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.

That's funny. I still shudder at how much dd paid for a box of teabags from Leicester Square

Well Ferrari have debuted (?) their spinning rear wing. It literally flips over.

There are also some videos on X of practice starts with Ferrari and Haas cars leaving the other teams behind.

Yes, Lewis was ridiculously fast on his practice starts today.

The rear wing flip is interesting, I guess we’ll find out in Australia whether it actually makes a difference in a race.

I heard other teams complaining about a safety aspect of the start last week (I wasnt paying full attention!)

DS showed me the rear wing flip over, i asked if it was meant to be like that!

I think the starts in Australia may end up leading to a rule change.

Max was so slow on the practise start, a lot of cars overtook him. But given it is testing - how much is real and how much is sandbagging?

Is the rear wing something other teams will be able to copy fairly easily if it works?

I’m currently on holiday overseas and have gone to great effort into working out how to watch the first race. It’s complicated by me being in Italy for practice and quali and in Singapore for the race. The service I use to watch in Australia, Kayo is blocked on VPN’s but I think I can sign up to F1 in Belgium for a month using a VPN, then EU law means I should be able to still watch in Italy without a VPN. Then I was able to sign up to Bein Sports for a month for the race. I wish there was a legitimate way to watch in other countries without all these tech workarounds. I’m already paying for it in Australia.

Who’s at Hammersmith this evening to see Lando and Zak?

Looking at stage doors to see if there is a way of getting to see Lando. I have my cap and a sharpie just incase!!

Were on our way!

Hope you all have a good time.

Have a great time! @Fizbosshoes

I really enjoyed it - DS and I both said it was better than we thought it would be. I thought both of them were very humorous and had a good rapport together, and the Q and A session was a good contrast to maybe more rehearsed or standard interview questions.
Edith Bowman (interviewing) had a quite horrendous outfit, but that was a minor complaint! 🤣
And the man on the door, checking bags, allowed me to bring my chocolate bar in, which was good! (No food and drink permitted)

What did you think @workingcocker?
And critically did you get your cap signed?

Ha ha, yes I did!! But only by Zak which I was still delighted with. We were quite near the front so nipped up at the end and they were both signing stuff.

I really really enjoyed it and yes WTF was she wearing!?!

Edith was brilliant and the questions were really fun.

Oh wow! Thats amazing and great pic! We were in the circle there was no chance of getting near the stage

I’m very curious to see Edith’s outfit now but that might be more of a question for the Style & Beauty board. 😜 Glad you enjoyed the evening and I appreciate the updates. And yay to the doorman letting the illicit chocolate in!

Thea has met Carlos 🦄✨

x.com/williamsf1/status/2025970029200560320?s=46

I saw this on YouTube there is a full video of her visit to Williams. It’s absolutely charming. Carlos and James are both lovely with Thea.

DTS starting tomorrow - i know its not popular with everyone, it will give us some F1 content til next weekend!

I thought i would be ok with not watching the first race live...but now its getting closer, im more impatient. Im staying in a hotel and doing a race myself that day and I dont think a 4am alarm will be ideal race prep. And I'll have to stay off here if I dont want any spoilers!

I will watch DTS.

I am getting excited for the first race and like you I will be away making watching the race live difficult.

I’ve decided to take the plunge and do some predictions.

My top 3

• George Russell WDC
• Max Verstappen
• Oscar Piastri

Lewis Hamilton to win at least one race

Ollie Bearman to get a podium

Fernando Alonso to make an epic radio comment about how poor the Aston Martin is

Start procedures get changed before mid-season break

Last one
Christian Horner to get back into the paddock and create havoc

Zak Brown at the weekend event, said he expected the top 4 teams would remain the dominant teams, I hope Ferrari have a better season than last year.

Was talking to a work colleague today and said if ferrari get their car sorted, I wouldn't rule Lewis out for a top three finish.
As much as I'm a Lando fan I think last year was his year. And only last year.
I'm not sure I'd put George in my top three but would definitely not rule out Max. I'd like to think the Williams would finish well but it's not looking too great for them at the minute.

I am a Lewis fan but don’t want get my hopes up.

My predictions are usually hopeless so I find it funny to see how badly I get them wrong.

Just sat down to watch DTS