Italian Kimi Antonelli secured his third consecutive pole position as Mercedes slowly found back their pace after being outclassed so far this weekend. Max Verstappen proved a very happy second fastest as well, confirming he felt more comfortable than before the break. Charles Leclerc will start from third for Ferrari.
I guess that's fair enough regarding this specific track. But before today, it was 2-0, and that's only cuz of one race weekend. Where George was otherwise faster for all the rest of the year.
I think that’s a fair point. You do see the cream kinda rising to the top in other teams though regarding teammate battles. That said, George is much better than he has shown recently.Seanspeed wrote: ↑01 May 2026, 23:43I guess that's fair enough regarding this specific track. But before today, it was 2-0, and that's only cuz of one race weekend. Where George was otherwise faster for all the rest of the year.
Just saying, maybe people shouldn't be getting ahead of themselves, given how weird these cars are.
Yeah, these cars are weird to drive and it seems taking them to the edge in the corners is not the fastest way around, but, psychologically, Russell will still face a tough time because being behind your team mate is never good.
It means a little more now than it did before Miami. The regs tweaks mean they are doing much less saving and they aren't having to slow down artificially in most of the corners during qualy. That means those drivers who are better at exploiting the grip limits can find more laptime.
https://www.ferrari.com/en-EN/formula1/ ... ia-leclercRules and the feeling at the wheel. Also discussed was the topic of trhe recent changes to the regulations, as a result of dialogue between the drivers and the FIA. “I felt listened to as a driver and that is very positive. Now, in qualifying, we should be able to drive more on instinct, which is what we want,” he explained. “There are still some areas that need more work, but it’s a step in the right direction.”
AR3-GP wrote: ↑02 May 2026, 01:24It means a little more now than it did before Miami. The regs tweaks mean they are doing much less saving and they aren't having to slow down artificially in most of the corners during qualy. That means those drivers who are better at exploiting the grip limits can find more laptime.
Leclerc:https://www.ferrari.com/en-EN/formula1/ ... ia-leclercRules and the feeling at the wheel. Also discussed was the topic of trhe recent changes to the regulations, as a result of dialogue between the drivers and the FIA. “I felt listened to as a driver and that is very positive. Now, in qualifying, we should be able to drive more on instinct, which is what we want,” he explained. “There are still some areas that need more work, but it’s a step in the right direction.”
Verstappen and Leclerc were being handcuffed by an invisible speed limit through all of the corners before Miami. 1st race after the tweaks to put drivers back at the forefront. Leclerc gaps Hamilton by 4 tenths. Verstappen gaps Hadjar by 1 second. I don't believe in coincidences. Like Leclerc said, it's still not perfect, but there's more push now than before.
https://www.planetf1.com/news/fia-miami ... rificationDuring the extended break, the FIA confirmed a number of changes to the regulations aimed at improving the flat-out nature of qualifying and addressing a number of safety issues.
A release issued at the time noted “a reduction in maximum permitted recharge from 8MJ to 7MJ, aimed at reducing excessive harvesting and encouraging more consistent flat-out driving. This change targets a maximum superclip duration reduced to approximately 2-4 seconds per lap.”
In addition, super clips would be increased from 250kW to 350kW in an effort to reduce their duration.
A Power Unit Information document issued to teams on Thursday in Miami outlined that there is no change to the maximum recharge per lap this weekend, which appeared at odds with the FIA statement.
The document outlines that, in the sprint and race, 9 MJ is available with Overtake active, else drivers have access to 8.5 MJ of recharge per lap. In qualifying that is 8 MJ, and 9 MJ during practice.
Approached for clarification by PlanetF1.com, the FIA has confirmed that the rule change has not been a blanket reduction in the maximum recharge, but the ability for officials to lower the permitted maximum to 7 MJ at some events.
For Miami, with only around two seconds of super clipping expected over the course of a lap, officials opted to leave maximum recharge unchanged. At other venues, that figure can be reduced where super clipping would be more invasive.
It's not about the recharge limit. There were many tweaks to the PU regulations that have occurred ahead of Miami and were implemented during the sprint qualifying. The forced deployment levels have dropped and the algorithms that make the car use energy where it shouldn't have been relaxed. They also increased the superclipping limit to 350kW which means they can get more energy out of the super clipping in a straight line and have to do less nonsense in the corners (like delaying throttle and under driving the corners). It frees the drivers to push for a greater percentage of the lap.
https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/how- ... st-quirks/Now, rather than the requirement being for drivers to have to be above 98% throttle for a full second, the algorithm will approach things differently.
Drivers will be put in the power limited mode automatically one second after they activate the power limited pending phase at 98% - irrespective of them backing off after that moment.
This should help avoid unexpected changes in energy deployment from restarting the power limit pending phases, and will also mean drivers will not be deterred from pushing hard on corner exit for fear of needing to make any small corrections.
Thanks. I stand corrected. I got confused by the original release by FIA which said recharge limit will be reduced to 7MJ. And thought they backtracked on it after reading the article in the link. It's more subtle, the changes, as I understand, mainly in increasing superclipping recharge rate to the full bore 350KW.AR3-GP wrote: ↑02 May 2026, 07:36It's not about the recharge limit. There were many tweaks to the PU regulations that have occurred ahead of Miami and were implemented during the sprint qualifying. The forced deployment levels have dropped and the algorithms that make the car use energy where it shouldn't have been relaxed. They also increased the superclipping limit to 350kW which means they simply need to spend less time harvesting.
George is just going through his "Lando under pressure" phase against Kimi. We'll see if he recovers and whether Mercedes remains the best car.zibby43 wrote: ↑01 May 2026, 23:46I think that’s a fair point. You do see the cream kinda rising to the top in other teams though regarding teammate battles. That said, George is much better than he has shown recently.Seanspeed wrote: ↑01 May 2026, 23:43I guess that's fair enough regarding this specific track. But before today, it was 2-0, and that's only cuz of one race weekend. Where George was otherwise faster for all the rest of the year.
Just saying, maybe people shouldn't be getting ahead of themselves, given how weird these cars are.
