F1 2026 - Watchalong Thread

[Brazilianadventure]

Happy New Year.

This is going to be an interesting year with the regulation change.

Rumours are Mercedes and RB engines are exploiting a loophole and so may have the most powerful engines.

AM will have a car with significant input from Adrian Newey.

Sauber becomes Audi and we have an 11th team, Cadillac.

Christian Horner seems very keen to get back into F1, preferably Alpine with Flávio - they deserve each other.

There is closed door testing in Barcelona then open testing from 11 February at Sakhir.

Edited for typo and thread title.

Won't Zak have scuppered their chances by saying (on tv) their data showed OP was speeding ? 🤣
I considered at the time that it might have been better to not make a comment....

I don’t think Maclaren are appealing Oscar’s penalty - I think they are appealing the decision to overturn Pierre’s.

That’s how I read it too

I don’t think there is a fair way to resolve this for everyone.

Under the rules Pierre was able to appeal because his penalties were applied after the race. Alpine produced evidence he hadn’t speeded so it’s right the penalties are withdrawn.

I agree it is harsh on the others, particularly George, but realistically they can’t remove in race penalties.

F1 is harsh you only have to remember AD21.

Whoops, thanks for clarifying!

I wonder if Mercedes will complain.

The FIA were between a rock and a hard place, really. They had to either overturn Pierre’s penalty and piss off all the other teams that served their (probably incorrect) penalties, or refuse to overturn Pierre’s despite evidence proving it was wrong.

It’s all of their own doing, though. All the commentators could see there was something off about so many pit lane speeding penalties being handed out, so why on earth the stewards didn’t also realise and say that they would all be added after the race, pending further investigation, I don’t know. Or why didn’t more of the teams didn’t do what Alpine did - I know that was risking further repercussions though.

The FIA do have a habit of coming out very badly on rules and penalties…

One report I read said the stewards did question why there were so many infringements and the FIA said it was correct.

Ah, OK, more than likely.

Honestly, I do despair of the FIA sometimes!

Red Bull are also appealing against it.

Im surprised that Redbull are deemed the fastest power unit given their standing in the races so far, although it seemed (until Maxs non-start) that they seemed to have improved in Monaco.

But apparently they are in discussion with the FIA about those results as well....
It seems a bit bonkers that Mercedes would get more upgrades than RB , when they (or kimi!) are basically in a league of their own!

My understanding is it’s based on the ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) segment of the power train only and not the electrical power element. The latter is not measurable/too difficult to measure/ no one knows how to measure it etc.

Reversing results from Monaco is also unfair on drivers that didn’t get a penalty because they purposely drove more slowly in the pit lane or took a slower line to avoid being penalised.

What a mess.

Another good quali

Well done George, brilliant lap from Lewis. Poor Charles - he has no luck at the moment.

Really pleased for George and Hulk
Gutted for Charles
Bit disappointing for OP

Also wee-ums are not having a good season, have they lost sparkles?

I’ve been out most of today but so pleased for George

Maybe this will stop George whining about everything.

George has had quite a lot of bad luck this season with car issues and was properly shafted at Monaco which wasnt his fault.
Lando also having a nightmare start to the season

Lando doesn’t care in the same way George does. He has his title! This should have been George’s season, two races in a row with no points that weren’t his fault is tough.

Most drivers just want one World Championship, look at Nico and Jenson. It’s clear Lando has taken strength from winning and is now talking about life outside F1.

Even Max is talking about leaving F1 it’s only Lewis and Alonso who have the drive to take the bad years and keep on going for the next one.

George wants to be WDC, he was patient and did his time with Williams he moved to Merc at the regulation change and had to cope with a poorly designed car. This is his first year with a car capable of winning and he has had bad luck that has hampered him plus he is up against a new driver who with time is likely to be in the exceptional category. No wonder he is not happy.

I always wonder why Lewis gets so much grief when he and the car aren't doing well but Fernando gets praised for just showing up. How long is it since his last win?

The media love a story and know that conflict makes £££.

Sadly, there has historically been unconscious bias against Lewis.You only have to look at the headlines when the paradise papers were released with a picture of Lewis and his red plane. No white sportsman was even named.

Look at the reaction by some of the media on Thursday to Lewis having his natural hair and how the camera focused on his hair when he took his helmet off yesterday.

AD21 had an undercurrent of this with not wanting Lewis to beat Michael’s record.

Everyone wants to say Lewis is finished and now he is showing he isn’t.

Yeah. Go George!

Come on George

I‘m so torn I want George to win but I also want Lewis to win. 😂

Either way I want them
both to finish ahead of Kimi.

Im rooting for Charles to get a decent result (realistically maybe p5) but hoping its George's win.
Yesterday I hoped OP could make up some places but thats not looking likely...