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Wouldn't surprise me one bit because I actually predicted this:zoroastar wrote: ↑13 Jan 2026, 03:16its being reported that aston expect to be around 15kg's overweight at the start of the season and that newey is concentrating on remedying that in the first update at race 5 or 6. i imagine all the teams will be overweight at the start, but who knows by how much. they also stated that 15kg was the same amount the redbull was overweight in 2022.
Xyz22 wrote: ↑06 Nov 2025, 21:33RB had 0 infrastructure in place when Newey joined and, on top of what you already highlighted, there was a very mature regulation set at the time. Producing a competitive car was an impossible task in that context. The first big reg change, Newey immediately made a competitive car.TyreSlip wrote: ↑06 Nov 2025, 21:30I agree. Newey recently said he discovered the same problems with Aston Martin's culture as he found when he went to Red Bull (staff there at the time had a Jaguar mentality of doing things). This is going to take several years to fix.AR3-GP wrote: ↑06 Nov 2025, 20:11
I think we have to be realistic. This does not indicate a championship winning 2026 project. You don't sack the whole aero department 3 months before track launch if things are going well. This ties into the previous that Newey gave when he said there were people that said certain things can't be done. Now we know who those people are...
Once again i'm expecting AM to have a very strong chassis next year, especially when they will be able to make it lighter because i'm 100% sure Newey will decide to give priority to aero instead of weight.
Newey is, after all, both the greatest F1 chief designer and Technical Director of all time by a big margin.
All cars will be overweight in 2026. All of them. The question has never been if they will be overweight, but by how much.TyreSlip wrote: ↑13 Jan 2026, 18:04I hunted around and found it on a Facebook post that Sky News reported it.NAPI10 wrote: ↑13 Jan 2026, 17:29Where is it reported?zoroastar wrote: ↑13 Jan 2026, 03:16its being reported that aston expect to be around 15kg's overweight at the start of the season and that newey is concentrating on remedying that in the first update at race 5 or 6. i imagine all the teams will be overweight at the start, but who knows by how much. they also stated that 15kg was the same amount the redbull was overweight in 2022.
If true, that is about 0.5 seconds lost due to the extra weight. Add the 0.3 loss from Honda missing the engine trick and that is already almost a one second deficit.
Several engineers have already stated that it's virtually impossible to achieve the minimum weight with current technology.
The cars are shorter, narrower, and have smaller wheels. Therefore some of the weight reduction is built in. Not all, but most teams expect to reach the min weight by 2027 at the latest.edu2703 wrote: ↑14 Jan 2026, 15:32In other words, the teams have basically already started the 2026 development being at least 64 kg overweight compared to 2025. It will be a very big challenge for the teams to get as close as possible to the minimum limit, but I seriously doubt that any team will find a magic solution to have a car with exactly the minimum weight. That would be pushing the car to the absolute limits of modern engineering today.
In the 2026 engine speculation thread is well versed that the weight difference between 25-26 PUs is much less than that, because the 185 includes elements that were not included in the 151.edu2703 wrote: ↑14 Jan 2026, 15:32Several engineers have already stated that it's virtually impossible to achieve the minimum weight with current technology.
The FIA has reduced the minimum weight from 798 kg to 768 kg. However, the 2026 power units will be heavier than those of 2025, with their heavy battery and associated components. The minimum weight of the power units will increase from 151 kg to 185 kg. Not to mention the extra weight for the active aero system. The reduction in car size has almost no significant influence on weight.
In other words, the teams have basically already started the 2026 development being at least 64 kg overweight compared to 2025. It will be a very big challenge for the teams to get as close as possible to the minimum limit, but I seriously doubt that any team will find a magic solution to have a car with exactly the minimum weight. That would be pushing the car to the absolute limits of modern engineering today.
From a known Honda employee that very rarely posts the occasional insight in the General Honda F1 thread. He stated he doesn't believe the compression ratio "trick" is even a loophole (Jan 3rd). Gives the impression this isn't anything new and has probably been explored well before the '26 powertrains. And this hitting the media is nothing new to any manufacturer, it's just media outlets making a buzz over nothing.mickael.olr wrote: ↑13 Jan 2026, 20:27That’s assuming only Mercedes found a ‘trick’ but it’s the only rumor we’ve heard so far. For all we know, Honda or others could have something up their sleeve too. Speculating about lost lap time before we’ve even seen the car on track is just a waste of time.
I don't know if I would even call it a loophole. Compression ratio is measured one way and what happens outside of that parameter is up to each PU supplier. There are many ways "to skin a cat" as the saying goes. I personally have no concerns about it and using metal compositions in the piston to maximize power should be each manufacturer's goal IMO.
Without comparison, such thought means nothing.
IMHO, Villeneuve has a clue what he's talking about. Problem is he is always trying to boost his ratings by saying really controversial stuff just to rise above the noise. This has effected his credibility.
What does Villeneuve have to do with this?
He was in the video.
