We're only about 7 weeks till the cars are on the track in Barcelona!
There has been a LOT going on behind the scenes, Adrian Newey has been made team principle at Aston, some folks have been sent packing, others shuffled aside, and it's said he won't be on the wall necessarily at every race even tho he's the HMFIC.
I guess ol Lawrence wants to get his $61 million worth out of the guy!
So lots of interesting speculation on engines - Mercedes is looking like it's 2014 all over again, as they are acknowledged to have a significant edge in "powah", Audi is saying they don't expect to contend at first but by 2029 should be winning races and fighting for championships, not just wins.
Cadillac is rumored to be the dark horse, having already invested close to a billion in their effort. They'll be using Toyota's windtunnel in Germany, building engines in Illinois and basing their operations near Silverstone just like all the other teams - except Ferrari.
Ferrari has not been mentioned for engine development - not a word - so they're a complete unknown, so HAAS and Cadillac are as well.
Red Bull will be fielding their Ford branded Honda-like power plant, and were rumored to be well behind the others, but this week have come out and said they've made major strides and now expect to be on equal terms with Mercedes. Of course, no one knows what their chassis will be like without the Newey touch. I'm wondering whether the car will be another Max special or more neutral and give Isack a chance at keeping up?
Alpine expects to make a big step forward since they'll be running Merc engines too.
McLaren expects to step right up to the front again, and I think they have a good shot at it - Lando will have the #1 on his car next season, unknown what number Max will choose, but I doubt it will be #2! :grin:
Edit: Max's previous number was 33, but he's chosen to race as #3 next season, his second favorite number, to # 1 that is!
All the driver's seats have been decided too, but there are rumors all over the paddock and internet that things are not as settled as they seem - we'll have to wait till Feb to find out what's what there.
Lastly, the races will only be shown on Apple TV (and maybe Sky?) in the US and I'm waiting to see whether we'll get the Mother's sponsored no commercial version or the ABC version where the cut away at exactly the wrong times.
Oh, and Portimao will be back on the schedule in 27 and 28! I liked that track, lots of elevation changes and interesting curves....
Ready for Feb to get here now!
More as it happens......
Regarding watching F1 in 2026, I was at a car show a week ago talking with a British guy who lives here in Texas and he said he had never watched any of the SkySports/ESPN/ABC coverage because he had purchased F1 access through Roku called F1 TV, which is the official Formula 1 offering. He said it included former F1 drivers as commentators, like David Coulthard.
I was thinking that would be a good option besides Apple for 2026 but researching it right now it sure looks like it will no longer be available. Apple is the only, only way. On a positive note, my research is telling me that there will be no TV commercials watching F1 through Apple. I see that Apple TV is available to stream for $12.99 a month. Also, if you purchase a new iPhone, they offer three months free of Apple TV.
We got a 6 month deal on Apple TV for $6 a month, then $13 a month after that....we've been watching the heck out of it - gonna get my money's worth!
We don't have any "i" stuff....
Rumors have gone around the paddock for months saying that Mercedes had the most powerful of the new edition motors - and now the reason has become public, tho not the "trick" - however Red Bull it's said have also figured it out.
It has to do with compression ratio - they're supposed to be limited to 16:1, but Mercedes has managed to get theirs to run 18:1 which gives them about 15 HP more than the others.
Seems that the key is when they test it, the official test for compression ratio is done at "room temperature", and apparently Mercedes is correct at that temp but goes up as it gets to race temps. I don't know the details yet, but it seems like there is a real problem here - if they let them go ahead and race this motor, half the grid will be at a substantial deficit, and the 4 Merc powered teams will be in a race amongst themselves (maybe with Red Bull) and the rest will be is a separate class based on power alone.
But if they make Mercedes change it now, they may be at a deficit to the other teams since the regs will be on track in about 6 weeks. Some discussions have said maybe they'll let them race one season like that then ban them for next year, others have said they'll only let them race with this motor the first few races then re-evaluate after they see the on track results.
Shades of 2014 all over again!
Of course, this completely discounts whether the cars will be reliable, the new electrical systems will work as predicted or turn into smoke, how the new overtake devices will work and so on.
Testing is going to be really interesting!
Pretty darn cool. And NOT AI.World's Fastest Camera Drone Vs F1 Car (https://youtu.be/9pEqyr_uT-k?si=MH2YYdcHl67DCnVE)
:cool2:
The rumors are getting stronger that Horner has bought a controlling interest in Alpine.
It could be perfect timing - he built Red Bull into a winning team, he knows Alpine can build a chassis, there's plenty of money and skill behind the team, and lastly they'll have Merc power starting next season instead of the tired old Renault lump in back.
If he does, I wonder if he'll be allowed to rebrand the team like Brawn did?
I hope it happens. Alpine presently isnt in a best finacial position. Their cars a very slow, close to the bottom of the pack. New powerplant from the Mercedes will definitely put them in the mix at the top. Wondering if Flavio Briatore will be included after his past fiasco in F1.
He and Horner get along OK, but if Christian becomes the major stakeholder, I'm not sure Flabio will have much of a position - Horner likes to choose his own team, not have them dictated to him.
I wonder about driver changes for 2027 now - so many contracts are up at the end of the '26 season, could be some real musical chairs! I expect Alonso and the Hamster to both retire.
With all the changes coming to how they drive the new cars, it's said that those that are proficient in the simulator will have an edge - and who spends more time in the Sims than anyone else? Max......he even has his own professional Sim racing team.
More on Horner's buy into Alpine.....first it was all but announced that he was buying as an owner, taking over the shares owned by Otro (sp?) Investment but it seems there's a monkey wrench in the deal - there is a clause in their purchase that says they can't sell them till Sept of '26, and Renault has right of first refusal to buy them back.
The investment cost $200mill in Sept '23 and is said to currently be worth over $700mill, and while Horner says he has the money that clause may keep him from going forward.
Or will it? Who knows? More as it happens!
Audi has fired up it's engine successfully for the first time in chassis, and will take it to the track in Barcelona tomorrow for a "filming day" shake down run. They're allowed 200KM in this test and if it holds together it should be a good proof of concept run. They plan to reveal their car in Berlin on Jan 20th
Ferrari is taking a different tack, bringing an "A" spec car in the first test weekend, and a "B" spec car in the second, then choosing which car to run in season. Ferrari is also rumored to have the lightest car on test this year. Lastly, Ferrari is supposed to have a really strong engine this year, but rather than building it out of aluminum, theirs will use steel alloy cylinder heads - everyone else uses aluminum. The steel heads allow them to use higher performance, higher heat and more combustion efficiency which they claim will give them an edge. They also seem to have a new suspension design and some trick new cooling setups. No question it will be a boom or bust year for them!
There sure are a lot of rumours (scenarios) flying around about the Alpine F1 team purchase.
From memory, there are quite a few private investors that jumped in to help Alpine (Renault) stay a float several years ago. Some are NFL players and some are in the entertainment industry. They would love to get a nice return on their investment.
I am sure Renault would like to be involved in some way. After all, they do have lots of history in F1. There aren't too many investers around with money, skill and knowledge as Horner, that can transform a losing team to be a top contender.
Should be an interesting year with all the new changes that come into play this season. Doing away with DRS, push to pass button might make things interesting, especially if they limit the number of times they are allowed to use it for passing/defending.
Aston Martin is the team to watch this year. They have a great package. Financially stable, knowledgeable staff, proven power plant and experienced winning drivers. Well, one of them anyway.
Exciting year to watch how it all unflolds....
Phil
Yes, the investment group that bought into Alpine in 2023 was Otro, one notable investor was Ryan Reynolds, he of Deadpool fame and owner of Mint Mobil - well, he was the owner of Mint, he sold it for something like $1.3 billion in 2024, tho he still does commercials for them.
Audi had a good first day on track - even tho they weren't running it full out, nothing broke, everything worked as expected and it was a trouble free outing.....always a good start when the car just works out of the box. 200km allowed under filming day rules will allow 42 laps of the circuit over two different sessions, so a decent shakedown test at least. Both drivers did laps in the car.....
Interesting new rule for 2026 - the teams cannot use the MGU-K on launch at the start of the race, for the first 50 meters down the track. The idea is gas engine only till then with the concept that potential mistakes will spice up the start of the race?
Sounds like a potential cluster till the drivers get used to the new machines. Melbourne is going to be really interesting!
https://x.com/ThisIsFormu1a1/status/2010567114785268100
Here's a short film on the differences for the 2026 cars
Well, all sorts of interesting things going on in F1 right now!
Lets start with Aston Martin, who's season so far is a complete shit show, the car is slow, the Honda engine vibrates so badly it can't be revved over 11K, the self built transmission fails due to the engine vibration, the engine is way down on power, and because of Newey's insistence on packaging everything so tightly it's overheating too - so first thing they had to do was cut holes in the body to let in some air. Alonso has to be just tearing his hair out - shades of his days with McLaren Honda! And of course Lance is even slower - he thinks they're about 4.5 seconds off the other teams right now. Newey says it can all be fixed and they'll get it sorted - Alonso hopes it's raceable by mid-season. Right now it's too slow to make the grid!
Mercedes - everyone thinks they're sandbagging in the pre-season tests. They already are under the gun because of their variable compression engine (which Red Bull seems to have done too) George is smiling and Kimi set the fastest time on one session, so......make of it what you will. Their car has been dead reliable too.
McLaren - seems to be just quietly going about their business, but I don't think they're going to be running away with it this year. They will be in the front tho, no question.
Ferrari - well, I don't know what to think, they were already quick - especially Le Clerc - then they sent Hamilton out with the cleverest, most outrageous rear wing anyone has ever seen, and if it works you'll see it on every team by mid season. You have to see it to believe it!
Red Bull - Verstappen is saying this isn't racing, because you have to manage the battery so much - the cars actually can run out of battery before the end of some of the longer straights and actually slow down as they're only running on the ice then. Add in all the moveable devices, push to pass button (I mean boost button - sorry) and it's a LOT to manage. I think it could make for some really exciting racing actually. But their car is surprisingly quick, tho Max says they're 4th fastest.
Several teams are having a really good pre-season. Both Audi and Cadillac have been almost trouble free and have been running mega amounts of laps, learning how to run an F1 team as much as anything.
HAAS also had a good pre-season and I expect them to be fighting for 5th most of the time, along with the Williams and Racing Bulls.
Alpine, despite having the trick hot Merc motor, seems to be picking up where they were last season - fighting with Aston for last.
So it seems business as usual at the front, with the big four taking their expected places, the mid a tight fight again with maybe some new faces in 5th -7th, and the woeful Aston and alpine at the back along with Audi and Cadillac.
1st race is on Apple on March 5th, however Apple have been showing the pre-season stuff too and are supposed to be showing all of the P1, 2 and 3 along with qually just as before. I think it's simply going to be the Sky Sports feed, but we'll see.
And then there's this little tidbit..... https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a70418348/formula-1-2026-imax/