Formula 1

[charlierc]

So, car liveries are launched, first semi-test in Barcelona was done, more testing to come in Bahrain this week... feels like the circus is all ready to go once more. I'm curious as to how this will work tbf with the new designs, active aero and redesigned engines, though there didn't seem to be that many reliability problems in Barcelona. Certainly compared to the last engine redesign in 2014 when every team seemingly spent the whole of the testing breaking down.

 

I like the new Cadillac. Was expecting something more colourful but the black/white half/half actually looks quite sharp. Felt like Williams' attempts to throw together 4 different shades of blue doesn't quite work, and I'm also not sure on Audi's half silver half dark orange vibe.

[charlierc]

Hmmmm... I slept through qualy but I'm aware that the new build engines aren't going down well among the general crowd. 

 

It seems as well as though there was a bit of a distorted result out front with Verstappen crashing and the Ferraris having a software glitch that limited that their top-end pace, but 7 tenths from Russell to the nearest non-Merc? Crikey. It's like we're back in 2014 again. I'm aware that last season was an outlier where qualifying was a genuinely close battle with less than a second separating everyone in Q1 and that something like a 3/4 second gap is not that unheard of, but its still quite jarring to be back there so soon.

[Crazyfool01]

Quite a good start to the season enjoyed the start to that race with plenty of overtakes but did seem to settle down later . Would love Hamilton proving himself in the Ferrari but he’s getting on a bit now 

[charlierc]

35 minutes ago, Crazyfool01 said:

Quite a good start to the season enjoyed the start to that race with plenty of overtakes but did seem to settle down later . Would love Hamilton proving himself in the Ferrari but he’s getting on a bit now 

Yeah the first few laps between Russell and Leclerc were good fun. A few seemed to still be down on it by saying it was artificial or too chaotic but given we had a lot of races last year where the battle for the lead was done by the end of lap one, I'll take it.

 

Hamilton should get a podium imo. He looked decent and might have got one had Ferrari listened to him and pit during the Hadjar VSC. 

 

There's clearly work for others to do. McLaren and Red Bull were nowhere while Aston Martin... Oof. 

[charlierc]

Verstappen launches biggest attack on 'terrible' 2026 racing yet

 

Clearly some people are yet to enjoy this new set of rules. Saying that if you enjoyed the Chinese Grand Prix that you don't know racing is quite the touch. Honestly won't be surprised if Verstappen announces he'll be off to race GT cars or in WEC in 2027 as it's been clear for a while he's more interested by these as challenges. And tbf, I think he has enough of the strength of his convictions that even if he was in the Mercedes or Red Bull had aced these rules, he'd still call it sh*t.

 

I got in a philosophical argument about this on Reddit but this is a sport that's tried all kinds of strange "spice up the show" gimmicks for years, no? Hell, what is DRS or having Pirelli make their tyres have a built-in cliff edge where they suddenly lose all performance as we had between 2011 and 2025 if not gimmicks? To say nothing of various other gubbins that's been tried since at least the mid-80s. Things like gimmicks or calling it artificial are a bit much when the history of F1 has used "make overtaking better" or "spiced up the show" as a cornerstone of its thinking for years.

 

As far as China goes, I thought it was alright. I'm not saying that F1s got a 10/10 brilliant product with these new rules, but I found a lot of races last year to be quite boring and I wasn't bored by a lot of this one. So there's that.

 

One other note is that I don't think it's a great surprise to see that Trump's antics has lead to Bahrain & Saudi being cancelled. Shame that there's no racing in April, but it is what it is with such a diabolical situation over there right now.

[charlierc]

Japanese Grand Prix: Max Verstappen says he is considering his future as he is 'not enjoying' new regulations - BBC Sport

 

Kinda remarkable we're 3 races into the new version of F1 and this is already being said. And I'm aware he's not alone - Lando Norris has been vocal already in saying he doesn't like the new cars.

 

I'm aware some will see it as sour grapes that Max has gone from challenging for wins to not being able to pass an Alpine for 7th. Not even the first time either tbf - Hamilton spent most of the 22-25 cycle looking like he wanted to be somewhere else, Vettel looked similarly unhappy with the 2014 rules, etc. Maybe its just the nature of the beast.

 

The race in Japan was alright, although I think the Bearman crash distorted it in two ways. One being it was turning into an interesting McLaren v Mercedes duel before the timing of that crash tilted it in Antonelli's favour, but the more serious thing is that a 50-75kph speed differential between Colapinto and Bearman leading to an almighty smash isn't a great look. And that was on a track with decent run-off, let alone many of the tight twisty street tracks still to come.

[Crazyfool01]

37 minutes ago, charlierc said:

Japanese Grand Prix: Max Verstappen says he is considering his future as he is 'not enjoying' new regulations - BBC Sport

 

Kinda remarkable we're 3 races into the new version of F1 and this is already being said. And I'm aware he's not alone - Lando Norris has been vocal already in saying he doesn't like the new cars.

 

I'm aware some will see it as sour grapes that Max has gone from challenging for wins to not being able to pass an Alpine for 7th. Not even the first time either tbf - Hamilton spent most of the 22-25 cycle looking like he wanted to be somewhere else, Vettel looked similarly unhappy with the 2014 rules, etc. Maybe its just the nature of the beast.

 

The race in Japan was alright, although I think the Bearman crash distorted it in two ways. One being it was turning into an interesting McLaren v Mercedes duel before the timing of that crash tilted it in Antonelli's favour, but the more serious thing is that a 50-75kph speed differential between Colapinto and Bearman leading to an almighty smash isn't a great look. And that was on a track with decent run-off, let alone many of the tight twisty street tracks still to come.

Somehow missed there was a race today damn . Max just presents as a stroppy kid as he ever did because he’s got challenges to get used to the car and make up ground … sometimes I feel he does this to put a bit of pressure on the team to up their game . He won’t be so far off come the end of the season , things go in cycles in f1 and I reckon the threats might dissapear into obscurity unless he just fancied a change anyway . 

[charlierc]

33 minutes ago, Crazyfool01 said:

Somehow missed there was a race today damn . Max just presents as a stroppy kid as he ever did because he’s got challenges to get used to the car and make up ground … sometimes I feel he does this to put a bit of pressure on the team to up their game . He won’t be so far off come the end of the season , things go in cycles in f1 and I reckon the threats might dissapear into obscurity unless he just fancied a change anyway . 

I'm even handed with these things (or try to be) and tbf Max himself said when he first tried simulated versions of these cars in 2023/24 that he wasn't looking forward to them coming in. He's also been in F1 since he was 17 so I can guess the novelty's worn off and he has been openly saying for years he wants to try to win Le Mans or take part in other kinds of races. Hell, the happiest he's looked this year was doing a GT race at the Nurburgring last weekend. So I wouldn't be surprised if he decides the challenge of trying these other kind of motorsports appeals to him more right now and if that's the case, c'est la vie. The sport existed before Max and will exist after him, and there's no point keeping him there if he wants to give something else a try.

 

I agree he's a stroppy arse and that if Red Bull had aced these new rules, he might have less room to complain. Plus I thought his conduct in throwing a Guardian journalist out of his pre-race press conference on Thursday for a question he asked after the 2025 season finale 4 months ago was pretty childish. Though honestly, right now, I think Red Bull getting a podium would be a surprise - they seem a step below McLaren and Ferrari, let alone Mercedes. Hell, today, he spent pretty much the whole race stuck behind Gasly in the Alpine, as he did in China before breaking down.

 

Equally, I think he has valid points - qualifying has been nerfed as a spectacle because the cars run out of energy too quickly for there to be proper hero laps. Plus at some point, this sugar rush of battery-based overtaking is probably going to wear off.

[charlierc]

Well... Miami was actually pretty good. Also think we could soon be reaching a crossover where Antonelli becomes the title favourite. If he can do a lot better in Europe than last year, where that seemed to consistently trip him up, it absolutely opens the path for him to do it.

 

Verstappen spinning at the start and Leclerc at the end is an oddly neat pair of bookends.

[Crazyfool01]

6 minutes ago, charlierc said:

Well... Miami was actually pretty good. Also think we could soon be reaching a crossover where Antonelli becomes the title favourite. If he can do a lot better in Europe than last year, where that seemed to consistently trip him up, it absolutely opens the path for him to do it.

 

Verstappen spinning at the start and Leclerc at the end is an oddly neat pair of bookends.

That first lap was absolutely bonkers . Might see a few less complaints from max also now as the car seems to be back in the mix 

[charlierc]

Well I found the various Antonelli v Russell fights in Canada entertaining. Even if the Russell DNF has definitely tilted the advantage in Antonelli's favour. 

[Crazyfool01]

15 hours ago, charlierc said:

Well I found the various Antonelli v Russell fights in Canada entertaining. Even if the Russell DNF has definitely tilted the advantage in Antonelli's favour. 

still plenty of time for Antonelli to mess up with his age and inexperience