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F1 2026

Beau Peep said:
Mercedes times yesterday were consistent and reliable 1:17.4 and 1:17.6. Lap record is 1:15.7 so on the face of it, impressive, particularly given these cars are supposed to be two seconds slower!

Speed trap reading 347 km/h Monday and 337 km/h Wednesday, compared to 320 km/h for the old cars. Wow!


I should point out, I was trying to be funny :oops: but I don't think I'm particularly excited for a "Norris era" and now all the awful people have left Red Bull (except one) I don't even mind them so much.

I know they can't all be James Hunt, but this lot are a dull bunch of drivers and he's an insipid champion. Piastri will be stronger and more mature and the field will be shaken up by the regs. Who knows who has nailed their car. I would bet it's not Ferrari or Aston Martin mind! Right now I'm leaning to Mercedes.
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To be fair it’s like all sport. They are all media trained to avoid controversy.

It’s all about protecting the brand. They say nothing outrageous and instead talk about “energy” and “the fans”. I miss the days of Senna, Kimi, Hunt, and drivers who lived a bit.
 

Beau Peep said:
I should point out, I was trying to be funny :oops: but I don't think I'm particularly excited for a "Norris era" and now all the awful people have left Red Bull (except one) I don't even mind them so much.

I know they can't all be James Hunt, but this lot are a dull bunch of drivers and he's an insipid champion. Piastri will be stronger and more mature and the field will be shaken up by the regs. Who knows who has nailed their car. I would bet it's not Ferrari or Aston Martin mind! Right now I'm leaning to Mercedes.
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My point is "5 in a row" :lol:
 
asl02 said:
It’s a shakedown lads. Lap times mean nothing 😂
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I get where you are coming from but the lap times do matter otherwise why time them.

They matter in relation to each other. If one team is doing 1.15s and the rest are doing 1.18s then alarm bells will start ringing.
 
Beau Peep said:
I mean, being close to the lap record on day 3 of a January shakedown is indicative of something!
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bw interesting to see how close Kimi can run George if that's a championship winning car. still think he's a season or three too early into f1.
 
errant said:
bw interesting to see how close Kimi can run George if that's a championship winning car. still think he's a season or three too early into f1.
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He’s obviously quick and I agree that he’s early to F1 but I suspect Mercedes see him as a very long term investment therefore the best place to develop is in the car racing against the best.
 
errant said:
bw interesting to see how close Kimi can run George if that's a championship winning car. still think he's a season or three too early into f1.
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I’ve said for ages he has the talent but didn’t have the consistency last year. Like you say it’s too early for him in F1 imo, FRECA for 1 year > F2 for 1 year > a front running F1 team is a massive step up. Last year was his 4th racing cars, if Mercedes are patient with him he will come good but it’s just a case of whether they’ll give him that time. No doubt in my mind they’ll drop him for Verstappen if he throws the towel in with Red Bull anytime soon.
 
asl02 said:
I’ve said for ages he has the talent but didn’t have the consistency last year. Like you say it’s too early for him in F1 imo, FRECA for 1 year > F2 for 1 year > a front running F1 team is a massive step up. Last year was his 4th racing cars, if Mercedes are patient with him he will come good but it’s just a case of whether they’ll give him that time. No doubt in my mind they’ll drop him for Verstappen if he throws the towel in with Red Bull anytime soon.
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Do we know how long Kimi is contracted to Mercedes?
 
Beau Peep said:
I wasn't talking about 2025...

I was talking about 2026, 2027, 2028, 2029 and 2030, the span of this ruleset. Feels like an eternity written down doesn't it...

I mean, being close to the lap record on day 3 of a January shakedown is indicative of something!
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Agree that it's quite impressive that they're already getting lap times that which. I think the most impressive thing though is the amount of laps they're managing to hammer out with few technical issues so far. Merc in particular have hammered out a huge amount of laps this week.

I thought there'd be all manner of teething problems for most/all of the teams.
 
Speakeasy said:
Agree that it's quite impressive that they're already getting lap times that which. I think the most impressive thing though is the amount of laps they're managing to hammer out with few technical issues so far. Merc in particular have hammered out a huge amount of laps this week.

I thought there'd be all manner of teething problems for most/all of the teams.
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Reliability in F1 is astounding these days. I can’t recall the last engine blow up.
 
Big Jeff said:
Given that this is not an FIA or FOM-operated test, with the two authorities on the ground merely to lend ground support and test out their own systems ahead of the season, there can be no expectation of either to release any information about the events of what is essentially a series of track days, booked out by particularly high-end clients.

Like any privately operated test, such as a Testing of Previous Cars (TPC) outing, there is simply no requirement for the teams to provide any information and, indeed, the fact that any imagery or information is released at all is more than what was originally planned.
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Does this mean they can run parts that are clearly agaisnt the rules that other teams cant pinpoint and then get super fast times so teams then look at side pods or something different and waste time in the wind tunnel? I know it doesnt really help the team doing it but it would be pretty funny.
 
Big Jeff said:
Reliability in F1 is astounding these days. I can’t recall the last engine blow up.
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Taken from the Sky Sports live blog as of lunchtime today:

Mercedes comfortably leading mileage table

From the latest numbers we've seen from official team press releases and then managed to glean so far from today's running in Spain, this is an unofficial rough guide to where teams seem to be as a minimum in terms of lap count so far this week:

  1. Mercedes - 388 laps (into third day)
  2. Racing Bulls - 241 (into third day)
  3. Haas - 196 (two days completed)
  4. Red Bull - 187 (two days completed)
  5. Alpine - 185 (two days completed)
  6. Ferrari - 178 laps (into second day)
  7. Audi - 96 (two days completed)
  8. McLaren - 95 (into second day)
  9. Cadillac - 56 (into second day)
  10. Aston Martin - 0 (set to start running today)
  11. Williams - 0 (not at test)
 
Speakeasy said:
Taken from the Sky Sports live blog as of lunchtime today:

Mercedes comfortably leading mileage table

From the latest numbers we've seen from official team press releases and then managed to glean so far from today's running in Spain, this is an unofficial rough guide to where teams seem to be as a minimum in terms of lap count so far this week:

  1. Mercedes - 388 laps (into third day)
  2. Racing Bulls - 241 (into third day)
  3. Haas - 196 (two days completed)
  4. Red Bull - 187 (two days completed)
  5. Alpine - 185 (two days completed)
  6. Ferrari - 178 laps (into second day)
  7. Audi - 96 (two days completed)
  8. McLaren - 95 (into second day)
  9. Cadillac - 56 (into second day)
  10. Aston Martin - 0 (set to start running today)
  11. Williams - 0 (not at test)
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Wow! That’s incredible. 388!
 
Big Jeff said:
Wow! That’s incredible. 388!
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Makes the pain of missing out for Williams all the worse, seeing everyone else racking up so many miles.

At least they can take comfort knowing that the Merc engine in the Merc/Alpine/McLaren is proving reliable so far, so one less thing to worry about...
 
Big Jeff said:
To be fair it’s like all sport. They are all media trained to avoid controversy.

It’s all about protecting the brand. They say nothing outrageous and instead talk about “energy” and “the fans”. I miss the days of Senna, Kimi, Hunt, and drivers who lived a bit.
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Yep, it's true of almost all professional sports.

Weird thing about F1 is that a lot of the drivers seem to have the same trans-european accent. Probably because they've all spent their formative years racing in Europe amognst various nationalities. Oliver Bearman for example does not sound English!
 
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