2026 Formula One Season Thread

[Paul1964]

So. I'm the only one who didn't care for the drone?

Yes. But to be fair some of the drone shots were wasted as it was a bit far back from the action. When it was up close though it was brilliant.

 

[pachyderm]

Yes. But to be fair some of the drone shots were wasted as it was a bit far back from the action. When it was up close though it was brilliant.

I saw the whole race.

Oh well.

 

[CWallace]

So what happened to the Lawson fire? He was or was not on fire?

F1TV believed he was smelling smoke in the cockpit, possibly from overcooked brakes. But clearly telemetry didn't show a serious issue so he never came in.

 

[Non-Euclidean]

F1TV believed he was smelling smoke in the cockpit, possibly from overcooked brakes. But clearly telemetry didn't show a serious issue so he never came in.

I must have missed that fire report. I remember the guy early in the race coming in with brakes on fire, and seeing his car get doused in the pits.

Otherwise an enjoyable finish as Max and Kimi had a great pace and were closing on the next car in front. I figured Max would run out of time, given the lap count and the rate of closure.

I think they could bring back the point for a fastest lap, if they restrict it to happening after X laps on a set of tires to stop the previous abuse. Its pretty obvious when its merited when it comes from a competitive driver who is racing as opposed to a stunt. How many laps on his tires was Kimi when he set it? Hadjar?

 

[pachyderm]

And stop me if I'm wrong here but did the top three end less than 5 seconds apart...? Someone mentioned above if that one goes on for a few laps more who knows what happens.

 

[CWallace]

With the post mortem completed, the verdict is that Ferrari struggled to keep the battery charged at Spielberg, as there were few braking zones which meant super-clipping was the main way to recharge. As such, Ferrari had to spend more time super-clipping than the Mercedes, Red Bull or McLaren, resulting in them running 20kph+ slower towards the end of the straight and making it much easier to pass.

Unfortunately for Ferrari, Silverstone is similar to the Red Bull Ring in terms of energy management, so expect them to struggle there, as well. On the flip side, Vasseur admitted that they should have accepted they were not going to be able to keep up with the Mercedes and focused on keeping McLaren at bay. So I have a feeling they will go in knowing that at best they are fighting for third place.

 

[m..]

F1TV believed he was smelling smoke in the cockpit, possibly from overcooked brakes. But clearly telemetry didn't show a serious issue so he never came in.

The voice messages are delayed so I wondered at the time if he had been smelling smoke from one of the Cadillacs. (were they on a similar part of the track any time?)

 

[JustinePaula]

Delayed? That is an excuse for the mail being delayed in 1912 when The Titanic sank, in 2026, with digital and AI, it should be as close to live as possible, not slower than the mail in 1912...

 

[CWallace]

While I would not wipe my bum with The Daily Fail for fear of splinters (as I presume the grade of paper they print on is as rubbish as the grade of their reporting), LawVS did have an interesting take on the media hyperventilation about Max possibly going to McLaren as early as next year in a driver swap with Oscar Piastri.

Said take is along what happened when Michael went to Ferrari and brought his Benetton "brain trust" with him which transformed the team into a regular title contender and winner. It is a bit different here, in that the Red Bull "brain trust" is already at McLaren, he has an actual incentive to go there.

On the flip side, the MCL40 looks to be a weaker chassis than the RB22 (especially post-update) and McLaren is dependent on a third-party for their Power Unit where Red Bull control "the whole stack". And we have seen McLaren has been struggling both integrating the M17 PU as well as extracting the most performance from it.

Another potential issue is that Max is used to having the team focused around himself, which runs counter to "Papaya Rules". However, with Gianpiero Lambiase inbound, his position arguably gives him the power to start adjusting those rules to favor Max.