This only works for a very short moment after impact, then the driver becomes a passenger. It was, as I remember, a desperate attempt to improve position on the last lap. Worked well enough to get banned.
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2026 Formula One Season Thread
- Thread starter The-Real-Deal82
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pachyderm
macrumors G5
It got that driver into the stupid playoff system they have as well.
Yes, second I believe. Wasn’t it with Revson as his co driver? In a 908/02 of his own Solar Productions operation, behind the Ferrari SpA Società Esercizio Fabbriche Automobili e Corse (SEFAC) 512S of Ignazio Giunti, Nino Vaccarella and Mario Andretti. Not bad! Those three are big names!
As far as I’m aware Siegfried Rauch was only ever a very famous German film and TV star (many appearances in Derrick for instance). Mike Parkes apparently coached him on how to handle the brutal Ferrari 512S Coda Lunga.
He apparently drove it fast too. Kudos to him!
From what I understand the 512S was a physically difficult car to drive compared with the 1970 917 which required less physical effort. By that time the bad driving behaviour of the 1969 917 was banished, the 1970 models were stable and fast.
Apparently the famous Maison Blanche scene in the Le Mans movie with McQueen stuck between the lead 917 and the following Ferrari at high speed was done at real speed!
The lead 917 was driven by Pedro Rodriguez and the following Ferrari driven by Derrick Bell. McQueen was apparently scared out of his wits by the scene but took it in his stride.
Pedro and Derrick were of course some of the best drivers of the day. I don’t know if anyone could pull off such a movie these days. I understand Jo Siffert pulled a lot of strings to get race cars for the filming.
The sad bit was David Piper who paid a terrible price for his part in the movie when he was in a crash with 917-013 (JWAE Gulf). He had to have his right leg amputated below the knee as a result of contaminated cut that had been infected with brake fluid and other debris.
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I just looked it up. McQueen finished 2nd in a privateer 908/2. The 2 leaders, a factory 917 and a Ferrari 512 piloted by Mario Andretti both broke down putting McQueen in the lead. Ferrari subbed Andretti into another 512 and told him to go all out, which he did and won. McQueen was only 22 seconds behind in 2nd. Not bad for an actor with a broken foot. By most estimates, Sebring at the time was harder on cars than LeMans or Daytona.
Glideslope
macrumors G3
I could not agree with this more. I believe we will be surprised at the speeds in the new cars. A large factor will be the driver skill set, and more notably their ability to manage their environment, and execute. The driver will be very busy in this car. To a large extent, IMO, the car that gets out fastest first will have the driver than can put it all together the quickest. There are drivers I see these regulations suiting extremely well. Others not so much. I'm getting a retro vibe from what I'm seeing so far that is deeper than liveries. This could end up a great season. The anticipation level feels good.
I later checked back and amended my post, you are right.
Not bad also competing against a 4.9L Ferrari 512S with about 550 horsepower in a 908/02 "Flunder" with a 3.0L flat-8 and only around 350-370hp (depending on the individual engine, some were better than others). In a straight line the 512S would obliterate the 908 in much the same way as it obliterates the 3.0L Ferrari 312P Berlinetta.
And what can you say about the Ferrari drivers, some of the top drivers of the time. Way to go Steve McQueen.
One benefit of the 908 s that it was so well sorted out by that time that they tended to run very reliably. Barring driver error or a crash, the things were very dependable, if not always the fastest, with the exception being the ultra-compact 908/03 which was at home on the Targa Florio and far better there than the big-engined 512 and 917 models.
A couple of 917 did actually turn up to Targa Florio (917-011). But was lost in a head-on collision with a lorry when returning back to the service area. The mechanic driving it was not seriously hurt. What was even more unusual was one 917 had a road-registration on it - "Stuttgart U-3912".
I believe this was part of a requirement of moving the cars cross border. In the case the car was destroyed in an accident it was apparently quite a fuss since it had to be proven that the car was actually destroyed and not left in the country illegally. In one case Porsche had to show the authorities a pile of burned wreckage which was all that was left from a destroyed car, because it was literally no longer a car.
All this documentation that goes with racing cars and approvals is often why some 917 (after damage) got a new chassis (when the damaged one was beyond feasible repair) then had the old chassis number/plate affixed to the new chassis because going through all the hoops and hurdles of the documentation changes was so cumbersome and time consuming.
Unusual to see a racing car with road registration on it. In any case, the big cars weren't at home on the Targa.
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TheIntruder
macrumors 68020
Garner was also a gearhead, after his role in Grand Prix, but not as well known as McQueen or Newman.
The Venn diagram between actors and racing has a fair amount of overlap, even if most of them don't find the same level of success.
Cruise also comes to mind. Michael Fassbender is a recent example, in GT racing (though missing from the list below). Frankie Muniz is racing in NASCAR. McDreamy (Patrick Dempsey). David Letterman is also a huge racing fan, as an Indy native, and co-owns a team like his buddy Newman. On the nights when his show had drivers as guests, the audience was probably WTF? There are others.
Anyway, Williams' car is late again. Hard to turn a ship around, but still not a good look. But all will be forgotten if it is fast.
CWallace
macrumors G5
Good news from Williams - the FW48 weighs in at 772.4kg, which is 4.4kg more than the 768kg minimum weight limit. For comparison, the Mercedes W17 weighs in at 772kg.
www.planetf1.com
Williams confirms car weight for 2026 after alarming rumours eased
Williams has published the official weight of the FW48 car after alarming rumours that the car was significantly over the F1 2026 limit.
www.planetf1.com
Glideslope
macrumors G3
Good news from Williams - the FW48 weighs in at 772.4kg, which is 4.4kg more than the 768kg minimum weight limit. For comparison, the Mercedes W17 weighs in at 772kg.
Williams confirms car weight for 2026 after alarming rumours eased
Williams has published the official weight of the FW48 car after alarming rumours that the car was significantly over the F1 2026 limit.
New Pull Rod suspension as well. Some Silverstone footage out today.
diego.caraballo
macrumors 6502a
Apple fanboy
macrumors Ivy Bridge
Only if you set up your account as US based and have a VPN me thinks. They don't have the rights elsewhere, so would be breaking copyright laws if they did.
I'll stick with the free highlights on Channel 4.
diego.caraballo
macrumors 6502a
I don’t have an F1 Premium account, but am seeing on Facebook that people IN the US are also having trouble linking their accounts.
Mlrollin91
macrumors G5
I was able to get mine to link and it appears that people on Reddit are now getting it to work as well. There were a bunch of errors, but mine worked immediately. Granted I had Premium already, but now it shows I have two Premium subs. One through Apple and hte other expiring March 3, 2026.
For those of us who’ve never had an F1TV subscription but do subscribe to Apple TV, do we need to do anything, or will the F1TV Premium features simply be there for us? I watched the Sky broadcast on ESPN previously.
Mlrollin91
macrumors G5
Races should be made available in the Apple TV app, but if you want full access to F1TV Premium, you will need to create an F1TV account and then link it to Apple. The first time opening the app today after the update prompted me to link to AppleTV.
Thanks! I had an F1 account, but had never done anything with F1TV. Just needed to login to the F1TV site with that and link it to my Apple TV account. Looks like I’m good to go!
Glideslope
macrumors G3
Just synced my Apple TV subscription with a new F1 TV account. It was seamless. F1 Premium works on all my devices. Apple TV doesn’t have a dedicated F1 menu yet. Just a few clips with F1 coming soon. Looking forward to F1 TV Premium features.
[USA] F1 TV Apple subscription is going live now!
https://www.formula1.com/en-us/subscribe-to-f1-tv
Edit: Link provided not working from here. Not sure why.
[USA] F1 TV Apple subscription is going live now!
https://www.formula1.com/en-us/subscribe-to-f1-tv
Edit: Link provided not working from here. Not sure why.
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I saw an interview with Lewis and he looked the happiest I've seen him in a few years. The Ferrari seems to be fun to drive and although he's realistic about the competition, he looks like he's heading into this season with a good level of motivation. I still hope we see Mercedes up the front or thereabouts. I was very impressed with George and his consistentcy last season, and I thought he proved the doubters wrong. I've noticed a lot of fan comments about him being 'lucky' if the Mercedes is a good car this season already, ignoring his input and performance while already trying to discredit him if he becomes a threat to Verstappen. We saw how Lando was treated last year in this respect too, as there seems to be this misconception that drivers can't be very good unless they are significantly better than their teammate and have number one status. I'd love to see George, Kimi, Lando, Oscar and Max fighting this year, and Lewis picking up some wins, as well as Charles.
Its just full of unknowns, which is good for us. A Williams at the front abd picking up wins would also make me smile, even if its not the true Williams outfit, I think Vowles has done an incredible job of restructuring that team.
Its just full of unknowns, which is good for us. A Williams at the front abd picking up wins would also make me smile, even if its not the true Williams outfit, I think Vowles has done an incredible job of restructuring that team.
Apple fanboy
macrumors Ivy Bridge
I hope it’s many teams fighting for victory. But my scepticism says it won’t be (at least at the start).
pachyderm
macrumors G5
Williams new livery... not sure if it's the new chassis ...
CWallace
macrumors G5
The render is not fully representative of the actual car as run at Silverstone. For one, it is missing part of the front suspension. 😛
Seriously, LawVS' video this morning notes that Williams is holding back the actual configuration. The one official picture they released from their shakedown were taken at a point the car was in shadow to obscure it. And fan / media shots were taken from some distance.
Speaking of suspensions, Williams is running a pull-rod front suspension, joining Alpine and Cadillac. Everyone else has switched back to push-rod this season.
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If the reported “loophole” Mercedes and RedBull found with the engine compression gives them the expected power boost, the teams running those power plants could run away from the other engine suppliers.
CWallace
macrumors G5
It sounds like battery deployment and charging strategy could have the biggest impact on lap times. Haas' Ayao Komatsu has said he believes nailing this could boost lap times by three times that given by the engine tweaks AMG and RBFPT have developed.
James Vowels with Williams has also noted that the engines are likely going to be working harder this season because of the batteries having more capacity. So engine reliability might be an issue early on in the season.
I agree that the new cars will have faster lap times compared to last year. My contention is that the Mercedes and RedBull engines will be faster still than the other manufacturers.