2026 Australian Grand Prix - Melbourne, March 06 - 08

[FittingMechanics]

People talking about how this is a terrible rule set, but when was the last time we had cars with no artificial thing to manage or generate interest? DRS was fake, refuelling was fake, KERS was fake, crappy low life tyres were fake, forced pit shops were and still are fake..

Its been a LONG time since we had cars with nothing fake generating interest, if ever if were totally honest, and did that generate good races? lol no.

We got 120 overtakes. Yes they were mostly fake caused by management and deployment, but that beats having 3 because no one can pass and they line up 2 by 2 from start to finish

Not sure why would people see this as a fake overtake. Driver behind has the same power and same battery as the car ahead. It is much less fake than any DRS assisted overtake (most last year) because in this case both cars have the same tools available. I am ignoring overtake mode as I believe 0.5MJ extra recharge is not something that really changes things.

These energy overtakes allow cars to have vastly different speeds at certain points on the track which opens up the chess game, but it is not a guaranteed pass.

Is it a fake overtake if a driver saves his tires for a few laps and then has better tires? I don't think so, but here when someone manages to use the same energy in a different way to overtake suddenly it is fake? Bad way to look at it.

[hollus]

Awesome!

I want to lay alternative markers for immature cars at the beginning of the last regulation cycle. In 2022 Malbourne was the 3rd race, so the cars were a bit less green, but 1st race, 3rd race... same same enough.

Pole lap in 2022: 1:17:868 by Leclerc.
Fastest lap in the race: 1:20:268 by Leclerc.

In my opinion, Melbourne 2025 should be compared to Melbourne 2029 or at least 2028, after everyone has had 2 cycles of re-designing their cars including the successful tricks from the other teams.

And now complete:

Pole lap in 2022: 1:17:868 by Leclerc. ---> Pole lap in 2026: 1:18:518 by Russell.
Fastest lap in the race: 1:20:268 by Leclerc. --> Fastest lap in 2026: 1:22:091 by Verstappen.

As expected, more different in the race where they are unlikely to deploy 8 MJ in free air.

So 0.7 thenth in Q, 15 tenths slower inthe race.
But yes, together with the treade off of corner speed for straight line acceleration, they feel a tad slower to the (my) eye.

In qualifying they deploy 11 or 12 MJ. They start the lap topped up.

Thanks! I mixed up harvest with deployment?

[Trocola]

go and watch 2002 again.

V10s? Drivers going flat-out for the whole GP? No "I need to recharge battery" stuff?

Seems interesting

[FittingMechanics]

And now complete:

Pole lap in 2022: 1:17:868 by Leclerc. ---> Pole lap in 2026: 1:18:518 by Russell.
Fastest lap in the race: 1:20:268 by Leclerc. --> Fastest lap in 2026: 1:22:091 by Verstappen.

As expected, more different in the race where they are unlikely to deploy 8 MJ in free air.

So 0.7 thenth in Q, 15 tenths slower inthe race.
But yes, together with the treade off of corner speed for straight line acceleration, they feel a tad slower to the (my) eye.

In qualifying they deploy 11 or 12 MJ. They start the lap topped up.

Thanks! I mixed up harvest with deployment?

Yes, I made the same mistake few weeks ago and someone clarified it here.

The limit is for recharging, not deployment. In qualifying that means start with almost full battery. In the race it would probably mean for steady state 8MJ per lap, but in theory you could save up and use again battery 4MJ + 8MJ recharge

[bananapeel23]

People talking about how this is a terrible rule set, but when was the last time we had cars with no artificial thing to manage or generate interest? DRS was fake, refuelling was fake, KERS was fake, crappy low life tyres were fake, forced pit shops were and still are fake..

Its been a LONG time since we had cars with nothing fake generating interest, if ever if were totally honest, and did that generate good races? lol no.

We got 120 overtakes. Yes they were mostly fake caused by management and deployment, but that beats having 3 because no one can pass and they line up 2 by 2 from start to finish

Not sure why would people see this as a fake overtake. Driver behind has the same power and same battery as the car ahead. It is much less fake than any DRS assisted overtake (most last year) because in this case both cars have the same tools available. I am ignoring overtake mode as I believe 0.5MJ extra recharge is not something that really changes things.

These energy overtakes allow cars to have vastly different speeds at certain points on the track which opens up the chess game, but it is not a guaranteed pass.

Is it a fake overtake if a driver saves his tires for a few laps and then has better tires? I don't think so, but here when someone manages to use the same energy in a different way to overtake suddenly it is fake? Bad way to look at it.

Also the overtaking requires management of the SOC and the drivers will eventually start having to time their LiCo and super clipping in order to just barely get themselves into a position where they can overtake, without overusing their battery or underharvesting to the point of being a sitting duck on the next straight.

Drivers will cruise up right beside the car they are trying to overtake, then overtake via good positioning and handling, and they won’t just be blowing past, since that costs too much battery.

Either that or they will be parking the car in front of the one they are overtaking in order to prevent them from utilizing their SOC advantage. Both are pretty interesting.

[fourmula1]

I had fun watching that at least until the safety car pulled the cars apart. This is just another part of the F1 evolution. There is huge potential with active aero and electric power. This is the first season, hopefully it only gets better from here and teams converge. Maintain the lower weight smaller size cars and it could get really good. There certainly are problems with this formula but I think it is all just a part of the process and the next step (or half step if they make mid gen changes) will be better for it.

I think F1 needs more gradual evolution every 2 years rather than a completely new car every 5 or whatever.

[AR3-GP]

And now complete:

Pole lap in 2022: 1:17:868 by Leclerc. ---> Pole lap in 2026: 1:18:518 by Russell.
Fastest lap in the race: 1:20:268 by Leclerc. --> Fastest lap in 2026: 1:22:091 by Verstappen.

As expected, more different in the race where they are unlikely to deploy 8 MJ in free air.

So 0.7 thenth in Q, 15 tenths slower inthe race.
But yes, together with the treade off of corner speed for straight line acceleration, they feel a tad slower to the (my) eye.

Best laps in race conditions are affected by tire age, tire compound, fuel load (remaining laps), and the regulations.

In 2022, Charles Leclerc did the fastest lap on the final lap of the race (1-2 laps of fuel). It was a "fast lap attempt" which meant he recharged the battery on the previous lap. Drivers did this because F1 awarded 1 point for the fastest lap in 2022.

In 2026, Verstappen did the fastest lap on lap 43 of 58 (more fuel relative to qualy), and there was no incentive because no points are awarded. So he has just done a quick lap in a sustainable PU mode after he pitted for tires. Nothing intentional.

Furthermore, the fastest laps in both of these races could have been significantly lowered if a driver pitted for fresh tires with under 5 laps to go. Therefore, there is no way to say these randomly executed race laps reflect anything about the nature of the performance differential between qualifying and race trim. You would do better comparing pole time to the average lap time that is set in first 10 laps of the race by the leader as there is a high probability that drivers are always pushing during this time.

[lucafo]

These regs are not going anywhere. This is what it's all about:

https://i.postimg.cc/RCLDJVkr/image.png

Was there any truly memorable overtakes?

The "engineering/racing nerd" type fanbase is slowly dwindling, while the "big-mac-with-large-coke" type fanbase is growing massively, helped by DTS. They want to dumb it down as a 'showman sport' rather than a sport of tech/skill, since that's the way to increase the subscription base, ticket sales and general public popularity.
Remember the owner's manual that came with old cars ? They had instructions on how to adjust the carburettor jets, while a modern car's owner's manual comes with instructions not to drink the engine oil / coolant.
Same trend. We shouldn't be surprised.

Great analysis!
F1 is like Mario Kart now - perfect for this "new" generation!
Maybe we see "smart steering" and "auto-accelarate" as well as gold tyres, anti-gravity, boost very soon!
Ps.: there is already boost...

[SB15]

I still think that 70/30 split with the deployment cut in half is a more reasonable option for the drivers in the future and jeez that start from Colapinto to avoid Lawson...
I can definitely see rolling starts being an option in the future.

[bluechris]

I can definitely see rolling starts being an option in the future.

I bet one team manager will raise this in the next meeting and as always his wish will happen after the Ferrari start today.

[AR3-GP]

[
Also the overtaking requires management of the SOC and the drivers will eventually start having to time their LiCo and super clipping in order to just barely get themselves into a position where they can overtake, without overusing their battery or underharvesting to the point of being a sitting duck on the next straight.

Drivers will cruise up right beside the car they are trying to overtake, then overtake via good positioning and handling, and they won’t just be blowing past, since that costs too much battery.

I'm not sure that any of this stuff is actually possible. I see it mentioned often that this will be a driver skill, but it is really an illusion. These hybrid systems are so complicated, and they are fragile when they are operated incorrectly. That's why so much has to done by the software. The car has to manage the recovery limits (7MJ, 8MJ) and prevent the battery from overcharging. Car also has to automate the deployment so that there is enough room in the battery for the next brake zone. Did anyone ever think about how complex it is to harvest 8MJ across the lap when the battery only holds up to 4MJ at once? It requires you to pre-plan the harvesting and deployment everywhere so you don't end up recovering 8MJ too soon, which would require you to shut off the MGU-K in the rest of the lap. The problem with that is that the car is designed to stop with the MGU-K. The rear disc brake is too small. The PU operation really is that level of crazy and that's why the drivers are passengers to it. They won't have the freedom to choose where the car superclips and they can't LICO wherever they want.

Either that or they will be parking the car in front of the one they are overtaking in order to prevent them from utilizing their SOC advantage. Both are pretty interesting.

The power differences create 40-50km/h speed differentials. This is what Lando Norris was warning about after the GP. Drivers cannot be allowed to block or do anything silly because not only is there a 50km/h speed difference, but they also have less ability to react to a block because the wings open! Airplane crash in the making.

[LM10]

I can definitely see rolling starts being an option in the future.

Definitely not.

[FittingMechanics]

[
Also the overtaking requires management of the SOC and the drivers will eventually start having to time their LiCo and super clipping in order to just barely get themselves into a position where they can overtake, without overusing their battery or underharvesting to the point of being a sitting duck on the next straight.

Drivers will cruise up right beside the car they are trying to overtake, then overtake via good positioning and handling, and they won’t just be blowing past, since that costs too much battery.

I'm not sure that any of this stuff is actually possible. I see it mentioned often that this will be a driver skill, but it is really an illusion. These hybrid systems are so complicated, and they are fragile when they are operated incorrectly. That's why so much has to done by the software. The car has to manage the recovery limits (7MJ, 8MJ) and prevent the battery from overcharging. Car also has to automate the deployment so that there is enough room in the battery for the next brake zone. Did anyone ever think about how complex it is to harvest 8MJ across the lap when the battery only holds up to 4MJ at once? It requires you to pre-plan the harvesting and deployment everywhere so you don't end up recovering 8MJ too soon, which would require you to shut off the MGU-K in the rest of the lap. The problem with that is that the car is designed to stop with the MGU-K. The rear disc brake is too small. The PU operation really is that level of crazy and that's why the drivers are passengers to it. They won't have the freedom to choose where the car superclips and they can't LICO wherever they want.

From McLaren race stream.


I think they do have freedom to make changes on the fly. Both Norris and Verstappen were given advice on changes to help in their fight.

[vanburin]

Ferrari weren’t ever winning this regardless of strategy, their only chance was doing what they did. Merc are clearly faster, then Ferrari, then McLaren/RB.

I suspect McLaren will out develop RB and be clear third or second by the summer break. The car seems advanced but in an early iteration. I dont think RB have said what happened to Hadjar, but it didnt sound like ICE failure, he lost drive.

I quite enjoyed the race honestly.

Pfff... Nope. Don't make lame excuses for them. They could, and should have taken advantage of the VSC like everyone else. Especially after Mercedes already did. That was the only logical and safest thing to do. Keep them behind and don't allow them to go fast and enjoy any pace advantage. Hold out while they eat up their tires, then settle down.

At least McLaren had the good sense to hire Red Bulls chief of strategy. Ferrari is still pushing this clown show.

Chris is right though. The only chance Ferrari would have had in this race was doing something different i.e going 1 stop and hoping Mercedes would need to come in for a second stop.

Merc had everything covered. Their pace was too strong. Just look at the laptimes the Mercs did on 40+ old tyres, without being tested. Surely they were managing pace even at that.

[FrukostScones]

go and watch 2002 again.

V10s? Drivers going flat-out for the whole GP? No "I need to recharge battery" stuff?

Seems interesting

Anemoia much?