2026 Japanese Grand Prix - Suzuka, March 27 - 29

[SB15]

It may be that this is the last race where Mercedes was dominant. McLaren was fairly close as it is. I sure Ferrari is bringing upgrades by may. Plus another team or two might pull themselves together. It might be that red bull can shave off its weight deficit in this downtime for one.

This will definitely not age well.

[avantman]

It may be that this is the last race where Mercedes was dominant. McLaren was fairly close as it is. I sure Ferrari is bringing upgrades by may. Plus another team or two might pull themselves together. It might be that red bull can shave off its weight deficit in this downtime for one.

You would fit great at Sky F1 pushing these narratives each weekend.

[gandharva]

Q: "What you would like to see changed before Miami?”
Lando: “There's no point of saying it, honestly. It doesn't matter what we [drivers] say. As long as the fans enjoy it, that's all that matters”
Q: “The drivers need to enjoy it as well”
Lando: Clearly not.”

Bruh...

[bananapeel23]

I’m still of the opinion that the racing is very interesting, even if I’d prefer it if there was no super clipping and the cars were a bit less energy starved. I don’t mind the pass and re-pass type of racing at all, I think it’s pretty fun.

I enjoy the fact that sloppy management from a faster car means that you risk being reovertaken, and that clever management can keep a faster car ahead. Without perfectly tuned DRS you could just power by and forget the car behind you, with almost no punishment for being sloppy about it, since reovertaking was practically impossible.

I can only recall significant passing and repassing in early 2022 (Ocon/Gasly and Leclerc/Verstappen), as well as Alonso on Perez in Brazil 2023. Now you get it constantly and Russell was punished by Leclerc for overtaking sloppily several times. Good racecraft in the form of energy management and tyre management is clearly more important than ever, and that’s something I enjoy.

What I don’t enjoy is the super clipping. It sucks, and I don’t think these cars would race any worse without it.

Although I’d argue that the primary driver of the good racing are the (in my opinion) absolutely amazing aero regs, and not the crappy PU. These cars would race just as well or better if they didn’t have to super clip.

Hopefully the unplanned spring break provides enough opportunity to thoroughly consider well thought out band-aid fixes for 2026. Perhaps a 100-150 kW superclipping cap and harvesting allowances reduced to like 7 MJ at most on all tracks except for like Baku. I would guess that a more ICE focused engine formula wouldn’t be agreed upon by Ferrari/RBPT/Audi/Honda without ADUO being scrapped, however.

I also hope for a thorough reconsideration of the harvesting allowances and fuel flow for 2027.

If possible I’d even love to see the MGU-H or front axle regen for 2028, since the cars could be turned into rocket ships with higher fuel flow, 9 MJ on all tracks and passive harvesting.

[gandharva]

I’m still of the opinion that the racing is very interesting, even if I’d prefer it if there was no super clipping and the cars were a bit less energy starved. I don’t mind the pass and re-pass type of racing at all, I think it’s pretty fun.

Yeah. "Pure racing" it is. According to Toto. Btw. I want his drugs.

[bananapeel23]

I’m still of the opinion that the racing is very interesting, even if I’d prefer it if there was no super clipping and the cars were a bit less energy starved. I don’t mind the pass and re-pass type of racing at all, I think it’s pretty fun.

Yeah. "Pure racing" it is. According to Toto. Btw. I want his drugs.

https://streamable.com/vejtse

I mean energy management can absolutely be considered pure racing. It’s certainly wheel to wheel and strategic, but it’s not full pushing in the traditional sense. I understand why people don’t enjoy it, and I’m certainly no fan of the awful PU they are stuck with, but it’s not like the drivers aren’t making massive efforts to pass and stay ahead just because the PU sucks and forces them to not push in certain corners.

Again, I don’t mind drivers having to manage energy and being punished for doing it sloppily, like Russell. I do mind how awful it is to see cars slow down and downshift on full throttle, however. Those are two different things, though.

I don’t think the cars would race much different with no superclipping, they would just be slower. If they didn’t superclip, the yoyo racing would be considered a good thing.

There is an old rule - truth is the opposite of what Toto says, literally.

Toto has not shied away from criticizing these engines either. He has mostly criticized how they act in quali, but pretty much the entire paddock agrees that they suck, including Merc higher-ups and drivers.

[avantman]

I’m still of the opinion that the racing is very interesting, even if I’d prefer it if there was no super clipping and the cars were a bit less energy starved. I don’t mind the pass and re-pass type of racing at all, I think it’s pretty fun.

Yeah. "Pure racing" it is. According to Toto. Btw. I want his drugs.

https://streamable.com/vejtse

There is an old rule - truth is the opposite of what Toto says, literally.

[Artur Craft]

What happened to Bottas? The gap to Perez looks embarrassing. Any excuse?

Makes one appreciate even more the insane performance Max had on 2021 to win a tittle against the much superior Mercedes

[Dee]

I’m still of the opinion that the racing is very interesting, even if I’d prefer it if there was no super clipping and the cars were a bit less energy starved. I don’t mind the pass and re-pass type of racing at all, I think it’s pretty fun.

Yeah. "Pure racing" it is. According to Toto. Btw. I want his drugs.

https://streamable.com/vejtse

I mean energy management can absolutely be considered pure racing. It’s certainly wheel to wheel and strategic, but it’s not full pushing in the traditional sense. I understand why people don’t enjoy it, and I’m certainly no fan of the awful PU they are stuck with, but it’s not like the drivers aren’t making massive efforts to pass and stay ahead just because the PU sucks and forces them to not push in certain corners.

Again, I don’t mind drivers having to manage energy and being punished for doing it sloppily, like Russell. I do mind how awful it is to see cars slow down and downshift on full throttle, however. Those are two different things, though.

I don’t think the cars would race much different with no superclipping, they would just be slower. If they didn’t superclip, the yoyo racing would be considered a good thing.

There is an old rule - truth is the opposite of what Toto says, literally.

Toto has not shied away from criticizing these engines either. He has mostly criticized how they act in quali, but pretty much the entire paddock agrees that they suck, including Merc higher-ups and drivers.

The whole bloody race I had to listen to the commentators talking about battery power. Who had it, who didn't, whose car was failing with it. That's ---!

[FittingMechanics]

What I don’t enjoy is the super clipping. It sucks, and I don’t think these cars would race any worse without it.

Although I’d argue that the primary driver of the good racing are the (in my opinion) absolutely amazing aero regs, and not the crappy PU. These cars would race just as well or better if they didn’t have to super clip.

Hopefully the unplanned spring break provides enough opportunity to thoroughly consider well thought out band-aid fixes for 2026. Perhaps a 100-150 kW superclipping cap and harvesting allowances reduced to like 7 MJ at most on all tracks except for like Baku. I would guess that a more ICE focused engine formula wouldn’t be agreed upon by Ferrari/RBPT/Audi/Honda without ADUO being scrapped, however.

I also hope for a thorough reconsideration of the harvesting allowances and fuel flow for 2027.

If possible I’d even love to see the MGU-H or front axle regen for 2028, since the cars could be turned into rocket ships with higher fuel flow, 9 MJ on all tracks and passive harvesting.

I fully agree. The good part in this regulation is the fact you can be tactical with energy use allowing you to become faster in various parts of the circuit. This allows drivers to open up opportunities to fight.

Super clipping and lift and coast harvesting is adding nothing. If they reduce the limits (or found other ways to charge) we would get best of both worlds. Tactical fights and cars on the limit. Imagine if you could drive hard and the only difference is where you choose to deploy boost.

I know some would call it a gimmick and dislike it but it is exactly what Formula wanted to do with DRS, allow fights between cars. Without a driver overtake aid this age of hyper reliable cars with thousands of sensors anddrivers which seldom make mistakes you will just end up with super boring races that come down to who overtakes through a single pitstop.

Easier overtakes allows for more race strategies as well.

[Gillian]

What I don't follow in these discussions is that 2021 was one of the best seasons of all time, yet it is said that overtaking was impossible with those cars. How can this be? What it shows is that the core element of what makes F1 interesting is not the number of overtakes. It's something deeper, the tension and the competitors. Tripling the number of overtakes doesn't automatically make things better.


but that's the problem with the crowd that F1 wants to sell to now. They are not interested in following longer plots. They want to be able to come and go without context, without knowledge of the rivalries, the teams, the history. That is who the current concept of 500 overtakes favors.

2021 was great because it was about 2 humans extracting near maximum out of their cars and eachother. It was a truly marvelous season. 2023 was great as well... another prime example of man + machine (+ team?) executing almost perfect. 2018 was great, another near perfect example of a driver in harmony witb his car extracting everything. Even 2014 was fantastic, the rivalry and witnessing the majestic merc PU (not knowing it would dominate for many more years). I loved 2005, same reasons. Its about the human element + machinery, driving to excellence.

That human element is destroyed. You need a good pilot for the Boeing now, any will do, instead of a Maverick. I prefer Maverick.

[De Wet]

Who was Energy Manager of the Day ?

[bananapeel23]

The whole bloody race I had to listen to the commentators talking about battery power. Who had it, who didn't, whose car was failing with it. That's ---!

That is the one thing you can be sure will disappear no matter what. The failing is just a consequence of teething issues due to the PUs being new. By mid-season you likely won’t be hearing much about PUs having deployment issues.

To me the primary issue is just that they are energy starved and have to resort to boring and dangerous solutions like superclipping.

[Artur Craft]

It may be that this is the last race where Mercedes was dominant. McLaren was fairly close as it is. I sure Ferrari is bringing upgrades by may. Plus another team or two might pull themselves together. It might be that red bull can shave off its weight deficit in this downtime for one.

You would fit great at Sky F1 pushing these narratives each weekend.

The "racing" is phony, pathetic and etc but I do see the point of the people who are loving it and are complaining for others to stop bashing it. They are right, if you´re not liking the show, turn it off and do something else. There is really no point in constantly bashing it, leave the F1 races for the people thrilled with the "show"

I am again looking forward to the Indycar race on Alabama later today, especially after the awesome previous GP. MotoGP might be good as well on COTA. Or, if you only care about F1, just rewatch the 2005 Suzuka GP to erase the current F1´s "racing" from your mind

Who was Energy Manager of the Day ?

The guy who choked last year and managed to lose the title despite the luck he had

[Rikhart]

Who was Energy Manager of the Day ?

Btw, I hope we don't see someone dying because of the insane closing speeds these regulations have now imposed while racing.

I still remember when drivers were punished for driving slow during qualifying, since it was considered dangerous, now the system FORCES THEM TO DRIVE SLOW DURING RACES, and heh, it's fine, not a problem.

Lunacy.