Basically, it will be the same for all the teams. I believe that in the final days of testing in Bahrain, all the teams will bring a car very similar to the one that will race in Melbourne.
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Basically, it will be the same for all the teams. I believe that in the final days of testing in Bahrain, all the teams will bring a car very similar to the one that will race in Melbourne.
-BinottoAudi's expectation is to be a WDC caliber team in 2030. He says that the equipment currently at the team is "not even the same sport" compared to what Ferrari had when he was there. Just building a new factory and be "at least on par" with infrastructures will require at minimum 3 years.
I don't think it will be a disadvantage either that the engine and car are in separate factories, with the exception of Ferrari, they have always been in different cities and even countries. But Mercedes is not UK & Germany, then engine is UK as well, Brixworth, only 28 miles away from the car factory.edu2703 wrote: ↑22 Jan 2026, 08:32Binotto's interview is very interesting. Someone on Reddit translated the main points:
- He doesn't expect the huge engine gaps of 2014 (Mercedes was almost 100hp ahead), but most likely no engine equivalence as we have seen the last few years.
- He expect a "possible dominant PU manufacturer" to sandbag the PU all season to not trigger the FIA automatic system of benefits for trailing manufacturers. The extra dyno testing hours is so important and so beneficial that it's better to run only "10hp above" the others instead of whatever real power advantage they have and keep all manufacturers with the same development tools.
- The difference between a "great" fuel and a "bad" fuel can be worth up to 4 tenths per lap.
- The "absurd" rumored fuel prices circulating are a political PR stunt by struggling manufacturers/fuel suppliers, their fuel is much cheaper than the reported figures.
- The most efficient recharge strategy will be to have the MGU-K "brake" the car at the end of the straights while still on full throttle (so "waste" fuel) to recharge the battery more.
- The standard MGU-K deployment time per lap will be around 10 seconds, usually 2-4 seconds of deployment per straight.
- The MGU-K "brake" effect will be so strong off throttle that drivers will push the throttle pedal much earlier than before and than what would feel natural.
- This massive braking power also made keeping balance stable and avoiding rear locks a big focus and will continue to be a focus in testing.
- At Barcelona they expect 20-30 kph higher top speeds compared to 2025.
- Turn 3, now easy flat, will be impossible to run flat with the current ruleset, and it may not even be possible at the end of the ruleset.
- On a personal note he finds the engine noise more pleasant than the previous regulation cycle.
- The most immediate feedback from the drivers after the filming day was that the car is surprisingly light in the straights due to the active aerodynamics.
- Audi's expectation is to be a WDC caliber team in 2030. He says that the equipment currently at the team is "not even the same sport" compared to what Ferrari had when he was there. Just building a new factory and be "at least on par" with infrastructures will require at minimum 3 years.
- They don't think building car and engine in separate cities/factories will be a limiting factor (he mentions Red Bull-Honda and Mercedes split between UK and Germany as winning examples).
- They don't expect Barcelona testing times to be really indicative of anything, Bahrain 1 also will be marginally relevant. Probably only Bahrain 2 will be somewhat indicative of the real performance of the various teams.
Full interview (In Italian)
Uh, why? Electric motors are very low friction and keep spinning on their own for a long while, and I wouldn't think it's much heavier. The PU minimum weight only increased minimally all things considered.edu2703 wrote: ↑22 Jan 2026, 08:32- The MGU-K "brake" effect will be so strong off throttle that drivers will push the throttle pedal much earlier than before and than what would feel natural.
- This massive braking power also made keeping balance stable and avoiding rear locks a big focus and will continue to be a focus in testing.
You know. When writing a comment you can just select text of a comment and press the quote button to insert that part only, instead of quoting 1,5 screens worth of text only to highlight two lines.
The MGU-K will harvest at maximum potential off throttle.mzso wrote: ↑23 Jan 2026, 01:13Uh, why? Electric motors are very low friction and keep spinning on their own for a long while, and I wouldn't think it's much heavier.edu2703 wrote: ↑22 Jan 2026, 08:32- The MGU-K "brake" effect will be so strong off throttle that drivers will push the throttle pedal much earlier than before and than what would feel natural.
- This massive braking power also made keeping balance stable and avoiding rear locks a big focus and will continue to be a focus in testing.
There would never be a reason to drive with no resistance. The key to laptime will be harvesting as much as possible at end of straight and mid-corner in order to deploy as much as possible at the start of the straight.
What AR3-GP is saying.
What AR3-GP is saying.
What you're bot talking about is not relevant. I never said no resistance from the motor. The driver needs not to feel anything, as the electric motor works against the ICE. So the Binotto "brake effect" comment is highly questionable.GhostF1 wrote: ↑23 Jan 2026, 02:56What AR3-GP is saying.
If they ever find themselves running with zero resistance from the electric motor, it will be an undesirable compromise stemming from necessity to maintain car balance or just driver ability. How much each driver can tolerate and keep a handle on will be huge.
This sounds a lot like PU failure, which they are rumored to have had at the shakedown.
Confirmed by Bortoleto: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:wyxtpy ... dumfke3c2b
In any case, it's not a good pre-season debut for Audi considering the cars with Red Bull-Ford engines completed many more laps. Let's hope the next days of testing are better for the team.“We found a couple problems that unfortunately put us out of the day already. It was expected, these type of things.”
“It was a precaution thing as well. We decided to not run until we fully understand then to put the car back on track…”