not really, Mercedes sandbagging massively, and Ferrari/McLaren have not turned up the wick fully yet. We'll see the true colours in SQ. My inference is : Max is ~0.5s/lap slower in Q mode and around 0.9s/lap slower in R mode than Mercedes. That's like a 0.5s/lap improvement compared to the first 3 races.
venkyhere wrote: ↑01 May 2026, 20:05not really, Mercedes sandbagging massively, and Ferrari/McLaren have not turned up the wick fully yet. We'll see the true colours in SQ. My inference is : Max is ~0.5s/lap slower in Q mode and around 0.9s/lap slower in R mode than Mercedes. That's like a 0.5s/lap improvement compared to the first 3 races.
But clearly the 4th fastest car - no more mixing with Haas and Alpine. That's a good sign.

Let's wait and see.euv2 wrote: ↑01 May 2026, 20:11https://postimg.cc/jChbDvywvenkyhere wrote: ↑01 May 2026, 20:05not really, Mercedes sandbagging massively, and Ferrari/McLaren have not turned up the wick fully yet. We'll see the true colours in SQ. My inference is : Max is ~0.5s/lap slower in Q mode and around 0.9s/lap slower in R mode than Mercedes. That's like a 0.5s/lap improvement compared to the first 3 races.
But clearly the 4th fastest car - no more mixing with Haas and Alpine. That's a good sign.
The sandbags weren't too obvious for Mercedes and Ferrari, Mercedes most likely running on more fuel, but George was struggling today and Kimi didn't do a run on softs, so it's hard to say how much ahead they are. MCL definitely had a session topping lap in them if Lando completed his lap though.
It's not about being the fastest, it's about not being 1s back.venkyhere wrote: ↑01 May 2026, 20:27Let's wait and see.euv2 wrote: ↑01 May 2026, 20:11https://postimg.cc/jChbDvywvenkyhere wrote: ↑01 May 2026, 20:05
not really, Mercedes sandbagging massively, and Ferrari/McLaren have not turned up the wick fully yet. We'll see the true colours in SQ. My inference is : Max is ~0.5s/lap slower in Q mode and around 0.9s/lap slower in R mode than Mercedes. That's like a 0.5s/lap improvement compared to the first 3 races.
But clearly the 4th fastest car - no more mixing with Haas and Alpine. That's a good sign.
The sandbags weren't too obvious for Mercedes and Ferrari, Mercedes most likely running on more fuel, but George was struggling today and Kimi didn't do a run on softs, so it's hard to say how much ahead they are. MCL definitely had a session topping lap in them if Lando completed his lap though.
I have to say - ferrari looking like an absolute beast through the corners, slow/med/high. Unless the other three are running lots of fuel to sandbag (which Redbull doesn't need to, they are heaviest).
And Lando would have beaten Ferrari in the corners if he completed his lap, was 0.2 faster than everyone else in sector 1. Mercedes race pace was the fastest, so they were sandbagging in qualy sim.venkyhere wrote: ↑01 May 2026, 20:27Let's wait and see.euv2 wrote: ↑01 May 2026, 20:11https://postimg.cc/jChbDvywvenkyhere wrote: ↑01 May 2026, 20:05
not really, Mercedes sandbagging massively, and Ferrari/McLaren have not turned up the wick fully yet. We'll see the true colours in SQ. My inference is : Max is ~0.5s/lap slower in Q mode and around 0.9s/lap slower in R mode than Mercedes. That's like a 0.5s/lap improvement compared to the first 3 races.
But clearly the 4th fastest car - no more mixing with Haas and Alpine. That's a good sign.
The sandbags weren't too obvious for Mercedes and Ferrari, Mercedes most likely running on more fuel, but George was struggling today and Kimi didn't do a run on softs, so it's hard to say how much ahead they are. MCL definitely had a session topping lap in them if Lando completed his lap though.
I have to say - ferrari looking like an absolute beast through the corners, slow/med/high. Unless the other three are running lots of fuel to sandbag (which Redbull doesn't need to, they are heaviest).
It's only a matter of time before the deal between Red Bull Racing and Adidas is officially announced.
Adidas will become the clothing sponsor of the F1 team starting in 2027. Agreement worth at least 25 million per year, equivalent to Adidas deals with Mercedes and Audi