2026 Pre-Season Testing

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ChrisF1
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Re: 2026 Pre-Season Testing

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Commentary channel on YT said that Mercedes were changing the engine.

Emag
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Re: 2026 Pre-Season Testing

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Emag wrote:
11 Feb 2026, 21:16
https://i.postimg.cc/hG89h7Yg/Analysis-V70a9i-Xq.jpg

The "long runs" from Lando, Charles and Max today.
Lando did a similar run plan to what Max was doing yesterday. The runs are now more comparable, but because they're not really proper race stints, we can't reliably guess with what sort of fuel loads each were set.

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Ufi
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Re: 2026 Pre-Season Testing

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Any info on how hard it is to follow another car?

Emag
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Re: 2026 Pre-Season Testing

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Ufi wrote:
12 Feb 2026, 14:21
Any info on how hard it is to follow another car?
The only one who has made a comment on that was Ocon in Barcelona and he said it wasn't good.

Nothing else from others as far as I know.
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Ufi
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Re: 2026 Pre-Season Testing

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Emag wrote:
12 Feb 2026, 14:27
Ufi wrote:
12 Feb 2026, 14:21
Any info on how hard it is to follow another car?
The only one who has made a comment on that was Ocon in Barcelona and he said it wasn't good.

Nothing else from others as far as I know.
so we are back to pre 2009? :-?

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dren
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Re: 2026 Pre-Season Testing

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Chuckjr wrote:
12 Feb 2026, 08:16
pantherxxx wrote:
11 Feb 2026, 20:06
I think Ford has battery tech that's way more advanced than anyone else, maybe other than Xiaomi. That's how they smashed the GT3 lap record at Nordschleife with an electric van. Ford already had dielectric fluid immersion cooling for high discharge batteries and 6 phased electric motors in 2023, that's multiple years of advantage. They probably transferred that know-how to Red Bull Powertrains. I already called that months ago, and now Toto seems to confirm my theory.
75+ year old transformers that I am familiar with use dialectric fluid immersion cooling. I'd assume all PU manufacturers in the last regs were using multi-phase electric MGUs.
Honda!

the EDGE
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Re: 2026 Pre-Season Testing

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Ufi wrote:
12 Feb 2026, 14:21
Any info on how hard it is to follow another car?
Hopefully we’ll hear from Lando later, he spent about four laps tailgating Albon this morning

gearboxtrouble
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Re: 2026 Pre-Season Testing

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You would think that teams like Red Bull and Ferrari who have a closely related customer team like RB or Haas would arrange to run closely on track for an extended amount of time. The learning would be extremely valuable and the drivers could test overtaking and defending.

pantherxxx
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Re: 2026 Pre-Season Testing

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https://x.com/FDataAnalysis/status/2021 ... 28/photo/1

Red Bull and Racing Bulls have best top speeds by far. Superior power delivery.

Capharol
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Re: 2026 Pre-Season Testing

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pantherxxx wrote:
12 Feb 2026, 16:15
https://x.com/FDataAnalysis/status/2021 ... 28/photo/1

Red Bull and Racing Bulls have best top speeds by far. Superior power delivery.
that`s IMO barely relevant, not knowing hw much power others put on their PU

Santozini
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Re: 2026 Pre-Season Testing

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pantherxxx wrote:
12 Feb 2026, 16:15
https://x.com/FDataAnalysis/status/2021 ... 28/photo/1

Red Bull and Racing Bulls have best top speeds by far. Superior power delivery.
:wtf: :wtf: #-o #-o

nitrotech
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Re: 2026 Pre-Season Testing

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With so much of LICO going on, is tyre life even a concern? Drivers are lifting off (atleast in testing), almost halfway through a straight. They are barely attacking corners like in previous years. Just strolling through them. I wonder what would stress the tyres? Just traction out of the corners?

pantherxxx
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Re: 2026 Pre-Season Testing

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dren wrote:
12 Feb 2026, 15:31
Chuckjr wrote:
12 Feb 2026, 08:16
pantherxxx wrote:
11 Feb 2026, 20:06
I think Ford has battery tech that's way more advanced than anyone else, maybe other than Xiaomi. That's how they smashed the GT3 lap record at Nordschleife with an electric van. Ford already had dielectric fluid immersion cooling for high discharge batteries and 6 phased electric motors in 2023, that's multiple years of advantage. They probably transferred that know-how to Red Bull Powertrains. I already called that months ago, and now Toto seems to confirm my theory.
75+ year old transformers that I am familiar with use dialectric fluid immersion cooling. I'd assume all PU manufacturers in the last regs were using multi-phase electric MGUs.
Not exactly. MGUs of the previous gen F1 cars, used 3-phase electric motors. And even the latest gen Formula E cars use 3-phased electric motors. Ford Supervan 4.2 has 6-phased electric motors. A 6-phase motor divides the input current between two groups of three phases. This results in much greater power density and much better torque delivery. This is state of the art EV technology, way above anything else that was featured in previous gen F1 cars. This may perhaps explain why Max can so efficiently utilize the first gear harvesting technique.

And talking about how 75 year old transformers are the same as the state of the art electric tech that Ford developed for EV racing? Nonsensical. In transformers the dielectric oil just sits there, acting as an insulator. It just sits around. The chemical makeup of the oil and the rate of response of silicon carbide inverters needed to optimize high performing EV racing weren't even invented 10 years ago, let alone 75. In Ford Supervan they're running ultra-light pouch cells submerged in a compact, pressurized system under racing loads. If Ford transferred that battery cell and electric racing tech know-how to Red Bull, that could explain that superior energy recovery and delivery performance that Toto was talking about.
Last edited by pantherxxx on 12 Feb 2026, 16:45, edited 1 time in total.

Seanspeed
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Re: 2026 Pre-Season Testing

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nitrotech wrote:
12 Feb 2026, 16:19
With so much of LICO going on, is tyre life even a concern? Drivers are lifting off (atleast in testing), almost halfway through a straight. They are barely attacking corners like in previous years. Just strolling through them. I wonder what would stress the tyres? Just traction out of the corners?
Traction out of corners is gonna wear the rears the most, and cornering will tend to stress the fronts the most. Lifting off during the straights isn't gonna mean much either way. And the cars being slower through corners will be countered to some degree by them being a little less stable. They'll still attack corners as much as they can once it comes time to go full out, though. That's always the name of the game. And so tire life will definitely still be a thing. We've had cars slower than these in the Pirelli era and tire life has always been a major factor.

But maybe, like theoretically, we might see a bit more rear degradation relative to front degradation?

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dren
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Re: 2026 Pre-Season Testing

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pantherxxx wrote:
12 Feb 2026, 16:42
dren wrote:
12 Feb 2026, 15:31
Chuckjr wrote:
12 Feb 2026, 08:16


75+ year old transformers that I am familiar with use dialectric fluid immersion cooling. I'd assume all PU manufacturers in the last regs were using multi-phase electric MGUs.
Not exactly. MGUs of the previous gen F1 cars, used 3-phase electric motors. And even the latest gen Formula E cars use 3-phased electric motors. Ford Supervan 4.2 has 6-phased electric motors. A 6-phase motor divides the input current between two groups of three phases. This results in much greater power density and much better torque delivery. This is state of the art EV technology, way above anything else that was featured in previous gen F1 cars. This may perhaps explain why Max can so efficiently utilize the first gear harvesting technique.

And talking about how 75 year old transformers are the same as the state of the art electric tech that Ford developed for EV racing? Nonsensical. In transformers the dielectric oil just sits there, acting as an insulator. It just sits around. The chemical makeup of the oil and the rate of response of silicon carbide inverters needed to optimize high performing EV racing weren't even invented 10 years ago, let alone 75. In Ford Supervan they're running ultra-light pouch cells submerged in a compact, pressurized system under racing loads. If Ford transferred that battery cell and electric racing tech know-how to Red Bull, that could explain that superior energy recovery and delivery performance that Toto was talking about.
It circulates thru coolers via pumps. It's not a foreign idea to pump dialectic liquids around electrical components for cooling. I'm sure the tech is better now, but I doubt Ford is somehow light years ahead of the other PU manufacturers. And you know for a fact F1 cars used 3 phase motors? I know how multi-phase motors work...

I think the Toto presser was BS.
Honda!