2026 Pre-Season Testing

[upsidedowntoast]

Did Merc just do short stints and setup runs again? I didn't see them do any full race stints even before Kimi had the pneumatic pressure issue

[McFAN]

I mean, yes, but how much weight can McLaren lose to reduce a deficit like that... they have a pretty massive deg problem right now IMO, you can't just fix that with weight reduction although it will help

Lando Norris explained the degradation problem:

Things worked better, and then we could drive quicker. At the minute, we're a little bit off. So to match the race pace of some of the others, we have to push a bit more, and then we have more degradation.

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/land ... /10798914/


I don't know where Mclaren will be in melbourne, but in theory they will be a little bit better if they can lighten the car.

We have no idea how overweight McLaren are though. If it's 10kg then that's significant. If it's 5kg then not so much. In any case, this test has been much harder than last year to take things away from. There's also this huge question mark looming over the whole thing with regards to the Mercedes PU. If what Max said last week about them potentially hiding 20 HP in this test, then that could change the picture significantly for the Mercedes-powered teams when we start proper racing.

The smaller tires of these regs are presumably more prone to overheating-degradation than the previous gen due to their smaller contact patch and lower mass,
So even a marginal weight saving would have an outsize effect on their durability no ?

[AR3-GP]

Lando Norris explained the degradation problem:

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/land ... /10798914/


I don't know where Mclaren will be in melbourne, but in theory they will be a little bit better if they can lighten the car.

We have no idea how overweight McLaren are though. If it's 10kg then that's significant. If it's 5kg then not so much. In any case, this test has been much harder than last year to take things away from. There's also this huge question mark looming over the whole thing with regards to the Mercedes PU. If what Max said last week about them potentially hiding 20 HP in this test, then that could change the picture significantly for the Mercedes-powered teams when we start proper racing.

The smaller tires of these regs are presumably more prone to overheating-degradation than the previous gen due to their smaller contact patch and lower mass,
So even a marginal weight saving would have an outsize effect on their durability no ?

I wouldn't say the biggest effect is the smaller tires. I think the MGU-K deployment and harvesting torque just rips the rear tires apart unless you have a lot of load on the rear. This is something Ferrari might have unlocked with their exhaust blown diffuser element.

[mzso]

This is awful. I can't wait for a time when they get back to normally aspirated engines with sustainable fuel. Junk the turbo and electric power.

It's fine that you can't wait, because you'd be waiting your whole life. There's around 0% chance for it to happen.

This is not true at all. WRC got rid of hybrid and used sustainable fuel in 2025. Ben Sulayem has a lot of power and he supports the idea. He has already chaired meetings about it. So you are just wrong.

If you got rid of the MGU-H, you might as well not have hybrids at all. It was the one thing that actually made hybrids functional in F1. Even going back to the 2014 configuration with an equal displacement V8 would be fine by me.

It's fine that you can't wait, because you'd be waiting your whole life. There's around 0% chance for it to happen.

Well above zero. What's currently being discussed for the next regulation change is precisely the return of the 2.4L naturally aspirated V8 and a reduction in electrification to around 220 kWh.

I would say that it's quite plausible that this will actually happen. A simpler, less complex, cheaper engine with less dependence on electricity and no turbo, running entirely on sustainable fuel. If the current engine proves to be bad, there will be a lot of pressure to introduce this new regulation before 2031.

I think it is/was little more than a populist exercise. IMO the chance for it actually happenning is remote.
In F1 the manufacturers care about engine tech.

[Artur Craft]

It seems I was very wrong yesterday regarding Ferrari. Today, Shall did many laps on used C4 at low 1.32s. They were not on fumes neither on max power. Andrea Stella face said it all after Shall put in those laps. I guess everybody is in trouble and Ferrari is a good bit ahead.(unless Mercedes is sandbagging a lot). Meanwhile, AM situation is dismal!

[Artur Craft]

The smaller tires of these regs are presumably more prone to overheating-degradation than the previous gen due to their smaller contact patch and lower mass,
So even a marginal weight saving would have an outsize effect on their durability no ?

The tires are narrower but just a bit so. I doubt it will make a noticeable impact as they still are confortably larger than what they had untill 2017

[nitrotech]

Here are the race sims from today. Audi is impressive in the mid pack.

[Artur Craft]

The pecking order is so clear that everybody is predicting the same on the appropriate thread.

[organic]

The pecking order is so clear that everybody is predicting the same on the appropriate thread.

[Alan Dove]

Unless my math is completely wrong. Accounting for red flag, and the 3-stopper for LeClerc... Mclaren are slightly ahead of Ferrari and RedBull close behind? Nothing here out of the margin of 'engine mode' error. All pretty close. max was driving to a very specific lap time target as well in his last stint on the C2s compared to Piastri's C1s.

[McL-H]

To me this is not F1 anymore. These regulations are extremely dull. Look how slow they are through the corners. Why why do they keep messing up this racing series so bad? All it needed was last year regulations with proper screaming V10 engine, bio fuel if they please. No no. Lada cornering is what we get.

[SoulPancake13]

Unless my math is completely wrong. Accounting for red flag, and the 3-stopper for LeClerc... Mclaren are slightly ahead of Ferrari and RedBull close behind? Nothing here out of the margin of 'engine mode' error. All pretty close. max was driving to a very specific lap time target as well in his last stint on the C2s compared to Piastri's C1s.

I found that Ferrari's AM sim was the best out of anyone who has completed a full sim, even accounting for the extra pitstop, but I could be mistaken. You also have to consider LEC did his sim when the track was 44-47C when Piastri and Verstappen did theirs in much cooler conditions.

[Xyz22]

Unless my math is completely wrong. Accounting for red flag, and the 3-stopper for LeClerc... Mclaren are slightly ahead of Ferrari and RedBull close behind? Nothing here out of the margin of 'engine mode' error. All pretty close. max was driving to a very specific lap time target as well in his last stint on the C2s compared to Piastri's C1s.

McLaren race sim was done in significantly better conditions.

[matt_s]

To me this is not F1 anymore. These regulations are extremely dull. Look how slow they are through the corners. Why why do they keep messing up this racing series so bad? All it needed was last year regulations with proper screaming V10 engine, bio fuel if they please. No no. Lada cornering is what we get.

Obviously we haven't seen them actually race yet, but a number of the traits of these cars look like they could promote good racing.

Yes, the teams will need some time to learn and optimise PU usage, and maybe they will tweak the regs on harvesting.

Yes, there is a danger that one team is ahead of the pack in this reg cycle.

However, "slow" through the corners is not all bad IMHO. They are slower because the cars have a lot less downforce. Drivers should no longer be able to just step on it and hold on through corners like Eau Rouge. They will be more on the edge, hopefully resulting in driver skill being a greater differentiator.

2025 cars were about 10 seconds faster than they were in the early 90's on many comparable tracks, were the cars rubbish to watch back then?

Also, due to lower DF, higher straight line speed, and lower mechanical grip from smaller contact patch, braking distances are longer. With longer braking zones, there is more scope for drivers to make moves under braking.

[FittingMechanics]

Anyone who watched testing, especially the "power hour" when Norris, Leclerc, Verstappen were on quali runs cannot call these laps dull. They were exciting, on edge, cars have too much power at corner exit and move around, etc.