Official 2026 Hungarian Grand Prix Thread ***SPOILERS***

[732NM]

paulguitar said:

Google said this:


'Formula 1 cars lack their historic scent due to clean-burning hybrid power units, highly regulated commercial-grade fuel, and direct-injection efficiency'.

Which is bks AI soup.

You can't buy the fuel now used.

[Sandpit Steve]

paulguitar said:

Sandpit Steve said:

Yes, AD will not be a good circuit for these cars.

Last time I was there I was in the West Grandstand, which is on the Turn 6/7 chicane at the end of a 1km straight. My biggest takeaway from being there was the braking performance of the cars, which really doesn t come across well on TV. IMHO it s the single most impressive aspect of the performance of an F1 car.

This year, the F2 cars are going to be faster into that braking zone, as the F1 cars start clipping half way down the straight. The recent (2020?) changes to the circuit made the racing better, but this year will make the PU problem a lot worse!

I used to love seeing this:





Yet another thing modern F1 has lost, along with the sound, the visceral shock, the smell, going fast into and through corners, etc.

Hell Yeah!

It really does require a mental readjustment when you see a car coming alongside at 200mph+, only a couple of dozen yards away from you, that decelerates down to 50mph in the course of 100 yards. It looks like it has some crazy force acting upon it, which you’ve not seen before and you have no reference to it. In fact it’s just the crazy materials science of carbon brakes and sticky tyres!

Everyone should go and stand in a braking zone when they go to watch F1 live.

Yes most of us here can reminisce about the old engines and fuels, the utterly visceral emotion that was a large part of the reason we were all motorsport and F1 fans in the first place. Seismologists used to be able to tell at exactly what time the race started, because the ground would literally shake.

[paulguitar]

Sandpit Steve said:

Hell Yeah!

It really does require a mental readjustment when you see a car coming alongside at 200mph+, only a couple of dozen yards away from you, that decelerates down to 50mph in the course of 100 yards. It looks like it has some crazy force acting upon it, which you ve not seen before and you have no reference to it. In fact it s just the crazy materials science of carbon brakes and sticky tyres!

Everyone should go and stand in a braking zone when they go to watch F1 live.

I went to the Italian GP in 2003 and sat at the entrance to the first chicane at Monza. The deceleration was insane, and the glowing discs a sight to behold.

Sandpit Steve said:

Yes most of us here can reminisce about the old engines and fuels, the utterly visceral emotion that was a large part of the reason we were all motorsport and F1 fans in the first place. Seismologists used to be able to tell at exactly what time the race started, because the ground would literally shake.

Yeah, it was great to be at a circuit and be literally miles away from the grid but still be able to hear the race start.


The talk of returning to proper engines in 2031 has me excited, but I am well aware that it could all change again before then.

[Sandpit Steve]

732NM said:

paulguitar said:

Google said this:


'Formula 1 cars lack their historic scent due to clean-burning hybrid power units, highly regulated commercial-grade fuel, and direct-injection efficiency'.

Which is bks AI soup.

You can't buy the fuel now used.

Did I see $300 a litre as the cost of the new synthetic “sustainable” fuel?

[732NM]

Sandpit Steve said:

Did I see $300 a litre as the cost of the new synthetic sustainable fuel?

With the cost of research and development and production, it's going to be many factors higher.
It's one of the stupidest introductions in F1 history, there is zero marketing or commercial value to this stupidly expensive product.

[PhilAsia]

paulguitar said:

732NM said:

paulguitar said:

That's a really good question.

I suspect the old specific F1 smell was from chemical fuel additives- it was probably unhealthy/dangerous, so it is probably for the best that it's no longer there!

But I loved it.

There has been nothing dodgy in the fuel for decades. The first generation 1980's turbo car fuel was carcinogenic.

Any idea what's changed with the smell?

It's not Rock Oil...I love the smell of Rock Oil baby!!

[Jasandjules]

732NM said:

Sandpit Steve said:

Did I see $300 a litre as the cost of the new synthetic sustainable fuel?

With the cost of research and development and production, it's going to be many factors higher.
It's one of the stupidest introductions in F1 history, there is zero marketing or commercial value to this stupidly expensive product.

It is so they can say "look how environmentally friendly we are" whilst flying hundreds of people and tonnes of kit all around the world.....

[Byker28i]

Perhaps thats a chance for Ferraris 'mist' emission, use it as an air freshner 'old f1 scent'

[INeedAHero]

Think we are 1 step away from the FIA implementing dogems. Why not? The cars are electric, the one that lasts the longest wins and noone really understands the rules anyway.

[TheDeuce]

732NM said:

Sandpit Steve said:

Did I see $300 a litre as the cost of the new synthetic sustainable fuel?

With the cost of research and development and production, it's going to be many factors higher.
It's one of the stupidest introductions in F1 history, there is zero marketing or commercial value to this stupidly expensive product.

Indeed. And in the real world e-fuels have been revealed as totally dead in the water commercially anyway, they were only ever a scam concocted by car manufacturers desperate to find a justification to put back the ICE ban dates around the world. That is the main reason F1 wanted to go with e-fuels in the first place, to market the idea. But the idea is now so laughable that it never gets mentioned on world feed/sky/f1tv anymore.

We've ended up with complex cars chewing through silly and expensive e-fuel, that no longer even has a marketable purpose.

[NoUserNameAvailable]

The F1 version might cost that but e-fuels in general are a tenth of that. Way more expensive than fossil fuels or bio-fuels but coming down all the time.