The success of the new 2026 F1 cars
The success of the new 2026 F1 cars
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Discussion

hondajack85

Original Poster:

1,136 posts

22 months

2026 cars seem to invite closer racing between team mates. Loads of around the outside overtakes .As teams equalize a bit more that would mean closer racing across the board.
By some weird quirk the last rule set made for a very flawed and difficult to set up car. A bit of a disaster. So we found that max could cope better than
the others ,but its no way to run a show.
Its was like the guy who can wiggle the tv ariel around best to get a picture being showered with endless praise,rather than fix the reception problem lol.

bergclimber34

2,723 posts

16 months

It is not that great chap, you get a little bit of netter stuff with hours of the usual rubbish, the main thing is most drivers are not keen, but those that are are doing welll those that are not hate it. But hate it a lot!!

ThingsBehindTheSun

3,143 posts

54 months

It's pretty clear to me already that Mercedes have the championship sewn up and Ferrari are going to be second in the constructors.

Ferrari are basically 15 to 30 seconds behind Mercedes and the rest are 1 minute minimum behind Mercedes.

hondajack85

Original Poster:

1,136 posts

22 months

Its only 2 races in. They all have a target to aim for. What has already been done is now possible for all.

UKsandman

3,136 posts

161 months

hondajack85 said:
By some weird quirk the last rule set made for a very flawed and difficult to set up car. A bit of a disaster. So we found that max could cope better than the others
If that’s what the last rule set told us does that then mean that these new rules show that Max isn’t as good at driving these cars as George, Kimi, Lewis and Charles?

Kawasaki90

13 posts

2 months

Not meaning to derail, but earlier on tonight I came across a video of the race start I took of the 2013 British gp as a general admission at maggots/becketts.

The sound those cars made on lights out down to turn 2 was just absolutely mental, and it saddens me that it’s what F1 “used” to sound like, and what it’s like now.

bergclimber34

2,723 posts

16 months

Tuesday
quotequote all
The sad aspect is it has never been more popular, the sane is happening in WEC, the cars are being dumbed down to be almost silent in some cases,yet it is popular, you need to vote with your wallet and most race fans are immensely selfish really. FOMO is a huge, vital aspect of events marksting and sport these days

StevieBee

14,849 posts

278 months

Tuesday
quotequote all
What the new rules demonstrate more than anything is that F1 fans will never be happy. (I include myself in this, by the way!)

Let us not forget that a few years ago, these pages were full of very robust debate on what appeared to be the most pressing and critical aspect of Formula one............ the F1 logo!

Similarly, much bandwidth was taken up with disapproving debate around the halo.

We're only two races in yet to me, it's clear that we at last have a formula that allows close battles for long periods of time, the outcome of which is far from certain until the flag drops. Battles are intense throughout the field. The driver remains the determinant factor in the outcome of these battles. The cars look great too.

Results so far are a true reflection of combined design, technical and driving skills - as should always be the case in F1.

Like politics, F1 will never present itself in a way that everyone likes. Debating this is part of the fun, I guess.




coppice

9,542 posts

167 months

Tuesday
quotequote all
Good

- the cars look great ; much smaller than their actual dimensions might suggest . and they sound a bit better too
- they don't lack poke , with some splendidiy squirrelly moments at corner exits (and pits , in the case of Lawson )
- although slower on overall lap times (so far) they look ballistic on the straights
- lots of place swappping

Not so good /absurd

- any spec which means F1 cars, even in qualifying , go slower round corners than they could do so , is deeply flawed
- the overtaking's fun , but even dafter than it was with DRS. Casual fans may love it, it showcases drivers' resourcefulness but c'mon , it's silly artifice. It's like going to a restaurant, skipping the first two or three courses and gorging yourself on puddings

PhilAsia

7,106 posts

98 months

Tuesday
quotequote all
coppice said:
Good

- the cars look great ; much smaller than their actual dimensions might suggest . and they sound a bit better too
- they don't lack poke , with some splendidiy squirrelly moments at corner exits (and pits , in the case of Lawson )
- although slower on overall lap times (so far) they look ballistic on the straights
- lots of place swappping

Not so good /absurd

- any spec which means F1 cars, even in qualifying , go slower round corners than they could do so , is deeply flawed
- the overtaking's fun , but even dafter than it was with DRS. Casual fans may love it, it showcases drivers' resourcefulness but c'mon , it's silly artifice. It's like going to a restaurant, skipping the first two or three courses and gorging yourself on puddings when you prefer savoury, and the restaurant specialises in wagyu steak
ftfy...

hondajack85

Original Poster:

1,136 posts

22 months

Tuesday
quotequote all
The last cars were faster round corners though this is invisible to a viewer. Downside is the faster cars go the less likely someone is to try and overtake move.
Some people just like numbers on a chart to think something is better.

coppice

9,542 posts

167 months

Tuesday
quotequote all
It 's not the cornering speed per se that worries me - I enjoy watching any racing car of any vintage ,F 1 included , on the limit through a corner . The nonsenical , absurd thing about F1 2026 is that even in the heat of qualifying, some corners are taken slower than is possible, so as not to run out of puff down the following straight .Saving tyres or fuel in a race , I can cope with, but if the best way to go quickly is to corner at a speed Alonso described as being achievable by the team chef, something is deeply flawed .

Ste-EVo

268 posts

174 months

Tuesday
quotequote all
Ive followed F1 for a long time, so by no means the 'new generation of fan' and i'm really enjoying this season.

It's different, it's exciting, there are some great overtakes and therefore great racing, nothing about it is 'fake' IMO as ive said on another threat. I think there is more excitement to come, and i'm enjoying seeing the usual suspects not running away with it this year

Downside? 'super clipping' sounds a bit rubbish, especially into turn 9/10 at Melbourne, I think that really highlighted it, but it is what it is.

I'm a glass half full kind of guy and I'm just pleased its March and F1 is back!

Oh, from a (sky) coverage aspect - another downside is Jaques V... frown

Mastodon2

14,156 posts

188 months

Yesterday (06:41)
quotequote all
It's still a sport I love, so it's not all doom and gloom for me, however, I will never be convinced that having less downforce and less mechanical grip is a good thing, or that the cars being so starved of power they they can't push even for a whole lap makes for a great spectacle. The idea of a rule set where drivers deliberately slow down in the corners so they've got enough battery to make it down a straight seems antithetical to a top-tier racing competition.

Battery management has always been a thing since the hybrids were introduced and I've always liked the hybrid engines, but now the cars make less power from the ICE engine, recover less energy per lap, have no passive energy regen via MGU-H and deliver much higher peak power from the electric motor, all without any significant development in battery energy capacity. They now use the energy much faster than before and find it even harder to recharge the battery.

Eventually this rule set will end up setting faster laps than the previous rules, that's just the way of F1. Indeed, there's more time to be gained by powering out of slower corners than there is to be lost by backing off in fast corners, so sooner or later these cars will match and then beat the overall lap times of the ground effect cars. You could argue that's the ultimate success of the regs,.I'd rather see someone take the.S.curves at Suzuka without lifting due to lack of downforce, of because they need to save their energy for the following straight.


bergclimber34

2,723 posts

16 months

Yesterday (06:52)
quotequote all
I moved on from F1 with the onset of the awful, dull hybrid era, pretty much as the sport exploded in popularity, so don't really understand the fascination.

They are too big, too complicated, too many people involved abd far too quiet.

Sadly the sport I replaced it with is going a similar way with very quiet, complicated cars, thankfully the racing is still good.

I watched a bit of China, at the moment Ferrari were battling, it was briefly interesting, but not ear splittingly so as commentators have you believe, but even that us based on energy use and fakeness.

If you were brought up watching real me, race real cars, where you could see, hear and watch pure skill, this modern era is a bit if a letdown

Modern drivers are just as good, you just don't get to see it as much sadly

_Rodders_

1,049 posts

42 months

Yesterday (06:54)
quotequote all
bergclimber34 said:
The sad aspect is it has never been more popular, the sane is happening in WEC, the cars are being dumbed down to be almost silent in some cases,yet it is popular, you need to vote with your wallet and most race fans are immensely selfish really. FOMO is a huge, vital aspect of events marksting and sport these days
Immensely selfish because they're buying tickets to something you don't like?

_Rodders_

1,049 posts

42 months

Yesterday (06:56)
quotequote all
bergclimber34 said:
I moved on from F1 with the onset of the awful, dull hybrid era, pretty much as the sport exploded in popularity, so don't really understand the fascination.

They are too big, too complicated, too many people involved abd far too quiet.

Sadly the sport I replaced it with is going a similar way with very quiet, complicated cars, thankfully the racing is still good.

I watched a bit of China, at the moment Ferrari were battling, it was briefly interesting, but not ear splittingly so as commentators have you believe, but even that us based on energy use and fakeness.

If you were brought up watching real me, race real cars, where you could see, hear and watch pure skill, this modern era is a bit if a letdown

Modern drivers are just as good, you just don't get to see it as much sadly
So why are you commenting more than 10 years after you moved on.

That is a bizarre obsession.

coppice

9,542 posts

167 months

Yesterday (08:18)
quotequote all
bergclimber34 said:
I

I watched a bit of China, at the moment Ferrari were battling, it was briefly interesting, but not ear splittingly so as commentators have you believe, but even that us based on energy use and fakeness.

If you were brought up watching real me, race real cars, where you could see, hear and watch pure skill, this modern era is a bit if a letdown

Modern drivers are just as good, you just don't get to see it as much sadly
I started watching 'real men' etc at the 1971 Briish GP and although I can find much to carp about (complexity, idiot tribalism of fans and crap circuits in dodgy countries) it's still as addictve as ever . Live, you can certainly see (and sometimes hear) the skill and althugh my favourite era was the mid 80s , I still love it . I am sad that we have a TV audience whose ant like attention span means we inch ever closer to a spec formula but the biggest change (of which I can be guilty) is in the watcher , not the watched . We love everything until we're late 30s , start grumbling in our 40s , and from 50 on we miss the good old days. I'm 73 so I'm totally fked

Edited by coppice on Thursday 19th March 10:08

Soloman Dodd

708 posts

65 months

Yesterday (10:00)
quotequote all
It's still 99% better than formula e.

entropy

6,324 posts

226 months

Yesterday (17:54)
quotequote all
_Rodders_ said:
bergclimber34 said:
I moved on from F1 with the onset of the awful, dull hybrid era, pretty much as the sport exploded in popularity, so don't really understand the fascination.

They are too big, too complicated, too many people involved abd far too quiet.

Sadly the sport I replaced it with is going a similar way with very quiet, complicated cars, thankfully the racing is still good.

I watched a bit of China, at the moment Ferrari were battling, it was briefly interesting, but not ear splittingly so as commentators have you believe, but even that us based on energy use and fakeness.

If you were brought up watching real me, race real cars, where you could see, hear and watch pure skill, this modern era is a bit if a letdown

Modern drivers are just as good, you just don't get to see it as much sadly
So why are you commenting more than 10 years after you moved on.

That is a bizarre obsession.
Moving on from your ex means you don't continue to stalk them.