2026 Australian Grand Prix - Melbourne, March 06 - 08

For ease of use, there is one thread per grand prix where you can discuss everything during that specific GP weekend. You can find these threads here.
User avatar
djos
127
Joined: 19 May 2006, 06:09
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: 2026 Australian Grand Prix - Melbourne, March 06 - 08

Post

Dam! Merc are over 1/2 a second faster than everyone else!
"In downforce we trust"

User avatar
djos
127
Joined: 19 May 2006, 06:09
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: 2026 Australian Grand Prix - Melbourne, March 06 - 08

Post

bluechris wrote:
07 Mar 2026, 08:23
How many races are till June 1st? Not that will change much but it's a hope.
They've built a better car than everyone else, it's not just the PU. McLaren have the same PU but a basic car due to restricted Wind tunnel and CFD time for winning the WCC in the last 2 years.
"In downforce we trust"

User avatar
Kiril Varbanov
147
Joined: 05 Feb 2012, 15:00
Location: Bulgaria, Sofia

Re: 2026 Australian Grand Prix - Melbourne, March 06 - 08

Post

I am fairly impressed by the Ford engines in Red Bull. Merc have obvious 20+ km/h on the straights and the way they harvest and use energy. Not a bad job from Ferrari, with Hamilton failing to deliver again, unless he has a rocket start tomorrow.
Bottom line so far seems a good solid bases for development and clear advantage of Merc.
Image

User avatar
venkyhere
40
Joined: 10 Feb 2024, 06:17

Re: 2026 Australian Grand Prix - Melbourne, March 06 - 08

Post

welcome to 2014.

fourmula1
fourmula1
0
Joined: 16 Nov 2021, 23:22

Re: 2026 Australian Grand Prix - Melbourne, March 06 - 08

Post

Kiril Varbanov wrote:
07 Mar 2026, 08:30
Merc have obvious 20+ km/h on the straights
Do you have the data? They seem to just be faster everywhere.

User avatar
bananapeel23
20
Joined: 14 Feb 2023, 22:43
Location: Sweden

Re: 2026 Australian Grand Prix - Melbourne, March 06 - 08

Post

fourmula1 wrote:
07 Mar 2026, 08:33
Kiril Varbanov wrote:
07 Mar 2026, 08:30
Merc have obvious 20+ km/h on the straights
Do you have the data? They seem to just be faster everywhere.
Literally the photo beneath that statement

fourmula1
fourmula1
0
Joined: 16 Nov 2021, 23:22

Re: 2026 Australian Grand Prix - Melbourne, March 06 - 08

Post

bananapeel23 wrote:
07 Mar 2026, 08:34
fourmula1 wrote:
07 Mar 2026, 08:33
Kiril Varbanov wrote:
07 Mar 2026, 08:30
Merc have obvious 20+ km/h on the straights
Do you have the data? They seem to just be faster everywhere.
Literally the photo beneath that statement
That's lItErAlLy Not Data.

pantherxxx
pantherxxx
8
Joined: 05 Jun 2018, 15:04
Location: Hungary

Re: 2026 Australian Grand Prix - Melbourne, March 06 - 08

Post

Max could still have been on pole. It's not out of place for him to be 8 tenths faster than teammate. So season is not over yet.
Last edited by pantherxxx on 07 Mar 2026, 08:37, edited 1 time in total.

avantman
avantman
10
Joined: 07 Dec 2020, 19:17

Re: 2026 Australian Grand Prix - Melbourne, March 06 - 08

Post

djones wrote:
07 Mar 2026, 08:22
Seems a bit silly from Mercedes to run in full power. Now all eyes will be on their engine more than before.
Who told you they were running with full power? Would be completely against Mercedes base strategy where they run their PU very conservatively for first half of a season to make sure reliability is good. We saw that on multiple occasions from that team before.

User avatar
bluechris
9
Joined: 26 Jun 2019, 20:28
Location: Athens

Re: 2026 Australian Grand Prix - Melbourne, March 06 - 08

Post

venkyhere wrote:
07 Mar 2026, 08:33
welcome to 2014.
The difference from 2014 is that they/we all know it now and yet as always they let it happen, kudos to everyone especially to the other teams..

SB15
SB15
7
Joined: 15 Feb 2025, 22:47

Re: 2026 Australian Grand Prix - Melbourne, March 06 - 08

Post

I don't think Mercedes advantage is the engine, their recharge and deployment was indeed something that's needs the most attention.

User avatar
RonMexico
0
Joined: 08 Jul 2020, 14:11

Re: 2026 Australian Grand Prix - Melbourne, March 06 - 08

Post

Signing out.
Jokeshop.

Badger
Badger
30
Joined: 22 Sep 2025, 17:00

Re: 2026 Australian Grand Prix - Melbourne, March 06 - 08

Post

pantherxxx wrote:
07 Mar 2026, 08:36
Max could still have been on pole. It's not out of place for him to be 8 tenths faster than teammate. So season is not over yet.
sigh... stop the nonsense.

djones
djones
20
Joined: 17 Mar 2005, 15:01

Re: 2026 Australian Grand Prix - Melbourne, March 06 - 08

Post

avantman wrote:
07 Mar 2026, 08:36
djones wrote:
07 Mar 2026, 08:22
Seems a bit silly from Mercedes to run in full power. Now all eyes will be on their engine more than before.
Who told you they were running with full power? Would be completely against Mercedes base strategy where they run their PU very conservatively for first half of a season to make sure reliability is good. We saw that on multiple occasions from that team before.
Ok, running more power than needed then.

The comments above about the same engine in the other cars. Hardware is the same but I believe calibration can be different. And is different.

avantman
avantman
10
Joined: 07 Dec 2020, 19:17

Re: 2026 Australian Grand Prix - Melbourne, March 06 - 08

Post

djones wrote:
07 Mar 2026, 08:39
avantman wrote:
07 Mar 2026, 08:36
djones wrote:
07 Mar 2026, 08:22
Seems a bit silly from Mercedes to run in full power. Now all eyes will be on their engine more than before.
Who told you they were running with full power? Would be completely against Mercedes base strategy where they run their PU very conservatively for first half of a season to make sure reliability is good. We saw that on multiple occasions from that team before.
Ok, running more power than needed then.

The comments above about the same engine in the other cars. Hardware is the same but I believe calibration can be different. And is different.
How they know in advance how much is needed before they see the pace of the others? Probably they did not expect others to be that slow.