2026 Australian Grand Prix

superchuck500

superchuck500

racin' deal
Joined
May 30, 2017
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Charleston, SC
Race weekend schedule (Eastern):

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This race’s bullet:

 
Good thing the FOM protected us from having to watch an incompetent squad like Cadillac for so long in favor of the Big Brains in charge of teams like Williams and Aston Martin. /s
 
I’m not sure this racing in F2 is necessarily good, but it sure is entertaining. If the new F1 regs are as dreadful as feared I might just spend my time on that.
 
virtualbalboa said:
Good thing the FOM protected us from having to watch an incompetent squad like Cadillac for so long in favor of the Big Brains in charge of teams like Williams and Aston Martin. /s
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To be fair, their stonewalling got GM to sign on board and throw more brand power and marketing might behind the effort, received more than double the anti-dilution fee they initially requested, and got Michael Andretti to quit pestering everybody in the paddock. So I think they won just as much?
 
Colton Herta’s weekend thru the Sprint Race:

Wrecked in practice, qualified midpack, dumped a guy, and finished 16th. Hoping for a better showing in the Feature tomorrow night.
 
A few shockers in qualifying. Max crashes out without setting a time. Racing Bulls both top 10, and Hadjar in P3. Williams implodes.

Max' crash was odd because there was no smoke from the lock up. The car spun before the tires lit up. It just looked odd. It's going to be fun to watch him come forward.


 
These YouTube videos won't embed, but if you click on them, they will take you to the YouTube video.

Check out Kimi's big FP3 crash. Amazing they got it all back together in time for q.


 
Watching cars get out of the throttle to recharge batteries is a thing. I guess we'll find out just how many fans are primarily interested in F1 for the technical/engineering challenge.
 
Once the newness wears off, the cars will become bunched more closely and hopefully we will get some good racing. Everything is new and nothing is dialed in, so we are in an awkward peroid with four top teams and everyone else. Audi is good and will definitely get better, and absolutely Aston isn't done yet either. It will get more competitive. I can't imagine William will not get better. We just have to be patient.

As far as all the charge/recharge thing, we're just going to have to eat it until we go all electric.
 
You might wonder why only 20 cars are shown in the results, but that's because Max crashed before setting a time and Stroll never left the pits because of an "engine problem."

Max's crash was a surprise, but how long has it been since he biffed one on his own? It wasn't even that bad, but it put him out of Q1. A top 10 should be easy, and maybe even a podium is possible. After all, it's Max.

Stroll's problem is another sign of just how deep Aston is buried, and I mean deep. It's so bad that absolutely no one figured it would go that way. We'll see if Stroll gets to start (he never beat 107%), and we'll see how Alonso has to bail before the engine or gearbox gives up. Interesting stories, but you really gotta feel for them.

The big surprise of Kimi's crash was how quickly they screwed the car back together and got into second. Kimi really wadded it up, but they got it repaired in time. Exceptional effort.
 
virtualbalboa said:
Watching cars get out of the throttle to recharge batteries is a thing. I guess we'll find out just how many fans are primarily interested in F1 for the technical/engineering challenge.
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The worst part is when they’re still full throttle on the straight and the car goes into the “super clipping” and the speed just falls off a cliff before they even get to the braking zone. Consensus so far seems to be the chassis and aero regs are okay, but the near 50/50 split between the ICE and electric component was a horrible miscalculation - and one that most everybody else spent literally three years warning about.
 
Doc Austin said:
Once the newness wears off, the cars will become bunched more closely and hopefully we will get some good racing. Everything is new and nothing is dialed in, so we are in an awkward peroid with four top teams and everyone else. Audi is good and will definitely get better, and absolutely Aston isn't done yet either. It will get more competitive. I can't imagine William will not get better. We just have to be patient.

As far as all the charge/recharge thing, we're just going to have to eat it until we go all electric.
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Mercedes just seem to be so far ahead of everyone. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s 2014 all over again, the key difference being no intrateam rivalry and competition because Antonelli just isn’t ready for the moment yet.
 
FLRacingFan said:
...... but the near 50/50 split between the ICE and electric component was a horrible miscalculation - and one that most everybody else spent literally three years warning about.
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I don't fully understand how it works, but it seems simple solution for the FIA to adjust (lower) the deployment rate to eliminate clipping. Sure, it will be less power, but it might eliminate that and we won't have the cars crapping out before the braking zones. I can live with the cars being a little slower, and they are going to get faster anyway. If it works like Lipos in RC planes, you never want to run the batter that low anyway or you could damage it. Reducing stress on the battery can only help.

So far, a medium sized failure. They just need to make a few adjustments to the rules.
 
FLRacingFan said:
The worst part is when they’re still full throttle on the straight and the car goes into the “super clipping” and the speed just falls off a cliff before they even get to the braking zone. Consensus so far seems to be the chassis and aero regs are okay, but the near 50/50 split between the ICE and electric component was a horrible miscalculation - and one that most everybody else spent literally three years warning about.
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The question is can they make any changes to the rules that can't be vetoed by Mercedes?
It wouldn't have been a horrible miscalculation if front-axle regeneration had been allowed but the manufacturers didn't want it. Changes will have to come for 2027 or Max won't be on the grid next year imo.
 
I wonder if it will be possible to get any You-tube highlights a few days after each race.

I am not going to post/complain about it every week, but I am not going to do the Apple subscription. I will be following by tracking the races via scoring, reports, and by the post race highlights if avaliable.
 
Greg said:
I wonder if it will be possible to get any You-tube highlights a few days after each race.
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Probably, The F1 channel on YouTube already has qualifying highlights up.
Greg said:
I am not going to post/complain about it every week, but I am not going to do the Apple subscription. I will be following by tracking the races via scoring, reports, and by the post race highlights if available.
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Actually, there's enough on the it's almost better to stay current that way and watch the highlight package on the YouTube F1 channel. There's enough F1 stuff on the Microsoft started page to keep you current along with Planet F1.
 
Doc Austin said:
Probably, The F1 channel on YouTube already has qualifying highlights up.

Actually, there's enough on the it's almost better to stay current that way and watch the highlight package on the YouTube F1 channel. There's enough F1 stuff on the Microsoft started page to keep you current along with Planet F1.
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Thanks for the info.
 
Piastri won’t even make it to the grid. Apparently he’s carried over his form from the closing stretch of last season.

 
Max has had a lot more reason to push throughout the race than George, but having the fastest lap and two of the three quickest sectors is pretty promising. Red Bull and Ford might have a decent package if Hadjar’s retirement isn’t indicative of a larger reliability problem.
 
Get That 88 Up There !! said:
Good to know Ferrari strategy is as dumb as ever
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Count on Ferrari strategists to turn a potentially compelling fight for the win into a Merc runaway. How do you not split the strategy? Until they finally shore that up I’m highly skeptical of their ability to really make this a championship battle.
 
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