2026 Australian Grand Prix - Melbourne, March 06 - 08

[FittingMechanics]

How real is it though? I thought the teams don't share battery states. Are they sharing deployment levels then?

From my understanding it is real, but maybe someone could cross check. McLaren has visible state of charge on their wheel so we could compare the SoC with the lap where they showed Norris/Verstappen SoC level on the broadcast.

Teams didn't want that data to be publicly available to all other teams, for example in the live stream data because they would all monitor each other and coach their drivers.

F1 can show the stuff that is non public, but it is just done sporadically.

[mzso]

For safety reasons, batteries must be discharged in the pits as indicated by the specific status light.

I believe the charging regulations for the formation lap could be adjusted, allowing the engine to be used beyond the limits set for the race in order to recharge the battery.

What prevents them from charging constantly on the completely part throttle warm-up lap?

They go full throttle on the warmup lap to carry speed through the corners to warm the tires. This drains the battery again.

Sure, but they can weave at partial throttle on the straight constantly. Maybe the drivers just messed up and didn't pay enough attention to the state of charge.

Basically when your axles and wheels are turning, the energy you get back from them when braking can go into either:
- warming up the tyres
- warning up the brake plates
- back into the MGUK to charge the battery

If you mess up that energy balance/harvesting you might end up with optimally warmed tyres/brakes but an uncharged battery, which is what happened to everyone. It just happened to hit Ferrari less bad than Merc/RB apparently.

You forget about running K against the ICE.

[MJL]

How real is it though? I thought the teams don't share battery states. Are they sharing deployment levels then?

From my understanding it is real, but maybe someone could cross check. McLaren has visible state of charge on their wheel so we could compare the SoC with the lap where they showed Norris/Verstappen SoC level on the broadcast.

Teams didn't want that data to be publicly available to all other teams, for example in the live stream data because they would all monitor each other and coach their drivers.

F1 can show the stuff that is non public, but it is just done sporadically.

Ok great thanks, that's actually amazing, I will try to compare it.

[f1316]

In the cooldown room Russell told LEC he had 20% battery at the start. When he was interviewed later he said he had "close to zero." Remember that drivers are sportsmen and they exaggerate a lot!

Or it could be a simple case of 'lying'. Russel has grown into his 'political snake' role very well, afterall, he learns 'narrative building / political maneuvering' from King Cobra himself.

Your tirade against George and Mercedes is becoming boring.

I could be wrong but my recollection is that George said he had 0% and Charles said he only had about 20%. I certainly wouldn’t put it past any of the drivers to lie about the things they most want changed but in this case I actually think it was consistent.

[f1316]

As a separate but related point: I also don’t understand why they didn’t design these regs so batteries could be charged in the garage/on the grid (as you would for a plug in hybrid at home). It would save a lot of hassle with out laps (and extra charge laps) wouldn’t it?

For safety reasons, batteries must be discharged in the pits as indicated by the specific status light.

I believe the charging regulations for the formation lap could be adjusted, allowing the engine to be used beyond the limits set for the race in order to recharge the battery.

Hmmmm ok. To the lay person, it seems odd that you can safely charge your car at home in your garage but F1 cars at the pinnacle of technology can’t be charged in the pits or on the grid. I’m sure there are good, technical reasons why this is so but equally wonder if they could have considered this better in the design phase such that they come up with good, technical solutions. Given a lot of these regs are for road relevance, ignoring the practical use case of hybrids on the road seems odd.

[AR3-GP]