Formula 1 Qatar Airways Australian Grand Prix 2026Formula 1 

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Jimlaad43

Jimlaad43

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A new era of Formula 1 begins as we get the first change in Engine regulations since 2014 and a whole heap of further aerodynamic changes to deal with the new 50/50 IC and Electric engines, to reduce car size and weight, and to remove the problems caused by the previous ground effect era. There are 22 cars on the grid for the first time since 2016 as Andretti Cadillac joins the grid, while shakeups elsewhere see Sauber entering German-manufacturer-part-3 era as a complete takeover as the factory Audi team. Aston Martin use the once-again returning Honda engines ("use" is an optimistic word going on testing). Alpine ditch the engines of parent company Renault to become a Mercedes customer along with Williams, McLaren and obviously Mercedes. Ferrari supply Toyota Gazoo Racing Haas and the aforementioned Andrettillac. Stability in the drivers lineup sees only one driver changing teams (Hadjar to Red Bull), one rookie joining the grid (Lindblad at Racing Bulls) and the new team bringing in midfield maestros and 2nd-placed in the Driver's Championship at one point (Bottas and Perez). DRS is gone and replaced with Overtake Boost mode as the overtaking aid, not Straight Mode which looks the same but is operational for all drivers on all laps (except lap 1, they did at least notice that rule oversight and fix it in time). The new season will likely take a bit for everyone to get used to, but the cars look trickier to drive from testing (not necessarily as a detriment to the "show") and the smaller dimensions should help while the new power units are likely to have a bit of a reliability lottery and bigger performance gaps. Melbourne is therefore quite a fun track to start with, as the long straights and fast corners won't allow for as much electric regeneration as they have been used to in Barcelona and Bahrain. Perhaps those drivers with some Formula E experience (Gasly and Albon) may have a bit of a jump on the others? The main sponsor may be unfortunate collateral in current affairs but travel chaos is looking to be avoided fingers crossed. Ah well, it's a new season, so let's get excited for the AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX!
1772496941094.webp

Circuit Length
5.278km

First Grand Prix
1996

Number of Laps
58

Fastest lap time
1:19.813 Charles Leclerc (2024)

Race Distance
306.124km

 
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It's... amusing, I suppose, that it's been 10 years since we had 22 cars on the grid & there are rumors that Aston Martin will only do the formation lap, and immediately retire both cars due to parts shortage.
 
I hope it’s going to be a tight race, merc and McLaren will have some more to come from engine side after unloading the sandbags. Ferrari on the other side seems to have a good reliable engine as well which is also very optimised for the starting procedure. That could shake things up at the start. And you never know what max will be able to deliver
 
McLaren
It's... amusing, I suppose, that it's been 10 years since we had 22 cars on the grid & there are rumors that Aston Martin will only do the formation lap, and immediately retire both cars due to parts shortage.
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I don't believe for one second Aston Martin will do that, seems to be a rumour that came from a less than credible source and gained traction. They're having some issues sure, but to willingly abandon ship after the formation lap? Yeah that doesn't sound like something Newey would be happy with. If they have made some temporary fixes or tweaks or whatever Honda/AMR need to do, they will need/want as many laps of data as they can possibly get.
 
Will it take more than the first race to see if I'm into that mess? I doubt it.

Have fun watching anyway!
 
I have quite a few reasons/questions for looking forward to the start of this season. Normally, I don't stay up to watch the Australian GP because it's broadcast in the middle of the night where I am. But I have questions about the quality of the racing we will get under those regulations that I have to stay up and watch it all. So I do not plan to miss a session.
 
MagpieRacer
I don't believe for one second Aston Martin will do that, seems to be a rumour that came from a less than credible source and gained traction. They're having some issues sure, but to willingly abandon ship after the formation lap? Yeah that doesn't sound like something Newey would be happy with. If they have made some temporary fixes or tweaks or whatever Honda/AMR need to do, they will need/want as many laps of data as they can possibly get.
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I agree, if anything they will use it for 116 laps of testing.
 
renegade an
I agree, if anything they will use it for 116 laps of testing.
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Parts are limited and if the vibrations are indeed that hard on the batteries, i dont see the car lasting for that long even if they want to. Lets see if they get a quick fix after the testing issues, sounded like deeper problems according to Newey. Its all speculation until the race begins.
 
Breaking down a few laps into the first race of a new set of regulations is significantly less embarrassing than not starting the race. There isn't even a guarantee they'll be the first car to retire due to non-crash related reasons. We have to remember at the 2014 Australian Grand Prix that on laps 2 and 3 respectively both Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel stopped their cars for reliability reasons.
 
Nothing concrete will be apparent for three races but Russell looks good this year. Hamilton could have a lovely swansong if Ferrari continue as they have started but I'd love for Leclerc to get some days in the sunshine.
 
MagpieRacer
I don't believe for one second Aston Martin will do that, seems to be a rumour that came from a less than credible source and gained traction. They're having some issues sure, but to willingly abandon ship after the formation lap? Yeah that doesn't sound like something Newey would be happy with. If they have made some temporary fixes or tweaks or whatever Honda/AMR need to do, they will need/want as many laps of data as they can possibly get.
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Newey sounds... less than confident.

 
Northstar
Newey sounds... less than confident.

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Alonso probably should have retired once he heard "Honda engine".

Also, Bottas has a 5 place grid penalty for an incident from 2024 that never got applied, so he will likely start last.
 
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I'll be on the ground again at Albert Park to witness this new era of F1. There are soo many unknowns from soo many standpoints that we really can't say for sure what will occur. Of course, I know damn well what the fans would like to see happen but whether it actually will is another story. Aside from Piastri, I will be paying close attention to Carlos Sainz because I see him as an outside podium threat. I'm also excited to see what Audi can pull off as they've gone all in on the F1 project with their own engine and chassis. No matter how you see it, there will be many storylines, trials and tribulations to talk about. Maybe more than ever.
 
sillybilly
Extreme vibrations?? problems with drivers fingers??? really, this is early April fools click bait slow news day fantasies ?

I mean if this is legit then just wow.
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Sadly true, they're Neweys words.
 
I think they'll work out a fix, and then it'll be like a light switch, they'll fix the vibration issues, work out the reliability kink from that, and then they will genuinely go from being plum last no hopers to being at the front.
 
MagpieRacer
I think they'll work out a fix, and then it'll be like a light switch, they'll fix the vibration issues, work out the reliability kink from that, and then they will genuinely go from being plum last no hopers to being at the front.
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Yeah no way. There doesn’t seem to be an easy fix according to themselves and even after that, an engine with rumoured of being up to 80 horsepower behind the rest doesn’t just go to the front.
Honda basically dismantled the old team when they announced to leave and have a whole new team working on such a complex engine.

It’s not simple reliability issues they have
 
psychoazubi
Yeah no way. There doesn’t seem to be an easy fix according to themselves and even after that, an engine with rumoured of being up to 80 horsepower behind the rest doesn’t just go to the front.
Honda basically dismantled the old team when they announced to leave and have a whole new team working on such a complex engine.

It’s not simple reliability issues they have
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What we have at the moment is hearsay, lots of conflicting reports, we know there's a vibration issue and we know there's a packaging issue. Horsepower figures are guesses and rumours unless there's an official document somewhere stating them. Until they sort the reliability out then we won't know the relative pace or performance of the engine compared to others.

It's almost exactly the issue they had with McLaren in 2017 or 2018, I forget which, when they made steps forward, then repackaged the engine into a tighter package and mucked up the reliability. Yes it's a different team to the Red Bull Honda team, however, there will still be plenty of crossover as F1 engineers are F1 engineers and they won't have started the new program with amateurs.

They've recovered before and they will do it again, it may not be this season, but they will sort it and I expect them to launch forward up to or very close to the front when they do.
 
MagpieRacer
What we have at the moment is hearsay, lots of conflicting reports, we know there's a vibration issue and we know there's a packaging issue. Horsepower figures are guesses and rumours unless there's an official document somewhere stating them. Until they sort the reliability out then we won't know the relative pace or performance of the engine compared to others.

It's almost exactly the issue they had with McLaren in 2017 or 2018, I forget which, when they made steps forward, then repackaged the engine into a tighter package and mucked up the reliability. Yes it's a different team to the Red Bull Honda team, however, there will still be plenty of crossover as F1 engineers are F1 engineers and they won't have started the new program with amateurs.

They've recovered before and they will do it again, it may not be this season, but they will sort it and I expect them to launch forward up to or very close to the front when they do.
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Strolls comments point to a big lack of power, but only one way to find out and that’s gonna be on track in the next days.

I agree that they might eventually make it to the top, but in your previous post it sounded like it’s a matter of races. I dont see it happening before 2028.

They currently have no idea if the chassis is any good with lack of speed and data, which makes the development even more complicated.
 
Blitz24
Alonso probably should have retired once he heard "Honda engine".

Also, Bottas has a 5 place grid penalty for an incident from 2024 that never got applied, so he will likely start last.
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I just read on F1 website that Bottas' penalty is now void because according to article B2.5.4, he won't have to serve them because they were imposed before the 12 months time limit.

Didn't think the situation was that bad at Aston. Vibration so bad they will cause nerve damage to the driver's fingers...feel free to correct me if I'm wrong as I'm not that mechanically inclined, if the vibrations are affecting the drivers fingers, that would mean they feeling them in the steering wheel, and if so, would that have to do with suspensions?
 
AshenGraey
I just read on F1 website that Bottas' penalty is now void because according to article B2.5.4, he won't have to serve them because they were imposed before the 12 months time limit.

Didn't think the situation was that bad at Aston. Vibration so bad they will cause nerve damage to the driver's fingers...feel free to correct me if I'm wrong as I'm not that mechanically inclined, if the vibrations are affecting the drivers fingers, that would mean they feeling them in the steering wheel, and if so, would that have to do with suspensions?
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The vibrations are coming from the engine, which is mounted to a very stiff carbon fibre chassis, so it has nothing to do with the suspenion. In the past, MGU-H was able to dampen that mostly so it wasnt an issue, but with that gone, there are other measures necessary to avoid them. 5 out of 6 manufacturers managed to do that.
 
Since it is almost a given that the Astons will be early departures this race, I wonder how many more races they will have to retire early from? Is this partially due to the surface at Albert Park?
 
Blitz24
Since it is almost a given that the Astons will be early departures this race, I wonder how many more races they will have to retire early from? Is this partially due to the surface at Albert Park?
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Good question, shareholders and sponsors won't like it if it's more than 2.
 
In recent interviews, they said a fix won't happen "before Suzuka" - which is the 3rd race of the season
 
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