2026 Pre-Season Testing

[Seanspeed]

Horner sounded the alarm about this 3 years ago and everyone scoffed at him for having a bad engine. Oh the irony that the PU program that he started is dog walking the field in testing so far.

Maybe they can have a crisis meeting and bump up the fuel flow rate. Yes cars will have to be redesigned to carry more fuel. But that's the price for being naive. There was no pushback from anyone else about these insane regs.

You cant seriously be buying into Toto's desperate deflection comments? lol

[Badger]

Horner sounded the alarm about this 3 years ago and everyone scoffed at him for having a bad engine. Oh the irony that the PU program that he started is dog walking the field in testing so far.

Maybe they can have a crisis meeting and bump up the fuel flow rate. Yes cars will have to be redesigned to carry more fuel. But that's the price for being naive. There was no pushback from anyone else about these insane regs.

Was just thinking about Horners comments about how this formula would be like. He just be sat there thinking…. “Told you so”

To be fair, he seemed to stop complaining right around the time the Merc folk they hired must have turned up and let them in on the combustion trick...

Both are probably true, when RBR thought they'd be behind, they were against this, now they look strong, will they still be in favour of an early switch? I guess we'll see. In the same way a few years ago Toto wanted reg changes and now it's 'fix your shitty engines losers' from him.

The way they are talking and acting it doesn't seem like they have this "trick". Either way, altering the power split would not negate the advantage of a compression ratio increase, it also wouldn't make the job of RBPT any easier which is why I never understood this line of argument. Horner's criticism was right and the car manufacturers tried to deflect from it.

[f1316]

I can only imagine the reaction on this forum if any other team than Ferrari was running this consistently whilst setting the fastest laps and in no danger of having an 'exploit' loopholes closed. AND only running with a spec A car. People would be using words like 'ominous' and going crazy about dominance etc.

I'm not saying Ferrari are going to be dominant or even competitive necessarily - I don't have enough information - but I do know that people judge different teams differently based on limited information (the Aston was clearly some stroke of genius before it even turned a wheel...).

[upsidedowntoast]

I can only imagine the reaction on this forum if any other team than Ferrari was running this consistently whilst setting the fastest laps and in no danger of having an 'exploit' loopholes closed. AND only running with a spec A car. People would be using words like 'ominous' and going crazy about dominance etc.

I'm not saying Ferrari are going to be dominant or even competitive necessarily - I don't have enough information - but I do know that people judge different teams differently based on limited information (the Aston was clearly some stroke of genius before it even turned a wheel...).

Yes, I think Ferrari will be very strong. I know it's easy to joke about them because they've had many high profile organizational and operational failures over the years. But as far as cars go this one looks reliable, maybe a bit tricky to control, but Charles is capable of handling that. If they do poorly it will be due to strategy issues not necessarily the car.

[Seanspeed]

I can only imagine the reaction on this forum if any other team than Ferrari was running this consistently whilst setting the fastest laps and in no danger of having an 'exploit' loopholes closed. AND only running with a spec A car. People would be using words like 'ominous' and going crazy about dominance etc.

I'm not saying Ferrari are going to be dominant or even competitive necessarily - I don't have enough information - but I do know that people judge different teams differently based on limited information (the Aston was clearly some stroke of genius before it even turned a wheel...).

People judge differently based on previous evidence, really.

And while yes, Ferrari actually have done quite well with the last two regulation changes, they failed to capitalize on the opportunities and eventually fell back for one reason or another. And Ferrari just in general seems to have not got that aggressive confidence of a team in true top form.

So I think people not getting overexcited about Ferrari's testing program so far is pretty reasonable. Red Bull, Mercedes and Mclaren all have more recent top form for people to point to and see them more likely to be the top dogs.

And it hurts to say that all cuz I'm a Ferrari fan too, but the team really needs to prove more before people start seeing them in the same conversation as those above.

[Emag]

One thing I want to say, after following a ridiculous amount of laps via telemetry these last two days.

I don't like this regulation set.
The 50/50 split is just plain stupid and I don't personally think it belongs in F1. Every damn lap you have to worry about recharging the battery. You push 2 laps, you suffer for at least 1. I can't imagine how this turns any better on an actual real racing scenario, where you have to think about overtaking and defending on top of that.

Ludicrous idea. They should have gone the other way and completely remove the hybrid system. It's a largely irrelevant tech as most road cars are transitioning to full EV nowadays.

A 1000+ HP V8 or V10 with sustainable fuels would have been wonderful.

These things are like you're playing asphalt. Drift through the corners for extra points and double tap on the straights for the boost.

[Mcl_G10]

From the little ive seen im not a fan, its pony.
Considering the huge amount of changes with these new regulations i feel very underwhelmed and thats coming from a supporter of mclaren who look very impressive.

Hope I warm to it but I totally agree with verstappens comments, f1 is not aboutanaging energy and deliberately slowing to save energy to use briefly again somewhere else.

[carisi2k]

The answer is simple. Find a way to get the cars back to 2022 but shorter and narrower where they could overtake and follow. Get rid of the E crap and drop the weight to 640kg.

[Farnborough]

One thing I want to say, after following a ridiculous amount of laps via telemetry these last two days.

I don't like this regulation set.
The 50/50 split is just plain stupid and I don't personally think it belongs in F1. Every damn lap you have to worry about recharging the battery. You push 2 laps, you suffer for at least 1. I can't imagine how this turns any better on an actual real racing scenario, where you have to think about overtaking and defending on top of that.

Ludicrous idea. They should have gone the other way and completely remove the hybrid system. It's a largely irrelevant tech as most road cars are transitioning to full EV nowadays.

A 1000+ HP V8 or V10 with sustainable fuels would have been wonderful.

These things are like you're playing asphalt. Drift through the corners for extra points and double tap on the straights for the boost.

Agree its a complete mess, ultimately nothing to do with a sport with such long history.

The inability of motor manufacturers to market their products effectively gives rise to their over controlling approach to F1 and its use of a marketing tool above anything else.

Did anyone think to ask what Usain Bolt ate to run ? Nobody cared, but the sport was electrifying to watch such an athlete.

F1 is more than ever subservient to motor manufacturer's sales and marketing departments.

It seems only Verstappen is confident and determined enough to share open opinion from inside the sport. F1 should be aware its selling its soul.

[Mandrake]

Tell us how you really feel, Max. Ouch. Formula E on steroids.

Can’t say we weren’t warned. It’s a management/harvesting formula now. Looks slow.

I’m sure he’ll backtrack when his superior deployment from that Ford gives him a lights to flag win down under.

I think Max cares more about enjoying driving than to be winning while having to manage every lap. So him being negative now is regardless of whether he's first or last.

Winning might make him blend in more corporate comments but thats about it.

[f1316]

The answer is simple. Find a way to get the cars back to 2022 but shorter and narrower where they could overtake and follow. Get rid of the E crap and drop the weight to 640kg.

I don’t think the 2022 regs were right either. I agree that incrementally reducing size and weight each year under this reg set would be a good idea - maybe I’d do something like dropping the minimum weight by 10-20 kgs each year and 10-20mm length, with a proportional width drop. The main key would probably be in reducing the PU min weight and incentivising lighter batteries etc.

I think those things would help but wouldn’t solve the problems drivers have with the current regs. That said, I remain to be convinced that these regs are a problem for anyone other than drivers - it’s probably less fun, but watching them seems fairly similar (actually better than the GE cars as they’re more on the edge and less lazy). As I’ve said previously, I don’t think not being able to use full power at all times is that different to not being able to use all tyre grip at all times - it’s just a different limitation (and, ironically, perhaps tyre mgmt will become less of a concern as a result).

All of which is to say that, yes, my preference would be to tear all of this up and use the 2008 rule book (with a halo and a DRS) but I think (a) this reg set may end up fine from a fan perspective (b) if they go on a diet each year, we’ll be going in the right direction from the chassis side, and come 2029 I think it would make sense to switch to a NA V10 on sustainable fuels (perhaps with a small, push to pass KERS) while keeping chassis regs from this cycle.

[ScottB]

One thing I want to say, after following a ridiculous amount of laps via telemetry these last two days.

I don't like this regulation set.
The 50/50 split is just plain stupid and I don't personally think it belongs in F1. Every damn lap you have to worry about recharging the battery. You push 2 laps, you suffer for at least 1. I can't imagine how this turns any better on an actual real racing scenario, where you have to think about overtaking and defending on top of that.

Ludicrous idea. They should have gone the other way and completely remove the hybrid system. It's a largely irrelevant tech as most road cars are transitioning to full EV nowadays.

A 1000+ HP V8 or V10 with sustainable fuels would have been wonderful.

These things are like you're playing asphalt. Drift through the corners for extra points and double tap on the straights for the boost.

Not really, most major markets are pushing back the EV transition dates and the big car companies are pivoting back to hybrids because the EVs aren't selling.

Not that this makes these good regs, but you can see why the engine makers, who were involved in writing these rules, wanted to keep a hybrid system and not go for a V10 or V8 engine that they increasingly no longer make.

My guess would be they got a bit fixated on the '50/50' split, but at the same time got scared of the cost of allowing more of an engineering arms race around the electrical part. Should have gone for more of a split towards the ICE, then ramped up when possible.

[fourmula1]

One thing I want to say, after following a ridiculous amount of laps via telemetry these last two days.

I don't like this regulation set.
The 50/50 split is just plain stupid and I don't personally think it belongs in F1. Every damn lap you have to worry about recharging the battery. You push 2 laps, you suffer for at least 1. I can't imagine how this turns any better on an actual real racing scenario, where you have to think about overtaking and defending on top of that.

Ludicrous idea. They should have gone the other way and completely remove the hybrid system. It's a largely irrelevant tech as most road cars are transitioning to full EV nowadays.

A 1000+ HP V8 or V10 with sustainable fuels would have been wonderful.

These things are like you're playing asphalt. Drift through the corners for extra points and double tap on the straights for the boost.

Is the 50/50 split the core issue? Or is it a power requirement and capacity issue? Is there any way they could have made the electrical reserve larger so that everyone isn't recovery limited?

[bananapeel23]

One thing I want to say, after following a ridiculous amount of laps via telemetry these last two days.

I don't like this regulation set.
The 50/50 split is just plain stupid and I don't personally think it belongs in F1. Every damn lap you have to worry about recharging the battery. You push 2 laps, you suffer for at least 1. I can't imagine how this turns any better on an actual real racing scenario, where you have to think about overtaking and defending on top of that.

Ludicrous idea. They should have gone the other way and completely remove the hybrid system. It's a largely irrelevant tech as most road cars are transitioning to full EV nowadays.

A 1000+ HP V8 or V10 with sustainable fuels would have been wonderful.

These things are like you're playing asphalt. Drift through the corners for extra points and double tap on the straights for the boost.

Is the 50/50 split the core issue? Or is it a power requirement and capacity issue? Is there any way they could have made the electrical reserve larger so that everyone isn't recovery limited?

A 430kW ICE simply isn't enough to power a 350 kW MGU-K even with the "super clipping" we have now. Front axle regen and/or an MGU-H would make it a bit more feasible and might make them more raceable, but in the end they would still need more energy flow for it to work flawlessly.

It's beyond me why they didn't decide on a spec MGU-H. In the last engine regulation set it accounted for some 2/3 of the regen, eliminated turbo lag and weighed something like 6kg. The only drawback it had was that it was expensive to develop and had little road relevance. If you turn it into a spec part, none of that is an issue and the cars become quicker out of corners due to no turbo lag as well as less energy starved, which makes energy management much less important.

Now the FIA and FOM have painted themselves into a corner. The only way out of this pickle is increasing energy flow and reducing MGU-K output, which defeats the whole 50/50 marketing thing.

[gearboxtrouble]

I don't think a switch to NA V10s running synth fuels is a realistic fix for this ruleset. Worth considering for 2031 but its going to do nothing for 2027-2030. The best they can do in a way that would be technically feasible for the manufacturers to have in place for 2027 is move this to a 70/30 ICE/MGUK split by increasing the fuel flow limits and reducing the electric deployment cap while keeping the harvesting cap and ES size the same. It's not trivial but it shouldn't be too difficult for the existing engines to be beefed up to run ~700 hp while limiting the max MGUK output is just changing a line of code. That should allow more flat out racing at more tracks and reduce the energy management ask on the drivers to a more acceptable level.