Posted on 08/05/2009 7:57:45 PM PDT by Chode
This will be a general purpose thread for F1 news and pings that really don't require a thread of their own.
Bad news for anybody not driving a Mercedes.
For weeks there’s been a rumor that Mercedes was having trouble getting its new fuel prepared and homologated. Not only is it ready now, come Melbourne, thanks to the new blend, everybody with a Mercedes engine (Mercedes, McLaren, Williams & Alpine) will gave an additional 15-20 ICE hp.
All the signs are that Aston Martin really is in a spot of bother. In true Japanese hara-kiri fashion, Honda is taking the blame but says there are mitigating circumstances. They decided late to get back into F1 and so only have been working on the 2026 power unit since 2023. They’re well behind the other power unit manufacturers on that count.
And they’re running into the FIA’s budget caps.
However, there are other sources that put the blame on Adrian Newey, who’s asking for miracles Honda isn’t in a position to perform. He’s basically decided this is his last best chance so he’s asking, “If we don’t find time to do it right NOW, when will we find time to do it over?” And he’s making packaging demands Honda is having difficulty accommodating.
https://carbuzz.com/sounds-like-aston-martin-serious-trouble/
The mind-blowing part of this is that Honda started working on the 2026 engine in 2023 but that was too late. How absurd is it that the sport has got that complicated? And who benefits from this complexity? Certainly NOT the fans.
I’m reading talk of two new ‘loopholes’ in the F1 press.
The first is “super-clipping.” Just plain “clipping” is a holdover from the 2014-2025 engine formula used to describe when the KERS battery runs out of juice. “Super-clipping,” on the other hand, is what they’re using to describe the plan (if there is one) to run the ICE at full revs in slow corners, tapping off all the power not needed to go ever how fast they’re going and diverting the excess power to re-charging the energy store.
Which reminds me of a trick Red Bull was using with the RB5’s blown diffuser to jigger with fuel mapping so there was extra fuel at partial throttle but it was only ignited very late in the stroke so lit but unburned fuel shot out the exhaust port, giving it greater energy to help create more downforce at low throttle settings.
Except this is about recharging the KERS, not increasing downforce in slow corners.
https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/super-clipping-how-it-works-why-controversial-key-f1-2026/
And the other “loophole” is that Ferrari’s turbocharger is smaller than everybody else’s. Which reduces turbo lag (but I don’t why why it isn’t limiting to max ICE bhp), which is what they’re crediting/blaming for Ferrari’s “rocket” take-offs from the starting grid.
And there’s chatter about the possibility that the starting grid is going to be a goat rope because out of the 20 cars with ‘standard-size’ turbochargers, somebody’s (maybe several somebodys) bound to get the timing and anti-turbo lag spooling wrong, which will cause a chain reaction through the start grid and heaven help us if one of the cars that gets caught out is a Ferrari that’s launching like it was shot out of a canon.
So the (non-Ferrari) teams are saying the FIA needs to look at a more docile way to start the race to minimize the carnage.
“...Which reduces turbo lag (but I don’t why why it isn’t limiting to max ICE bhp)..”
A smaller turbo can spool-up faster (think how fast a pinwheel will spin with a good puff of air vs how sluggish it is to spin a merry-go-round up to speed) and all turbos have a waste-gate to blow-off excess pressure...I’m guessing the Ferrari turbo is very efficient.
Great articles, I think the first few race starts will be epic!
Thanks for the posts!
Cadillac has named its first F1 chassis the MAC-26, which stands for Mario Andretti Cadillac 2026.
A fitting cherry on such an illustrious career.
The FIA and Pirelli have canceled the scheduled 12 April wet weather tire tests in Bahrain on account of Trump decided to Bomb Bomb Bomb ... Bomb Bomb Iran.
Pirelli thought the test was necessary because nobody is using their full wet tires, so they’ve redesigned them and want the redesign tested.
The Arabian desert might seem like and odd choice for wet-weather tire tests but Pirelli says they’ve contacted the circuit and they’ve stated they have the capability to set up a sprinkler system to meet Pirelli’s specifications, and since there’s no rain in the forecast ... in like FOREVER ... they can control precisely how much water is on the circuit at any given moment.
But I question why they’re doing this because if the US Secretary of War (I love typing that) knows his butt from his elbow, their first act will be to destroy Iran’s retaliatory ability, so six weeks from now Arabia should be back to being as safe as Arabia ever gets.
https://racingnews365.com/f1-testing-cancelled-due-to-middle-east-safety-concerns
The penny has dropped and the FIA has changed the TR so the compression test temperature changes from “ambient” to 130°Communist (266°F) as of the 2026 mid-season break and continuing thru subsequent seasons.
The F1 press is reporting that ALL of the engine suppliers voted in favor of the change but I seriously doubt Mercedes did, and the FIA press release makes no reference to the outcome of the vote. However, (in addition to four of the five engine suppliers) the FIA and the FOM both had to approve the measure, and either had veto power, so there really was no point in anyone voting apart those two. The “vote” effectively was really just a smokescreen to absolve them of responsibility (what weasels!).
This is not from the TR but is cut-n-pasted from FIA’s press release:
“A significant effort has been invested in finding a solution to the topic of the compression ratio. This parameter, which was one of the key fundamental targets of these regulations in order to attract newcomers to the sport, is limited in the regulations to 16:1, measured in cold conditions.
“The FIA has worked to find a compromise solution which determines that the compression ratio will be controlled in both hot and cold conditions from 1 June 2026, and subsequently only in the operating conditions (130deg C) from 2027 onwards.
“The regulations introduced for 2026 represent one of the biggest changes in recent memory. All parties acknowledge that with the introduction of such significant regulatory changes, there are collective learnings to be taken from pre-season testing and the initial rounds of the 2026 championship.
“Further evaluation and technical checks on energy management matters are ongoing.”
https://www.fia.com/news/fia-statement-amendments-2026-f1-regulations
https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/articles/cq8g3lqqdvgo
The new (revised) TR is here:
The pertinent passage is in C5.4.3 on page 69.
FIA has dropped the 2-stop requirement for Monaco.
https://www.gpblog.com/en/news/special-monaco-rule-disappears-for-the-2026-formula-1-season
I failed to mention one item from the BBC story about the compression testing I linked to above:
“...The Mercedes engine has been measured by the FIA at both ambient and operating temperature and complied with the limit of 16:1 at all times, senior F1 insiders have told BBC Sport....”
So the engine Mercedes is using NOW has already been tested BY THE FIA under the 266°F protocol AND IT PASSED.
Don’t know about you but that makes me want to bang my head against the wall.
“FIA has dropped the 2-stop requirement for Monaco.”
That’s great news, as are all of your postings!
Thanks a bunch, I can hardly wait for the season to start this month and begin my day with a F1 race and a Bloody Mary!
RIP Chode.
Everybody’s sandbagging (possibly except Ferrari), we just have to guess who’s sandbagging most, at least until Saturday. There’s a rumor (and when isn’t there?) that Ford has hit their mark and the Red Bulls will be truly competitive out of the gate. And some believe their energy reclamation is the best on the grid.
https://www.planetf1.com/news/red-bull-powertrains-engine-isack-hadjar-f1-2026-doubts
https://www.planetf1.com/f1-data/red-bull-engine-advantage-bahrain-telemetry-wolff
I hope Aston Martin is sandbagging. There’s a rumor they’re going to abandon the first three races after the first few laps. In Melbourne, they might take the formation lap, then drive staight to pit lane when the lights go out.
https://www.gpfans.com/en/f1-news/1077538/aston-martin-f1-2026-honda-retire-australian-grand-prix/
https://it.motorsport.com/f1/news/f1-aston-martin-a-melbourne-con-carenza-di-ricambi-honda-fara-pochi-giri/10801522/
Ferrari is the possible exception to what I wrote above about sandbagging. Instead of sandbagging, they tend to run around on thimble full of fuel to exaggerate their numbers. Which is why Hambone ran outta gas on the circuit during the final pre-season test session.
All the cheering in Maranello because of Ferrari’s “rocket” starts might be a bit premature. Bahrain data shows George Russell (Mercedes) was faster 0-200 kph than either Ferrari by 0.12 seconds.
https://www.gpfans.com/en/f1-news/1077568/george-russell-mercedes-f1-ferrari-starts-2026/
Valteri Bottas has a grid penalty waiting at Melbourne. Stewards ruled he was “at fault” for a crash in the last race of 2024, and he didn’t have a ride in ‘25, and the F1 stewards are like the IRS. Never forget, never forgive.
And mercedes new miracle fuel has officially passed homologation.
https://www.planetf1.com/news/mercedes-fia-petronas-fuel-f1-2026-australian-grand-prix
0.12 seconds @200 kph works out to 21 feet and change.
Two days before the first qualies of the year and the FIA idoits are still monkeying with the KERS rules.
Sorry for not offering a distilled accounting but I just could not care less about the details.
And OBTW, Bottas got a reprieve on the grid penalty. A change in the SR from last season basically wipes out penalties if the driver hasn’t competed in the previous 12 months.
https://www.planetf1.com/news/valtteri-bottas-grid-penalty-fia-rule-change-explained
And Hambone wants the black Africans to take back their countries and re-create a unified Africa (which has never existed). I would like to see that myself, provided all the Whites leave and take their development and technology with them, which would restore Africa to the neolithic existence it had before European colonization (and much of it is still neolithic).
https://www.planetf1.com/news/lewis-hamilton-african-gp-support-regain-control
Think how the world would be if people could only use inventions and discoveries that occurred by people of their own race. I am not suggesting we do that, but it would be interesting.
People still argue about who discovered America, and inventions would be far, far worse. People talk about all the stuff Leonardo da Vinci allegedly invented when mostly all he did was sketch an idea on the back of an envelope. And a “concept,” in my view, is a far cry from “an invention.”
Thomas Edison didn’t invent the light bulb but he went through a thousand prototypes (he claimed) before he perfected it. THAT is invention, not a scribble in a notebook.
Even patents are not an iron-clad case. The Wright Brothers got a patent for the system of flight controls on their early airplanes but in the fullness of time it turns out that a Frenchman was doing the same thing with gliders he built 40 years before.
As best as I know there was absolutely NOTHING in the early Wright Flyers that wasn’t adapted from something somebody else already had used. It was just a matter of the Wrights doing the Edison thing, working out what worked and what didn’t and adapting products that already existed to their application. Yet ask 100 American who invented the airplane and 99.9 of them will tell you it was the Wright Brothers.
This despite the fact that Otto Lillienthal made more than 2000 flights in what today would be called “hang gliders” of his own design and construction before he crashed and died in one in 1896.
1896 also was the year that Samuel Langley built steam-powered model airplanes that flew as much as 3300 feet. They were unpiloted but they were heavier-than-air and they demonstrated sustained flight almost 4 times further than the Wright’s longest flight on 17 Dec 1903.
But I digress.
It isn’t the fault of the Europeans or White people or the Illuminati or the Mormon Tabernacle Choir that most of the continent of Africa (and particularly sub-Saharan Africa) remains a shithole to this day. Hambone needs to grow up but the odds of that happen are on par with sub-Saharan Africa becoming the world’s center for technological advancement before the end of this century.
British court has ordered Ecclestone et. al. to pay Felipe Massa £250,000 ($335,000 USD) for lawyer’s expenses.
I don’t think this is the end of the case and I don’t think this has any impact on how the rest will go. It’s just the court’s way of punishing Bernie et. al. for stonewalling Massa’s attorney’s requests for evidence.
British court has ordered Ecclestone et. al. to pay Felipe Massa £250,000 ($335,000 USD) for lawyer’s expenses.
I don’t think this is the end of the case and I don’t think this has any impact on how the rest will go. It’s just the court’s way of punishing Bernie et. al. for stonewalling Massa’s attorney’s requests for evidence.
Forgot the link to the source:
From today’s Heineken Chinese GP Press Conference:
After the collision between Colapinto and Ocon on lap 34 brought out the yellows and bunched up the field, the Mercedeses put about a second a lap on the Ferraris.
So I'm not sure what it is they're celebrating, unless it was finishing half a lap ahead of Bearman in fifth.
https://www.gpfans.com/en/f1-news/1078932/f1-lewis-hamilton-podium-chinese-grand-prix-ferrari-fred-vasseur-mercedes/
Now there's talk the FIA might invoke ADUO earlier in the season (owing to an obvious power deficit of 2% or >), especially in light of the cancellation of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
https://www.f1oversteer.com/news/fia-now-considering-mid-season-rule-change-that-would-greatly-benefit-ferrari-and-aston-martin/
But that won't satisfy anybody (except Mercedes) very long because (I'd bet a freight car load full of double White Castles with cheese that) Mercedes doesn't yet have it turned up to 11.
They did it before, and that was before the FIA created a rule so they could let the laggers catch up. So it's a lead-pipe cinch they're doing it now. They're not about to show the world how fast they can be until someone challenges them, and at this point there's no one close, so why risk it?
Mercedes have only dialled their 2026 F1 engine to ‘3.5 out of 5’ so they don’t ‘show off’
https://www.f1oversteer.com/news/mercedes-have-only-dialled-their-2026-f1-engine-to-3-5-out-of-5-so-they-dont-show-off/
Howdy gang!
Sir Chode is being added to the FR Memorial Wall:
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4370613/posts
If you scroll down to post # 52 you can see what Chode’s memorial looks like (I have updated silent_johnny with the missing information: Charles F. Knapp 1/24/1955)
My request from you all is simple:
Currently Chode’s photo is an F1 race car - should we keep that photo (I’ll request a change to a McLaren) for his Memorial Wall photo?
Thank you all in advance for your feedback!
Also mabarker1 is MIA - anyone know an update from him?
Again, thanks for your responses in advance
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