F1 - GP (General Purpose)

This will be a general purpose thread for F1 news and pings that really don't require a thread of their own.

The F1 press has paused their sycophantic fawning over Hambone for his performing the greatest miracle since the Parting of the Red Sea (when he activated the SF-26's adjustable aero) long enough to pearl-clutch over the process of selecting his "interim" race engineer to fill in for the recently sh1tcanned Riccardo Adami.

This past week there was a Japanese sports writer who said that Adami's greatest shortcoming was his failing to grasp Hambone's "need for emotional support."

"Emotional support" was how the staff at f1oversteer.com translated it, and that was exactly what I got using Yandex's online translator.

But stripped of the Japanese penchant for politeness and transliterated into good ol' American street lingo, when Hambone arrogantly told his support staff to "Have a tea-break while you're at it", apparently what Adami (et al) were supposed to hear was, "Please hold my hand, my p*ssy hurts."

The FIA’s director of single seat racing gas has stated that they intend to remove all ambiguity from the TR regarding the high-compression “loophole” that Merc and RBR are exploiting before Melbourne.

It’s only 41 days to the season opener and it’s highly unlikely at this late date that they’d ask Merc or RBR to change anything, especially since they’ve already opined there’s nothing underhanded about it. The subtext is they’ve already said it’s legal twice and they’re fiddling with re-wording the regs to re-emphasize that fact with the hope of stopping the squawking and warding off the messiness of the fallout from formal protests.

https://fastestlap.com/news/the-15bhp-secret-threatening-f1s-2026-clean-start/

The times don't mean much but that doesn't mean they're meaningless.

2026 Barcelona day one times

1 Isack Hadjar      (Red Bull)     1m18.159s
2 George Russell    (Mercedes)     +0.537s
3 Franco Colapinto  (Alpine)       +2.030s
4 Kimi Antonelli    (Mercedes)     +2.541s
5 Esteban Ocon      (Haas)         +3.142s
6 Liam Lawson       (Racing Bulls) +3.354s
7 Valtteri Bottas   (Cadillac)     +6.492s
8 Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi)         +7.137s
9 Sergio Perez      (Cadillac)     +7.815s

Red Bull/Ford makes its own engines. Alpine uses Mercedes and Haas uses Ferrari's.

Some days you’re the windshield.
Some days you’re the bug.

Yesterday Hadjar was King of the World. Today he stuffed it and ended up in a tire barrier.

Apparently that’s he only car they brung to Barcelona cuz’ if the don’t fix Hadjar’s car by Friday, they’re done for Barcelona.

Crofty says he’s amazed how much more reliable these cars are than the first test of the 2014 cars. Then in another story he says he’ll be amazed if there are 22 cars on the grid at Melbourne.

Dunno which Crofty to believe.

And Ferrari is using the same race engineer for both it’s drivers at Barcelona. Karun Chandok says this signals trouble for His Holiness because not only is his new race engineer (whoever that might be) not learning to talk jive with Hambone and building a rapport with him, he’s also not building a technical relationship with the rest of the Ferrari team.

According to "reports," the FIA want to inspect the Ferraris. Some think they're using some fashion of a "S-duct," and the FIA want to be sure they're not doing anything hinky.

https://www.f1oversteer.com/news/fia-wants-closer-look-at-lewis-hamiltons-2026-f1-car-before-allowing-ferraris-aggressive-idea/

https://www.sportbible.com/f1/fia-investigation-ferrari-lewis-hamilton-lap-times-685739-20260128

I don't bother to read the TR any more (as I once did, line-by-line) so I wasn't aware of this about the new adjustable aero. There's an 'intermediate' position for use in the rain. Like so:

"Intermediate" is full downforce on the rears but only partial on the fronts. So what I was interpreting as individual employment might have been (and probably was) use of the intermediate position.

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/ferrari-tested-wet-weather-active-aerodynamic-mode-during-2026-f1-barcelona-shakedown/10793464/

I also found out one of the reasons they're opted for the adjustable aero this year is to support the change to greater battery power. Because high loads produce YUGE drain on EV batteries, and if there's no battery power, all they've got is the 500 ICE horsepower. Which means a dramatically reduced top speed. So they wanted the cars to have a way to shed some drag on hi-speed straights.

Which goes to the point I'm forever on my soapbox about. This whole hybrid nonsense is nothing more than F1 exhibiting its fealty to the New Green Religion.

Williams is altogether giving Barcelona testing amiss so they can be better prepared for Bahrain.

According to James Vowles, “In terms of Barcelona, we could have made Barcelona testing - simple as that. We could have made it.

“But in doing so, I would have to turn upside down the impact on spares, components and updates across Bahrain, Melbourne and beyond.

“The evaluation of it was that for running in a cold, damp Barcelona, against doing a VTT [Virtual Track Test], against the spare situation, then frankly, there was zero points for running in a shutdown test.

“We made the decision, and I stand by it, that the right thing to do is to make sure we’re turning up in Bahrain correctly prepared, and prepared for Melbourne as well.”

The fastest laps of Barcelona Shakedown per driver

Driver 	           Team 	    Test Day 	Lap Time
Lewis Hamilton 	   Ferrari 	    Day Five 	1:16.348
George Russell 	   Mercedes         Day Four 	1:16.445
Lando Norris 	   McLaren 	    Day Five 	1:16.594
Charles Leclerc    Ferrari 	    Day Five 	1:16.653
Kimi Antonelli 	   Mercedes         Day Five 	1:17.081
Oscar Piastri 	   McLaren 	    Day Four 	1:17.446
Max Verstappen 	   Red Bull         Day Five 	1:17.586
Pierre Gasly 	   Alpine 	    Day Five 	1:17.707
Isack Hadjar 	   Red Bull         Day Two 	1:18.159
Esteban Ocon 	   Haas 	    Day Five 	1:18.393
Oliver Bearman 	   Haas 	    Day Five 	1:18.423
Arvid Lindblad 	   Racing Bulls     Day Four 	1:18.451
Liam Lawson 	   Racing Bulls     Day Four 	1:18.840
Franco Colapinto   Alpine 	    Day Three 	1:19.150
Nico Hulkenberg    Audi 	    Day Five 	1:19.870
Gabriel Bortoleto  Audi 	    Day Five 	1:20.179
Fernando Alonso    Aston Martin     Day Five 	1:20.795
Valtteri Bottas    Cadillac 	    Day Five 	1:20.920
Sergio Perez 	   Cadillac 	    Day Four 	1:21.024
Lance Stroll 	   Aston Martin     Day Four 	1:46.404
Alex Albon 	   Williams 	
Carlos Sainz 	   Williams

Idiots in the F1 press are calling Hambone's 1:16.348 "scorching." Which conveniently overlooks the fact that the SLOWEST driver to get out of Q1 at last year's GP of Spain did a 1:13.074. So what they're calling "socrching" was more than 3 full seconds TOO SLOW to get into Q2 at last year's race. And it's 5.8 seconds off last year's pole.

The most laps completed (over the five days at Barcelona) per team

Team 	    Number of laps
Mercedes 	500
Ferrari 	440
Haas 	        402
Alpine 	        349
Racing Bulls 	318
Red Bull 	303
McLaren 	291
Audi 	        244
Cadillac 	164
Aston Martin 	65
Williams 	0

When is F1 Bahrain pre-season testing? With the Barcelona Shakedown now done, two tests follow in Bahrain from February 11-13 and 18-20.

Since Barcelona was finished, I thought the F1 news would slow down, BUT NOOOOO!, this is the juciest news of the week!

Based on the number of laps they ran, and the regularity with which it ran, Martin Brundle thinks Merdeces is the class of the field. He called them "relentless."

https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12040/13501338/f1-pre-season-testing-martin-brundle-says-relentless-mercedes-pace-and-reliability-cannot-be-ignored-after-barcelona-shakedown

[F1 journo Craig] Slater told Sky Sports [video on YouTube, below]: “According to [Mercedes], they don’t like that status and they deny that they’re ahead at the moment. As far as they see it, and I’ve spoken to a senior figure there, it is very close between last year’s big four.

“So, they count themselves in the same rough bracket as Ferrari, Red Bull, which is very creditable for them, and McLaren, too. But if you speak to those three others outside Mercedes, they put Mercedes, well, certainly, I spoke to someone at McLaren, they think it’s not necessarily a permanent thing or built in for the whole season, but based on this test, they are a little bit ahead.”

https://www.f1oversteer.com/news/senior-mercedes-figure-does-not-like-what-rival-teams-are-saying-leaving-the-barcelona-shakedown/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4eyLOQ0lLc

Red Bull has joined with Ferrari, Audi and Honda in complaining to the FIA that they need to be sure the Mercedes engine compression trick is 100% legal. Now RBR is claiming their Red Bull/Ford engine isn't using the Mercedes compression trick, which might be questionable. They're using a different trick, which is completely legal. Or so they say.

https://www.f1oversteer.com/news/red-bull-insiders-strongly-deny-that-they-have-broken-fia-rules-with-2026-f1-car/

https://www.f1oversteer.com/news/fia-identifies-three-ways-to-penalise-mercedes-as-red-bull-join-calls-for-engine-trick-guarantees/

It's an interesting point, since Red Bull only are aware of it because a Mercedes tech defected to them, but it was reported that he didn't know all of the ins-and-outs of the Merc trick, so RBR couldn't straight-up copy it. So in any case, Red Bull either has reason to believe that the Merc trick isn't legal, or maybe they just want to annoy Toto, but in either case they must be dead-certain their trick is legal.

And a point has come up about whether the legality of the Merc trick rests entirely on the ambient temperature compression test. As it happens, TR 1.5 reads, in part,

Compliance with the regulations

Formula 1 Cars must comply with these regulations in their entirety at all times during a Competition....

TR C5.4.3 reads, in part, "No cylinder of the engine may have a geometric compression ratio higher than 16.0. The procedure to measure this value will be detailed by each PU Manufacturer according to the Guidance Document FIA-F1-DOC-C042 and executed at ambient temperature."

So TR C5.4.3 DOES NOT relieve a team of the obligation to comply with TR 1.5. Which means 16-1 is 16-1, regardless whether the engine is being tested or not.

So now I finally can see why the other teams all have a bug up their collective asses.

This reminds me of Melbourne in 2014, the first race of the fuel-flow-limited v-6 hybrid engines. Daniel Ricciardo came second but was DQ'd because he was exceeding the prescribed fuel flow rate. Come to find out, Adrian Newey had substituted his own meter because, according to him, the FIA meter was unreliable. He did so with the FIA's knowledge (but not it's blessing) and the FIA had in fact told them they were running too much fuel and suggested an offset to their meter to bring it into line with their data (and the TR). But Red Bull stood by its guns because they believed the FIA's test equipment was inferior to theirs.

What it came down to, in the end, was that who was right didn't matter, all that mattered was who made the rules. I would bet my left testicle that Red Bull was right on the facts but being right isn't the same as being in charge.

So whatever decision the FIA takes in this matter, I look for them to do the thing that will protect their position.

So now the FIA has four engine suppliers bellowing that they (the FIA) need to learn in detail how Mercedes is doing it, and ban it if appropriate.

The FIA, in response, has stated that it has three possible options.

“...The first option relies on the governing body allowing teams to spend extra money specifically to redesign their engines to catch up to Mercedes.

The second option would be to impose a limit on the amount of performance Mercedes can extract from their Petronas fuel.

A flow meter could be inserted into the power unit to strictly limit how much fuel the engine takes, in the hopes of equalising performance between them and the rest of the engine manufacturers.

The final option consists of the FIA simply asking Mercedes to sign a legal document that explicitly says they are not breaching any rules that are laid out in the regulations. It may seem trivial at first, but the implications that could arise from them being caught lying in the future could be huge, including a potential disqualification from the standings....”

My vote’s for #2, restrictor plate racing comes to F1.

/Sarc

#3 is interesting. If you cheat, we’ll hang you at dawn. But if you swear you aren’t cheating and cheat anyway, you’ll he hanged, drawn and quartered.

Regardless what else they do, the background noise on this is so overwhelming that someone at the FIA HAS TO to find out EXACTLY how they’re doing whatever they’re doing and publicly state whether it contravenes the TR.

#1 doesn’t work for me AT ALL because the other teams still suffer damage to their seasons until they can manage to catch up.

If it’s legal, tough toenails, it’s 2014 all over again and you’re mere window dressing to Mercedes’ romp through the gardenias. And if it isn’t, Merc needs to have their “gentleman’s sausage” knocked into their watch pocket.

https://www.f1oversteer.com/news/fia-identifies-three-ways-to-penalise-mercedes-as-red-bull-join-calls-for-engine-trick-guarantees/

All this glowing praise over the performance of His Highness at Barcelona, and then along comes an honest broker.

[The above-mentioned] Craig Slater tells that several teams have mentioned the SF-26 seems a handful to keep in control. Ferrari has switched to push-rod suspension this season, which is famously sensitive to set-up. The SF-26 seems twitchy with a tendency to oversteer.

https://www.f1oversteer.com/news/ferrari-rivals-have-seen-the-downside-of-lewis-hamiltons-2026-f1-car-at-barcelona-shakedown-test/

The tail-happiness of the SF-25 was the bane of Hambone’s existence, that and his limited skill sets, particularly his weakness as a developmental driver.

As I’ve written repeatedly, if Hambone had the skill sets to “fix” Ferrari, why didn’t he put them to use at Mercedes and save himself the team switch?

Anyway, Slater might not have run this story except he was going to be beat-out by a vlogger spy who somehow got onto the circuit compound of the Barcelona race track and posted video from the “closed” event on X.com.

https://x.com/ekaitzgilf1/status/2016846835558555657

Ekaitz Gil states that Hambone was repeatedly having difficulty with Barcelona’s Turn 10 (same place where he spun on exit on Thursday), both at entry and exit, and had “two or three” four-offs. Said the car was oversteery and Hambone was “suffering” with Turn 10 more than any of the other drivers.

Which stands in stark contrast to the reports all the other sycophantic toadies have been posting all week.

F1's new regulations will help Max Verstappen - 'They handed the Predator more weapons'

"Zak Brown said it last year as the Dutchman was reeling in both McLaren drivers in the title race (Verstappen said he'd be fine with being called Chucky), and now he's been likened to Predator..."

"...Pundit and long-time IndyCar driver James Hinchliffe was discussing Red Bull's chances for the new season on the Red Flags Podcast this week, first backing youngster Isack Hadjar to have 'as good a chance' as any of Verstappen's recent team-mates to stick near him on pace.

"However, with more to manage in the cockpit than ever when it comes to energy management, the new 'overtake mode' and active aero, the Canadian warned that Verstappen's mental 'bandwidth' puts him at an advantage compared to the rest of the grid, something the show's host interjected to call 'like handing the Predator more weapons'.

"Hinchliffe said: “Obviously he’s [Hadjar] phenomenally talented and with a complete rule reset, it’s as good as a chance that anyone has. But, you read all the stuff now about what’s going to make the real difference behind the wheel in this new reg set, and it’s that extra capacity to manage energy and all the rest of it.

“And I’m sorry guys but there’s nobody on the grid that has more bandwidth in hand than Verstappen. So there’s a chance he’s going to be even higher than everybody. The gap’s going to even grow to the rest of the field.”

https://www.gpfans.com/en/f1-news/1074772/f1-new-regulations-help-max-verstappen-predator-weapons/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SgjtTJzJk4&list=PLZ2fQw6V9oM1NW2X31YBIaSyVbuLaFHMa

https://www.gpfans.com/en/f1-news/1023450/f1-2026-regulations-explained/

https://www.gpfans.com/en/f1-news/1069478/max-verstappen-f1-iconic-horror-movie-character-mclaren-zak-brown/

You don't come across many Deutschlanders who excel at trash-talking, and of the few I have encountered, Toto Wolff has to be der Fuhrer. He talks more smack than the rest of F1 put together, and he's good at it. In fact, he's Conor McGregor good at it.

Which is (part of) why Christian Horner despises him. Because Horner's not good at talking smack. Wolff is forever putting the smack-down on him and he's never got a pithy come-back.

Well he's at it again. Today Toto's message to all the other engine manufacturers is (condensed into a single sentence), 'stop looking for excuses before the season's even begun and get your sh*t together.'

And he goes on to mention that the FIA has already found the Merc engine legal enough times that they should STFU and get on with their business instead of begging the FIA to protect them.

That ought to keep 'em spun up for weeks.

https://www.autoweek.com/racing/formula-1/a70223574/mercedes-wolff-slams-f1-rivals-over-engine-debate/

https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/formula-one/wolff-blasts-rivals-over-f1-engine-loophole-claims

https://www.espn.co.uk/f1/story/_/id/47805664/mercedes-toto-wolff-rival-f1-teams-engine-row-get-your-s-together

Haas‘ team principal Ayao Komatsu says if you get the calculations wrong, or your battery employment strategy is wrong, it will cost you not mere tenths, it will cost you half a second per lap, or more.

More here:
https://www.planetf1.com/news/ayao-komatsu-how-energy-management-mistakes-will-be-punished-in-f1-2026

My thinking all along is that the battery is more important than the ICE because nobody’s ICE is going to be more than 25 bhp off, which is only 5%. But in a pitched battle, you easily could find yourself off by 10% or more on remaining charge. Then you are ska-rewed.

If you had to boil down why the Buddh F1 circuit in India failed after three seasons to just one point, it would be ... taxes.

If you remember Vijay Mallya and his Force India F1 Team, you probably also will remember that among India’s wealthy businessmen, poking the taxman with a red hot poker is something of a national pastime. Or maybe it’s that the taxman makes sport of fleecing the wealthy businessmen. Hard to tell which (India is, after all a socialist ‘democracy’).

Anyway, Buddh was financed by the Jaypee Group, who made one critical error. They failed to settle the matter of whether the circuit would be taxed as an entertainment business (with a very high tax rate) or as a sports venue (with a less nose-bleeding tax rate). It turned out that the Indian taxmen would rather have seen Buddh bankrupted than relent and tax them as a sporting event.

Well, after watching the circuit grow weeds for more than a decade, India’s Sports Ministry is curious to learn whether the Jaypee Group (which still owns the circuit) is ripe to be picked again, so they have opened a discussion with the owners about reviving the race there. Apparently the matter of how the circuit is to be taxed also is on the table.

https://www.thehindu.com/sport/motorsport/sports-ministry-looks-to-revive-india-gp-formula-1/article70583159.ece

https://sports.ndtv.com/formula-1/will-formula-1-return-to-india-sports-ministry-makes-big-revelation-10933747

https://www.firstpost.com/sports/indian-grand-prix-india-f1-dream-comeback-planned-tax-issues-13975366.html

I can’t imagine Jaypee isn’t still smarting from the quarter of a billion-ish dollars they’ve already lost, in no small part because The Chrome Gnome led them down the primrose path not caring whether the venture survived so long as they put five season’s worth of F1 hosting fees in escrow for him.

The problem for them in 2026 is that F1 already has 24 circuits on speed dial, and another six or ten waving steamer trunks of cash and pleading for a chance. So good luck when what you’re selling is a circuit in a country that’s such a sh1thole that nobody in their right mind puts it on their short list of places to go for a posh holiday. Plus it’s in a corner of the world that takes 12 hours by jet to reach from anywhere where all the homes have flush toilets. And once you get there, there’s little to do for entertainment except visit the places where the Beatles once hung out.

The high-rollers are never going to go for that much time and effort for so little return.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.