F1 2026 thread

Interesting assessment of this new concept for the next PU. A bit long but interesting overall.

The new plan for F1 V8 engines return push

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/whats-really-going-on-with-delayed-f1-v8s-return-plan/

 

Max thats exactly what they are doing lol. - F1 goes back in time lol Verstappen: F1 should revert to cars it used around 2010

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F1 reveals 2026 sprint calendar with four new additions
There will be six sprint weekends in the 2026 F1 campaign with Silverstone, Zandvoort, Singapore and Montreal all joining the action

 

Sprint in Singapore makes no sense.

 

Just ensures a shorter race with no passing lol. They took a lunch at a Pub and tossed darts to come up with that list. Zandvoort not much better. They want up to 12 in 2027 potentially and are considering reverse grids lol. F1 crash tastic starts for all my friends. What cost cap lol. Stupidity at the organization that is now using the Disney model in Vegas to sell racing sim time and Mickey Tshirts. Its not much about racing at all. How many Gordon Ramsey Burger packages can they sell at 15000 per weekend. I guess not enough. Again - who needs F1?? Like this??

 

Monaco next ?

 

Anything for money clicks and free advertising by their new short attention span fans via Insta. This would not surprise me. Reverse grids actually being considered tells you the sport is out of ideas to create better racing.

 

It certainly not F1 as I used to know it, but one has to move with the time. Lol

 

Gee, maybe simplify the formula and ditch the absurdly expensive "power units"?

 

They think they have a plan........for the next 5 min under Ben Du Idiocy. What will he propose next.

 

Next year, the F1 cost cap raises to $215 million (£158.3m), though it also encapsulates a host of elements that have otherwise fallen outside of it. In reality, the increase is effectively little more than indexation following its introduction in F1 2021.

 

The headache F1 2026's rapid evolution is giving teams - https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/f1-2026-rapid-evolution-new-headache-for-teams/

Formula 1 teams are facing an added complication in trying to understand the 2026 rules in the simulator, with fast-evolving designs leaving them with a "moving target".

It is now less than four months until the all-new challengers take part in the first collective test behind closed doors at Barcelona.

But teams still have a lot of uncertainties about what the new cars will behave like on track, and how they are going to get the best performance from them.

Tactical energy recovery and deployment is going to be critical to success, and in an ideal world teams would be ticking off endless simulation runs right now to be able to fully understand the complexities they will to face.

However, as teams continue to improve their designs and unlock ever more performance, this is having an impact on the models that are put in the simulator.

The fast-changing nature of this, with downforce and drag levels having a direct impact on energy deployment, means that work that fits one car version may not be relevant to where things are a few weeks later.

Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin said that in theory understanding what is needed for next year should be straightforward.

However, with the design baselines changing so much, he reckoned teams are second-guessing themselves a lot.

"You can get your head around the broad energy challenges pretty early on with those regulations," he said.

"But the fact is that the car evolves week on week and, as the car performance changes, the results from the simulations change.

"So there's an element where it's a moving target in trying to make sure that the chassis package is optimised for the engine and the power unit package."

'A difficult year'
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The 2026 rules revamp is the biggest regulatory overhaul in F1 history, with the new turbo hybrid engines that rely on a roughly 50/50 energy split between the engine and battery being twinned with cars that feature moveable aerodynamics.

Shovlin explained that teams were not expecting an easy time when it came to unlocking what the secrets to performance will be.

"We're building the complexity there, but it will be a difficult year," he added. "The new ECU is actually a pretty major challenge.

"You've got a new power unit, and the chassis regs are completely different.

"We'll have new tyres that we need to get on top of as well, and then the energy challenge is going to be different and obviously there are new fuels. So there's a huge amount of work.

"All areas are moving forward. As I said, you've got a virtual representation of the car that we can run in a simulator, but even that, you're trying to predict: 'Where are we going to be in four months' time in terms of downforce levels?'

"There's no point in doing all your work with something that will never actually run on the track. You want to be doing it with something that's representative of what you're going to roll out with."

Design divergence
The radically different rules coming for 2026 are likely to lead to very different interpretations by teams in how best to attack them.

The Race has already revealed how, for example, F1 brake supplier Brembo has been made aware of teams having very varied approaches to their 2026 designs, with some opting for minimalist approaches and others being more conservative.

Shovlin anticipated that initially there may be some big differences in cars, but that ideas will eventually converge.

Asked if Brembo's observation suggested F1 will have big design variations, Shovlin said: "You may well do early on. That's what we're hearing from brake manufacturers in that they're not sure what the right answer is, because they're getting different requests.

"You've obviously got a big electrical motor that can provide a lot of retardation on the rear axle. So it does create opportunity to then downsize what you've got in terms of the discs and caliper capacity.

"Pirelli are saying that they're getting all sorts of different suggestions of where cars are going to be on end-of-straight loads.

"But we're all developing our cars in isolation. No one's seen anything, and these days you don't really hear anything from any other teams as to how they're getting on.

"Inevitably the most diversity you probably see is going to be straight off when everyone rolls their car out, and then pretty soon on people start copying whoever looks quickest and converge down a route."

While Pirelli has talked openly about there being big differences between the downforce levels that teams are predicting they will have in 2026, Shovlin suspected that the spread will not end up being so great in the end.

"The reality is some will be doing better than others [with simulations], and then there may be a case that those that are doing particularly well want to downplay where they are," he said.

"Some people might be presenting where they think they'll get to. Some people might be presenting where they are today.

"But I suspect, with the way the rules are, the differences won't be vast when we roll out."

 

I can be completely wrong, but I cannot help having a hunch that Mercedes will come up as the team best prepared for 2026. First, they will be one step ahead of McLaren, Williams and Alpine in understanding the new powertrain, being their supplier.
Technically, I judge them superior to Ferrari most of the time.
The Red Bull-Ford alliance is totally unknown. Same for Aston Martin and Honda.

 

Its possible Mercedes are out in front with a superb PU. Honda has gained excellent experience and RedBull hired Japanese engineers from Honda as they stood up the new operation to build the PU. They are going to be Honda-esque. The chassis integration is another item and the energy management/recovery is one they are talking about as a significant variable for this new set of rules. We have some unknowns and will not know much until the second test. The first is closed to the public. Too bad. Why not show us what they are facing at the start eh?

 

FIA and Formula 1 change qualifying format
Changes will be made to qualifying format by the FIA and Formula 1 for the 2026 season.
With the addition of Cadillac next year, making it 11 teams on the grid, one more car from each session will be eliminated, meaning six cars will be cut from Q1 and Q2 to allow the usual ten-car shootout for Q3.
It is a format that has not been seen for nine years, with the 2016 season using this format, the last campaign where 11 teams participated in a season.

 

With some tracks being already overcrowded in practice and qualifs at the moment with 20 cars, one wonders how it will work with 2 more.
I suppose that will lead to more recrimmination among drivers and more grid penalties dished out for impeding ?

 

Ferrari will probably be out in Q1 so that should help...

 

Min speed out of the pit lane will need to be increased for them to get on the track. NO more of the absurd turtle crawling garbage we see. Get on the track and get moving. Tire warm up etc is handled out there. For spacing thats another issue but min speeds must be maintained or reset qualy to 2 or 3 cars at a given time for 1 or 2 timed laps and increase qualy time from1 hour to 1.5 hours. Its not rocket science at all.

 

Isn't Red Bull going with Ford next year ?

 

They are. But Red Bull Powertrain may have recruited some ex-Honda engineers to work alongside Ford.

 

That could make sense - Honda engineers probably have more experience in recent F1 engines (even though the 2026 regulations are significantly different) and their integration with Red Bull chassis.
Meanwhile, Honda is going to Aston Martin - we'll see how all will work out...

 

Japanese engineers moved to the UK to support the RBPT engines that are Honda made and badged as RBPT. Reports are some of them moved to the new PU factory built by RedBull. Ford are there for battery and electrical support/design. Report was they are doing more. Japanese engineers were hired for ICE motor work. Of course others were hired from various teams as well. How much of a 'Honda' the new PU is will be speculative but similar to Honda efforts are made or used in some fashion as a basis possibly. People at that level wont forget what they have learned that worked and the time element would be critical for the new PU. So why not design one with a known basis etc.

 

I am wondering how Honda feels about that. Having some of their collaborators going to the opposition, taking their know-how with them and building a clone engine bearing the RBTP-FORD badge.

 

Depends on the level of engineer that moved into RBPT etc. How long they had gardening leave etc. Certainly Honda would start limiting access but those reports are known within various sources. Given the high level Mercedes engine hires in RBPT various configurations would be possible and it might be more Mercedes than anything else as well.