F1: Preseason tests shows how different 2026 will be
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Maybe dumb question, but how can the car deploy more than double the battery capacity? Does it recharge fully within a lap?
Also, the units should be "MJ" in both instances.
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Evidently IMAX will be an option for some races: https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/...v-unveils-new-us-viewing-experience/10798974/
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I've been wondering about that, too. Over the years, the teams have learnt how to build bullet-proof cars. Certainly, they won't have unlearned that? Of course, they will push hard and maybe cross some material limits. But one hopes that the reliability remains high (I still remember how in the 1990s half of the field could be wiped out because of aging Cosworths, fragile suspension systems, and the occasional brake disc on fire).
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I could use the longer explanation for this.
First, they certainly hit 50km/h long before the first turn (before they cross the line for all but the front lines). Second, if they all do it, or avoid doing it, because of the benefit or disadvantage, what's the specific danger ? Third, when running as a pack and trying to dodge the first-turn-3-wide traffic, is maximum braking capability really that big of a factor?
Please, O greatest of internet comment boards, ELI5.
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Bacon Briefcase? WTF does that mean
Regardless, I know how I'd cheat. With the sustainable fuels, I'd make slowly dissolving fuel lines that add energy to my fuel. Maybe not so slowly dissolving for qualifying. The fuels are going to be a huge part of the competitive balance this year.
Regardless, I know how I'd cheat. With the sustainable fuels, I'd make slowly dissolving fuel lines that add energy to my fuel. Maybe not so slowly dissolving for qualifying. The fuels are going to be a huge part of the competitive balance this year.
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I'm not sure where you are located, but if you sub Apple TV you can still sign in through the F1TV app like before. You never actually have to use Apple TV.
On the topic of the racing, I have my concerns too. I've watched most of the televised preseason testing and there are certainly gremlins with some teams, but the PUs are very very reliable thus far. AM has gearbox issues and the Honda PU is likely not going to cut it, but that's speculation.
The battery usage isn't quite as straightforward as you are making it, but some drivers have come out and said that overtaking has been tricky. There's been limited opportunities for "racing" in testing though so I'll just reserve judgement for now.
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No mention of Ferraris rear wing? Everyone is getting very excited over that....
Edit; poor use of words.
Corrected by the good doctor below, there is indeed a reference to it in the article. opticians for me tomorrow.....
Edit; poor use of words.
Corrected by the good doctor below, there is indeed a reference to it in the article. opticians for me tomorrow.....
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Knowing Ferrari, they'll shoot themselves in both feet.
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It just showed up today!
Its pretty awesome if you ask me. The day 1 wing was back on for session 2 though.
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Jakelshark
Ars Tribunus Militum
It looks wild as hell. I thought they said that they'd use it for the Australia GP at least? Really interesting development. It actually generates lift vs only reducing drag. Will be fascinating to see how it performs in the straights vs others.
And I'm looking forward to the chaos of the new revving procedures without the MGH-U to reduce turbo lag. All the cars need a good 10-20 seconds of revving prior to launch. Will be interesting to hear what that sounds like...
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Jakelshark
Ars Tribunus Militum
They still have the flow regulators that measure fuel injection though. But I do like your creative problem solving...
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I've seen it said in places that the movable front element does very little to change drag. Moving it does reduce the amount of downforce. Now, I don't completely understand all the losses that additional downforce is creating, but a few engineers seemed quick to point out that while the rear wing does produce a ton of drag, the front elements generally do not, so the active elements are accomplishing slightly different things on each end.
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Jakelshark
Ars Tribunus Militum
The thing about the front wing is, even when it's down...there's still the core body and side pods right behind it, so it's not eliminating that much drag overall. Just changing how the air flows around everything. A few teams seem to be trying some different sidepod configurations, Idk if it's related to the front wing aero or not though.
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You missed this bit: " Ferrari tested an interesting approach to this in Bahrain at one point, with rear wing elements that flipped a full 180 degrees. I wonder if we’ll see that in-season."
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I'm mostly curious about the engine shenanigans Merc and RB are supposedly pulling, with combustion ratios increasing while hot. Playing games with CTEs almost always leads to unexpected failures in my experience, so I'd love to get more details about what they're doing, or if the FiA treats it seriously enough to modify the testing rules as they've been discussing.
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Would love to learn more about the battery. Charge/Discharge rates on these must be incredibly high
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The front wing shapes the air in front of the tires.
The shape required for maximum downforce at 100MPH in a turn may cause the wrong kind of turbulence in front of the tire/body at 200MPH in a straight. If you can separately shape the air for the straight, instead of having to go for one-size-fit-all, then you could reduce the tire/body drag in the straight. When milliseconds matter...
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https://www.fia.com/news/fia-statement-formula-1-power-unit-advisory-committee
Likely a change coming after 13 races and then components will be measured at 130C.
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Jakelshark
Ars Tribunus Militum
Also going back to the start procedure/long revving to offset turbo lag, Ferrari brought this up as a concern last year and it was dismissed. Now all the other teams want to change start up procedures. Meanwhile Ferrari off the start is: https://streamain.com/en/03U0Aisp9RzTXTJ/watch and https://packaged-media.redd.it/081t...00&s=ec1b21ff1d8d8903d3e57a16ce18f25d901a3569
Ferrari doesn't want to change now, because they might have been the only engine manufacturer to really think through the turbo lag issue during design...
Ferrari doesn't want to change now, because they might have been the only engine manufacturer to really think through the turbo lag issue during design...
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There is a video on the official F1 channel (done by the Tech Talk guy) where he monitors a bunch of practice starts from the pit lane. With the MGH-K no longer muffling the exhaust, it's 5-20 seconds of absolute HOWLING noise before the start. If you're going to an event, you're gonna want to wear earplugs for the start if you're in the home stand!
The really interesting thing I'm seeing in testing is the insane number of lockups everyone is having. Seems to have to do with switching the active aero into corner mode (possibly changing the load balance). Some teams seem to be getting on top of it, some are not -- Aston and Racing Bulls look to be squaring off tires like nobody's business still. The fun part is that it affects and is affected by everything -- your aero, your actuation of your active aero, your suspension, your brake balance, on and on and on.
Everyone is super-excited for these new regulations, but let's be real -- the first few races are likely to be hilariously uninteresting, because the disparity in the field is going to be massive. Expect one or two manufacturers to walk away from everyone else within a half dozen laps.
Or maybe not; the tradeoffs and design decisions may make for much more interesting racing; Red Bull seems to be fastest on the straights, McLaren and Mercedes seem to be better in corners... and with the deployment of electric power not necessarily having an "optimal" that works for every engine manufacturer, it'll be an interesting race to see who can copy each other's best innovations best and fastest.
Ah, found the video. It's never going to sound like the V10s of old, but I'm really digging the noise:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLqxybSAYbY
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Everybody would, but nobody's talking. There's no dynamic adjustment or chip thing you can do to change it, right? There has to be something in there designed to expand in a controlled fashion to get this done. As a RB homer, I don't necessarily want this to be banned and exposed afterwards -- but as a nerd, I am dying to know at the same time.
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Little wonder Stella/Mercedes teams were bringing up the "safety issue" with starts.
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Really looking forward to going to the Melbourne qualifier day in a couple of weeks. It’s going to be super interesting
Race day will be party at my apartment. Might even be able to hear the engines from my place
As for the reg changes? I’m very much a fan of change and hoping for some racing/driver innovation. We shall see
Go Oscar and Liam. Downunder represent
Race day will be party at my apartment. Might even be able to hear the engines from my place
As for the reg changes? I’m very much a fan of change and hoping for some racing/driver innovation. We shall see
Go Oscar and Liam. Downunder represent
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EmphyrioDonk
Smack-Fu Master, in training
The honest drivers are not, and so are some of the better F1 journalists. If you listen to some of the driver comments, they all tell you the cars are less fun to drive
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1. Eliminating quali would take whatever fun there was out of tracks like Monaco. Plus, it's interesting to see which teams aim to do well in qualifying and hold onto their position during the race, versus optimize for the race and hope to survive quali.
2. There are plenty of other series to watch if that's what you're into. NASCAR, sports cars, etc... F1 has been about making the best upside-down airplane for over 50 of its 75 years now. The on track action has never been as unpredictable as the various spec. series you could support instead.
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Lewis Hamilton says they're fun: “The car generation is actually a little bit more fun to drive – it’s oversteery, it’s snappy and sliding, but it’s a little bit easier to catch and I would definitely say more enjoyable.”
Lando Norris says they're fun: “They’re good fun, because it’s more power and less grip to a certain extent,” said Norris. “Which means you’re hustling, you’re having to control the car a bit more, fight the car at times more.”
George Russell like the power and the fact they're more nimble:
“I think for all the cars I was watching today, with all the different power units, it’s probably the quickest I’ve ever seen an F1 car pass here in Barcelona, so that was pretty exciting to see. And the cars, you feel it being smaller, you can feel that weight reduction compared to previous years, so I think from that aspect as well it’s gone in a good direction.”
Kimi Antonelli says they're fun to drive:
“It’s fun to drive,” the Italian reflected. “Obviously the car being a bit smaller, you feel it – it’s more agile, especially in changes of direction and in slow-speed corners which is a nice feeling, plus we don’t have bouncing anymore which is another good thing, so you don’t have to run the car as low and you have a bit more room to play with ride heights. You have a bit more room to play with the set-up, to play with the car, which is super nice and super interesting as well as a driver, to also understand what compromises you can find set-up-wise.”
And Bearman: “It’s good fun. It’s my first time being in this situation with a regulation change where, as drivers, we can have so much impact on the end result, so it’s a great prospect.”
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A lot of commentators have attributed some of this to a couple elements of the hybrid system. First, variation in how much electric power a car is deploying or regenerating on the straight before a big braking zone means that cars are approaching the corners at a much wider range of speeds than the previous generation. The drivers seem to still be getting used to how this affects the braking point.
Second, the state of the battery can affect how much deceleration is being done with regen versus the brake discs. If the battery is full up the car has to rely on the brakes, which is going to affect the brake balance.
Before the season there was a bunch of talk about how managing energy deployment was going to add to drivers’ workloads. It’s looking like there are a bunch of second order effects that the drivers will have to learn to manage as well.
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I mean, Brits aren't known to speak their mind in a straightforward way. The Dutch do.
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Jakelshark
Ars Tribunus Militum
Max can have his fun in his Mercedes AMG GT-3 as he moonlights as an endurance racer during the F1 season j/k
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Someone just needs to ask the French.
Especially after a bottle or two.
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Really? Lift to reduce friction (and increase speed without increasing power) without being catapulted? I got that image, I sure hope it is not that dramatic
A lot of these discussions make me jealous of the people who actually try to redefine such limits - engineering at the very top!
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