Pole sitter George Russell has won the Australian Grand Prix, leading his teammate Antonelli to a perfect result for Mercedes AMG F1. Ferrari didn't make it easy though with the Maranello based team effectively losing out on strategy, forcing Leclerc to settle for third.
I think we need to see what playing 4D chess at 300kph looks like, before we declare F1 dead.
F1 is dead. We already saw 4d gamesmanship at those speeds early on in 2022 with all those imo silly DRS games. Unlike some I never felt that was exciting or something I wanted to see.
I prefer COTA 2021 sort of races and gamesmanship and ultimately excitement, not all this completely artificial who-presses-which-button-first stuff.
You need to provide a very good reason to make your rules instead of what million of others enjoy.
A set of soft tyres might legitimately last entire races if the teams get the MGU-K deployment right. Regardless, the fronts will just straight up not degrade in race trim given how much they back off in fast corners.
Last edited by bananapeel23 on 07 Mar 2026, 13:46, edited 1 time in total.
A pair of soft tyres might legitimately last entire races if the teams get the MGU-K deployment right. Regardless, the fronts will just straight up not degrade in race trim given how much they back off in fast corners.
This is really interesting. If the tire changes were much slower, we might have seen a team change the rears only. Since they are allowed so many people over the wall, teams will just want to change all 4 tires anyway.
Feels relevant to bring out some quotes from a couple of years ago. All of this was foreseen, and ignored by those with ulterior motives.
.....
It's clear who 'drove' this formula and how all those other than his man Friday (who talks strict only for youtube) who opposed the same within the effaayyeeyy, were purged by his friend-chairman, the camera-bomber.
Wow.
I just cancelled my F1TV subscription. I will not be paying to see this rubbish.
I did the same. Never seen such a boring pole lap.
It's idiocracy really. At the moment they (F1) have the chance to open up the US market they completely screw up the regulations.
They have ruined competition to convince Audi enter the sport, a brand that has nothing to do with f1 history and nobody was missing at all. I think this makes many (ex) aficionados pissed off.
Reviewing some footage and seeing drivers reactions, looks like just Merc and Ferrari are somewhat happy. The rest are
doesn't seem like the racing we are used to, but let's hope for some interesting moments tomorrow and ahead.
Watching lift and coast into corners in Qualy... Turns 8/9 at Melbourne should be amazing to watch but they were so slow... Thats not the pinacle of motorsport.
I don't disagree, but I still want to see a real race before I cast my final judgement.
Merc will run away and then in behind we’ve just got to wait to see who clips last on the straights to get the unskilled, uncontested overtakes done. Can’t wait.
Abysmal regulation. A total embarrassment. FIA will come under some serious pressure to change, with top drivers slating their product
I don't think any driver will say anything negative about rules, there probably is something in the contract (not their own contract, but what teams sign with FIA, and then teams control what drivers say) that prevents them from criticizing FIA and the source of the funding that allows this luxury spectacle (I intentionally avoid calling it a sport), they have been essentially told to stfu and just drive the cars while getting paid silly money
The data proves it. All you have is feelings about it.
Feelings are big right now. If my three year old could post here it would blend right in.
I’m curious to see the race and the season to pan out. Maybe not seemingly the most interesting from a pure pace point of view but I actually think this formula has potential once development converges.
I really try to restrain myself from commenting because feelings are a bit overwhelming right now, but my gut feeling that the new regulations were heading down the wrong path seems to be coming to fruition.
Even if the racing turns up to be good at the moment, I don’t think this will hold up in the coming years. And let’s be frank—anyone who is a true motorsport junkie will be disappointed by the new reality of unbearable software management.
Really curious to see tomorrow's race though, we will get a better picture.
Early in these regs it will be all about aero-efficiency, deployment efficiency and mechanical traction. High speed aero has become of lesser importance.
No more driving on the edge in highspeed corners.
What a waste of effort that was getting up at 4.30am UK time for.
Had better enjoyment watching practice sessions from 2025 in Monaco than the start of a new era of cars which should be exciting.
Regulations are an absolute joke. Whoever come up with these wants to take a long hard look in the mirror and think about the monstrosity they’ve allowed to ‘race’
Drivers and teams were right 3/4 years ago calling these regs out that they are going to be terrible. And everyone shot people down because they thought they were behind in their own PU developments. How wrong they were.
Racing ain’t going to be much better IMHO. Might get someone cancelling the super clipping allowing them to over take, but even then, probably have no battery left to over take.
Or you over take and park your car on the apex so other car can’t get back past.
Don’t think it’s even chassis related, it’s looking that way because other teams are harvesting more through the corners thus making them ‘slower’ giving the effect that the chassis is different.
Guess Max was right when he said how far ahead the mercs will be in AUS…
I don’t think I’ve seen 1 positive comment from anyone for what we’ve seen so far.
I mean, are the drivers even braking for turns 8/9 after the straight? Doesn’t sound like they are at all.
