. My guess is Newey may be pushing the edge too hard. I doubt it’s a funding issue. I can see them prioritizing 2027 already though. I don’t think the RA626H is going to be competitive this year. Honda needs another year unfortunately.
 
  • Like
Reactions: pachyderm
Images from Barcelona...

1769425221602.png


Is this the Audi ? Have I missed a launch? Audi R26 Formula 1 car during its first shakedown test in Barcelona.

1769425258919.png

1769425377837.png

1769425472292.png

1769425508395.png

1769425519454.png
 

Attachments

  • 1769425540788.png
    1769425540788.png
    3.6 MB · Views: 52
Last edited:
  • Love
Reactions: Pezimak
pachyderm said:
Images from Barcelona...

View attachment 2599117

Is this the Audi ? Have I missed a launch? Audi R26 Formula 1 car during its first shakedown test in Barcelona.
Click to expand...

Audi has had at least two "launches" in the past couple of weeks. 😛

pachyderm said:
FW48 ?
Have we seen this one yet?
Click to expand...

I do not think we have seen anything formal about the 2026 Williams as of yet. The formal livery launch is scheduled for 3 February.
 
  • Like
Reactions: pachyderm
In other news, Riccardo Adami has been moved to a different role within the team and Lewis' new race engineer is said to be former McLaren performance engineer Cedric Michel-Grosjean. Michel-Grosjean was Piastri's lead trackside performance engineer in 2025, but left the team at the end of the season.

www.planetf1.com

Main Ferrari target emerges in Lewis Hamilton race engineer search - reports

Ferrari has reportedly identified the main target to replace Riccardo Adami as Lewis Hamilton's race engineer for the F1 2026 season.
www.planetf1.com www.planetf1.com
 
During their Barcelona live stream, Spanish YouTube motorsport channel Soy Motor claims the Williams FW48 could be up to 30kg over the minimum weight due to the structural reinforcements needed to pass the FIA crash tests.


With the performance boost provided by the Mercedes-AMG M17 E Performance power unit only worth about three-tenths, that would put them over a half-second behind their AMG-powered peers.

Reminds me of the FW42 in 2019, which was significantly overweight and was a truck the entire season. It was so bad it led to Paddy Lowe being canned.
 
  • Wow
Reactions: pachyderm
Glideslope said:
I’ll admit I was surprised how long they ran today. Might be a positive. The Mercedes and the RBPT do sound nice. I’m really liking the new growl.
Click to expand...

Indeed. Seven teams were running today (Racing Bulls, Red Bull, Mercedes, Cadillac, Alpine, Haas, Audi) with McLaren and Ferrari already noting they would not run until tomorrow and Aston still not yet at the track.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: pachyderm
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back