Formula 1 Heineken Chinese Grand Prix 2026Formula 1 

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GlamFM
You’d have to dig deep into F1 history to uncover gaps of that magnitude. Layer on top of that machinery that’s both excruciating to handle and excruciating to watch, and it becomes glaringly obvious why this current era - this so-called “Formula E on steroids” - fails to ignite even a spark of excitement.

EDIT: I'm not only talking about the gap from Mercedes to the rest, but the gaps throughout the field.
In its current form it's just not it.
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You have to use race results as a base, not qualifying gaps.

Again, we are literally only 1 race into the season...

2017/2018 was pretty much the same. Ferrari and Mercedes were racing on an island against each other.
 
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Bram Turismo
You have to use race results as a base, not qualifying gaps.

Again, we are literally only 1 race into the season...

2017/2018 was pretty much the same. Ferrari and Mercedes were racing on an island against each other.
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Additionally, the qualifying gaps aren't really new, either.

2016 Chinese GP, the field itself covered 3 seconds in Q1, 6 seconds in Q2, & just under 2 seconds in Q3. Comparatively, we had just over 4 seconds in SQ1, 2 seconds in SQ2, & 2 seconds in SQ3.
Australia wasn't different as well in 2016. 4.3 in Q1, 3.1 in Q2, 2.2 in Q3 in relation to 2026; 3.7 in Q1, 2.3 in Q2, 2.6 in in Q3.
 
At least everyone has stopped complaining about the power units for a while and moved on to the expected Mercedes dominance.

Anyway, interesting things, George Russells SQ3 time would have been good enough for P7 in SQ3 last year, ahead of Kimi Antonelli and just 7 tenths slower than Hamiltons pole time and would have made Q3 and started 9th in the main race. That 3-4 second gap we expected to see across the regulations doesn't seem to be the case at the sharp end. P20 however, there is a 3.5 second gap from 2025 to 2026. Highlighting that whole field spread in qualifying.
Going back to the last major rule shift in engines in Shanghai Quali in 2015 (2014 was wet), Russells 2026 time would have put him on pole by 4.2 seconds, whilst 7.1 seconds covered P1 to P20, vs 5.8 seconds in todays SQ.

Applying similar logic to the Australian GP, using 2024 as the reference as 2025 had a late SC that closed everyone up. In 2024 the top 5 were covered by 56 seconds, in 2026 the top 5 were covered by 51 seconds. Winning gaps were 2.3 and 2.9 seconds respectively. Head back to the last major rule shift in engines in 2014 and the top 5 were spread by 47 seconds but the winning margin was 24 seconds.

Highly unscientific but hey.
 
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“There was an error that caught a lot of teams out, which was the harvest limit on the formation lap,” said Russell, who will start from pole again for the Sprint in Shanghai. “So, a very quirky rule. Every lap there's a harvest limit. The drivers who started in the first half of the grid, who were beyond the timing line, they were already within that lap. So when you did your formation lap start, you're spending your battery and you're charging your battery which goes towards your harvest limit.

“The drivers at the back, when they did their formation lap start, they then launch away, they cross the start-finish line and then it resets because they're effectively on the next lap.

“So from what we did in the practice starts, we did the launch before this line and it reset and on the race start, starting from pole, I went on the throttle, I charged the battery but it took like 50% of my harvest limit of that lap. So when I got halfway around the track, I could no longer charge the battery, and I had no power to do proper burnouts.

“The FIA were looking to potentially adjust that but as you can imagine, some teams who are making good starts didn't want it, which I think is just a little bit silly. I'm not overly concerned but it's definitely a challenge.”
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Tbf, that should be sorted out.
 
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Still early into the season, but damn... Mercedes really has a handle on the new regulations. George and Kimi are looking tough. 😮
 
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Jezza819
www.espn.com

F1 set to cancel Bahrain, Saudi Arabia races amid Iran war - sources

Formula 1 is set to cancel April's races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia due to the ongoing Iran war, sources confirmed to ESPN.
www.espn.com www.espn.com
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Sky Germany reported both will be canceled too.

sport.sky.de

Reaktion auf den Nahost-Konflikt! Zwei Formel 1-Rennen abgesagt

Die Rennen in Bahrain & Jeddah (Saudi-Arabien) sind abgesagt worden. Das gab die FIA am Samstagabend bekannt. Sky Sport hatte bereits am Freitag darüber berichtet.
sport.sky.de sport.sky.de
 
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Another exciting one! Best Sprint ever!

But what did those marshals do the whole time not getting that Audi away. Still time for F1 to pay own Marshals to bring to every race and not rely on 90 % unpaid locals.
 
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The new chassis design is a big improvement, they look better and can race. The Mercs can win at will, but at least the Ferraris can keep them honest until their tires wear. Once McLaren gets the same cheat code on the electrical software they look like the 3rd car.
 
That sprint race might be telling for the race tomorrow. People can call the overtakes "engineered" all they want, as far as I'm concerned, it was fun to watch IMO. The back and forth battle is definitely interesting.
The Mercs are fast but the Ferraris seem to be right there too. Russell might get all the poles, but winning is not quite a guarantee because he can be under pressure. Can't wait to see what the race brings us.
 
I will say it's actually a bit of a shame Red Bull still have a lot of work to do. This developing strategy where drivers need to pick the right time to overtake with the battery whilst making sure they can hold off an counter-attack would be big for Max. Plenty of times over the last few seasons, he demonstrated his ability to purposely sit in DRS detection zones or back-to-back sections of track where he could make the move stick & cancel out a counter-attack instead of immediately going for the overtake.
 
That was, by far, the best Sprint Race I've seen since its inception.

I'm still of the opinion that it needs something more like the return of Ultra and Hypersofts. Just make it a full-bore session with multiple quali-worthy laps, something to differentiate from its current "Well, it's an F1 race but with less points and is shorter."
 
Good sprint. Antonelli still showing his novice side unfortunately, counted no less than three major mistakes in that short running. Piastri should've been able to keep that position from the restart, even if it was technically against the rules. That was a bottleneck/accident asking to happen.
 
What did Leclerc say to the box during Hamilton's attacks? Couldn't understand it. Something about pace and "does he know..."?
 
Fezzik
Last year we had some of the closest qualification sessions in memory.
Now the top 10 are covered by 2.2 seconds.

Canadian Lol GIF
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The F1 I grew up with had big gaps like this. In 1998 the McLarens lapped the entire field in the first race.

I like seeing a team earn itself a big advantage
 
Uh oh, Merc PU/battery issues. Wonder if the car has actually been going full beans or isn't as full proof as maybe assumed.


Edit* Apologize for the double post.
 
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Late to the party, but I didn’t mind the Sprint Race. Good passing early on. Might be a good year for me coming back to F1 and V8 Supercars.
 

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