2026 Pre-Season Testing

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woocasz
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Re: 2026 Pre-Season Testing

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so far:
Antonnelli: 1.17.9
Lawson 1.19.7
Hamilton 1.20.2

Tommy Cookers
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Re: 2026 Pre-Season Testing

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FrukostScones wrote:
29 Jan 2026, 12:23
Chuckjr wrote:
29 Jan 2026, 11:53
Interesting how every driver talks about how incredibly different the cars are. Not surprising, but really emphasizes adaptability this year. Which drivers will be able to completely adapt their style to the cars strengths? The better the adaptation skills, the better the lap times will be. Sensitivity to torque and feeling the rear tires on the road will be a premium blend. /4oMTMngrsh0?si=7cYquMRSkixo6LaQ
yeah, the acceleration phase this cars must be really difficult...
well the MGU-K has a big 'driver aid' effect
it cannot be otherwise

Badger
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Re: 2026 Pre-Season Testing

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FrukostScones
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Re: 2026 Pre-Season Testing

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Tommy Cookers wrote:
29 Jan 2026, 13:07
FrukostScones wrote:
29 Jan 2026, 12:23
Chuckjr wrote:
29 Jan 2026, 11:53
Interesting how every driver talks about how incredibly different the cars are. Not surprising, but really emphasizes adaptability this year. Which drivers will be able to completely adapt their style to the cars strengths? The better the adaptation skills, the better the lap times will be. Sensitivity to torque and feeling the rear tires on the road will be a premium blend. /4oMTMngrsh0?si=7cYquMRSkixo6LaQ
yeah, the acceleration phase this cars must be really difficult...
well the MGU-K has a big 'driver aid' effect
it cannot be otherwise
but won't the feeling be different for different parts of the track and modus. different power/torque at same throttle position? I would really like to understand. RE: I looked into it, I can understand but still I think it gives more drama than it takes away (the MGU-K).
"I ain't with the FIFA, I'm in Tokyo." LH

Badger
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Re: 2026 Pre-Season Testing

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Jambier
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Luscion
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Jambier wrote:
29 Jan 2026, 19:08
damn, they got almost no running in today

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Luscion wrote:
29 Jan 2026, 19:09
Jambier wrote:
29 Jan 2026, 19:08
damn, they got almost no running in today
Rumors says that they will do a 200km shakedown on saturday.
They need it obviously.
I hope they can do some decent running tomorrow at least

But I'm scared since Honda said they are not happy with the engine.

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Jambier
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Re: 2026 Pre-Season Testing

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Aston Martin best lap time today: 1'46''404.

They warned they would run very slow.
Still they had a failure.

Xyz22
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Jambier wrote:
29 Jan 2026, 19:16
Aston Martin best lap time today: 1'46''404.

They warned they would run very slow.
Still they had a failure.
They didn't even do a filming day so it's not surprising considering they arrived extremely late.

Espresso
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Re: 2026 Pre-Season Testing

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Hoffman900 wrote:
26 Jan 2026, 17:13
SB15 wrote:
26 Jan 2026, 16:56
So I wanted to move this topic about the zero-pod concept and why it didn't work as a "concept" because of sidepods we've seen from the RB22. Someone mention something that the concept had a lot of drag because the amount of outwash/front tyre wake that was hitting the rear tyres and other aerodynamic parts.

That got me thinking? Would the concept still fail regardless because of the 18 inch tyre? And is the 18 inch tyre one of the biggest reasons why the ground effect cars failed?
That theory was from a rudimentary fan done CFD concept that didn’t have the correct geometry and they would have no way of knowing if their CFD even correlated even if it was the right goemetry. However this nuance take, grounded in engineering reality, makes you a bad guy from the internet hype machine and mods here playing favorites.

Not saying it isn’t wrong, but I’m quite sure it missed a lot of the nuances of the design and how it worked. The top speed issues seemed to come from the fact the car was porpoising terribly and thus causing drag as the car bottomed out and the air over and under the car varied with the bouncing. So no one can conclusively say it was that. Even the rudimentary fan done CFD showed more exposed floor area made for more downforce (assuming parts gave infinite stiffness which may have been some it), but as Newey stated, and he knew this from Indy Car in the 1980s, it’s better to have a wider operating downforce ride height range than a higher peak downforce that only works at narrow ride heights.
Didn’t influence riding with the wake over the rear wheels.
But as soon as the front wing drag reduction was activated the wake seems to turn inward and hit the rear wing, because at that moment the rear wing start to wobble. Also didn’t seem to influence the car.

SB15
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Re: 2026 Pre-Season Testing

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Mercedes completed 502 laps... I know this is testing but my goodness. That's at least 8 -9 GP's :shock: :wtf:

Fer.Fan
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Re: 2026 Pre-Season Testing

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SB15 wrote:
29 Jan 2026, 20:17
Mercedes completed 502 laps... I know this is testing but my goodness. That's at least 8 -9 GP's :shock: :wtf:
Yes, but what kind of laps. Drive 5-6 sec below race pace.🤔

dialtone
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Re: 2026 Pre-Season Testing

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Fer.Fan wrote:
SB15 wrote:
29 Jan 2026, 20:17
Mercedes completed 502 laps... I know this is testing but my goodness. That's at least 8 -9 GP's :shock: :wtf:
Yes, but what kind of laps. Drive 5-6 sec below race pace.
They were the fastest team, drove a good chunk of laps. There’s no question they look the strongest right now but nobody else showed their cards, and probably neither did merc.

HungarianRacer
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Re: 2026 Pre-Season Testing

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Fer.Fan wrote:
29 Jan 2026, 20:25
SB15 wrote:
29 Jan 2026, 20:17
Mercedes completed 502 laps... I know this is testing but my goodness. That's at least 8 -9 GP's :shock: :wtf:
Yes, but what kind of laps. Drive 5-6 sec below race pace.🤔
Ragebait?

If Mercedes' pace was "5-6 sec below race pace", what do you call the other's laptimes?