Initial word from some drivers and teams is that this new set of regulations isn't great. But does that mean we spectators will get more mostly boring races? I guess we'll have to see for...
Bahrain testing was Formula 1 2026 finally beginning to showcase itself to the world at large (tentatively) after the attempted secrecy of 'shakedown week', and like everyone else I was curious to see how these all-new cars would perform under the glare of TV cameras and the Bahrain lights.
I'm not on the ground in Sakhir like my colleagues Jon Noble, Edd Straw, Scott Mitchell-Malm and Samarth Kanal, so in actual fact the onboard video of the fastest lap of day one, by Lando Norris's McLaren, put out on YouTube by Formula One Management, was my first properly considered interaction with F1's new cars.
And I'm sorry to say the impression it left me with was deeply, deeply underwhelming.
Initial word from some drivers and teams is that this new set of regulations isn't great. But does that mean we spectators will get more mostly boring races? I guess we'll have to see for ourselves.
As a reminder, Pre-Season Testing Week 2 starts Wednesday. And unlike last week, this should be fully open to watch, at least on F1TV.
As someone said to me last week, "I want to watch motor-racing (<3 Masi) and not a parade of who can get the best mileage from their multimillion euro Prius. I love the engineering and development...
As someone said to me last week, "I want to watch motor-racing (<3 Masi) and not a parade of who can get the best mileage from their multimillion euro Prius.
I love the engineering and development side of things; it's absolutely fascinating! Having said that, I still want to see some of the best drivers in the world performing incredible feats of physics. I worry we're going to be subject to 2 or 3 years of a keyboard battle of which software engineers get the programming correct because drivers are now just passengers more than ever.
Prediction- It will be like every major rule change on the past 20-30 years. One or two teams will get it right and have a huge advantage for two years. Every other team will slowly close the gap over the next few years. Some drivers will adapt to the new style better than others. And when we finally have incredible racing, it will be time for the next major rule change.
Luckily, there's a sorta WEC-style "BoP" thing that maybe could help in case one two teams takes off: ADUO Source But I imagine that'll only help so much. If a team get an additional upgrade,...
Luckily, there's a sorta WEC-style "BoP" thing that maybe could help in case one two teams takes off: ADUO
Regarding the ICE, the FIA has introduced a safety net, the so-called ADUO system, which stands for Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities. After three periods of six races each (1–6, 7–12, 13–18), the governing body will assess the overall power balance.
Manufacturers that are between 2% and 4% down on the best ICE in terms of pure power will be allowed one additional upgrade. Manufacturers that are more than 4% behind receive two upgrade opportunities.
It’s intended to prevent a repeat of 2014 – when Mercedes’ dominance was locked in for years – and according to Rushbrook is a good thing for the sport.
F1 has always been in a strange tug-of-war between driver challenge, engineering innovation, and team costs. There's never been a time when the balance was right, in my opinion. It used to be that...
F1 has always been in a strange tug-of-war between driver challenge, engineering innovation, and team costs.
There's never been a time when the balance was right, in my opinion. It used to be that championship points, and therefore prize money, was only awarded down to 6th place (simplified), so most teams actively lost money (until 2002, then awarded down to 8th and now 10th).
It was fine for so long because car development was relatively cheap. But owing to the push of engineering, cars got faster and more costly to develop, risking the death of the sport as it became less viable for a new team to overcome the barrier to entry.
Plus there's the safety aspect - we've long decided (since Clark, Senna and Bianchi) that deaths in F1 aren't acceptable. Drivers understandably want to be challenged to go faster, but that comes with an increased risk of injury.
So the FIA is in a battle it can never win. Slower cars are healthy for the sport in terms of competitiveness and safety, but worse for drivers and spectators who want to see fast, exciting action.
I do wonder how much speed really matters. Like yeah, people say they want speed. But can most spectators detect the difference very very very very fast and very very very fast? If this year's...
I do wonder how much speed really matters. Like yeah, people say they want speed. But can most spectators detect the difference very very very very fast and very very very fast? If this year's car, at least at the start, are 15-20mph lower than the end of last season, when the regs were the most mature, do people notice that? Without them actually seeing the speeds on screen or on a timing tower, I have some doubts.
Instead, I wonder if on-track action is really the barometer. Overtakes, daring late brakings, wheel to wheel rubbing-is-racing racing...maybe even crashes (provided the drivers walk away ofc). Like Max and Red Bull were just running away with it in 2023, often tens of seconds ahead of P2 in multiple races. And people thought that was boring. Even as a Max/RB fan, I'd agree.
Idk, I'm just kinda thinking out loud I guess. You're 100% right there are multiple directions the sport is being pulled in, often in different direction.
I agree, objective speed doesn't matter much. 90s F1 "feels" faster, even though it isn't, because the camera tech back then made things shakier and the cars didn't have the same downforce levels,...
I agree, objective speed doesn't matter much. 90s F1 "feels" faster, even though it isn't, because the camera tech back then made things shakier and the cars didn't have the same downforce levels, so the cars appear harder to handle.
In many ways, IndyCar more or less gives what many F1 fans seems to want in that regard, but in reality the whole off-track drama and tech development is always a very integral part of F1 that makes it very different from closer to spec type of series.
I agree with your premise, but I can promise that announcers and commentators on the various video feeds will absolutely whine at every single track where a record is not being scratched or...
I agree with your premise, but I can promise that announcers and commentators on the various video feeds will absolutely whine at every single track where a record is not being scratched or broken. Just ... that's how it's been since I began watching in 2010. Always!
I'd agree with that, I think fans will sympathetic to slightly slower cars if the benefit is having small, nimble cars that can follow closely and produce great racing.
I'd agree with that, I think fans will sympathetic to slightly slower cars if the benefit is having small, nimble cars that can follow closely and produce great racing.
I hadn't heard about this guy. He does look like a heavy hitter. The Darwinism of it all is fascinating. When a team gets successful, it gets pulled back into the pack by all the other teams...
I hadn't heard about this guy. He does look like a heavy hitter. The Darwinism of it all is fascinating. When a team gets successful, it gets pulled back into the pack by all the other teams picking off talent bit by bit. A really great self-managing mechanism. I'm really looking forward to the racing starting and all of this hype- and scandal-building to be put to rest (ha, I wish!).
The complaints following the switch to hybrid were strong and numerous. Same goes for the halo. Change and innovations are a part of F1. Of course things will be rocky. This is part of why I, and...
The complaints following the switch to hybrid were strong and numerous. Same goes for the halo. Change and innovations are a part of F1. Of course things will be rocky. This is part of why I, and many others I’d imagine, watch the sport.
Initial word from some drivers and teams is that this new set of regulations isn't great. But does that mean we spectators will get more mostly boring races? I guess we'll have to see for ourselves.
As a reminder, Pre-Season Testing Week 2 starts Wednesday. And unlike last week, this should be fully open to watch, at least on F1TV.
Pre-Season Testing 2026 - Sakhir
Bahrain International Circuit
February 11-13 & 18-20, 2026
And the first race is less than three weeks away!
Australian Grand Prix
Albert Park Circuit
March 5-7, 2026
As someone said to me last week, "I want to watch motor-racing (<3 Masi) and not a parade of who can get the best mileage from their multimillion euro Prius.
I love the engineering and development side of things; it's absolutely fascinating! Having said that, I still want to see some of the best drivers in the world performing incredible feats of physics. I worry we're going to be subject to 2 or 3 years of a keyboard battle of which software engineers get the programming correct because drivers are now just passengers more than ever.
Prediction- It will be like every major rule change on the past 20-30 years. One or two teams will get it right and have a huge advantage for two years. Every other team will slowly close the gap over the next few years. Some drivers will adapt to the new style better than others. And when we finally have incredible racing, it will be time for the next major rule change.
Luckily, there's a sorta WEC-style "BoP" thing that maybe could help in case one two teams takes off: ADUO
Source
But I imagine that'll only help so much. If a team get an additional upgrade, they're still playing catch-up. So yeah, I agree with your prediction!
F1 has always been in a strange tug-of-war between driver challenge, engineering innovation, and team costs.
There's never been a time when the balance was right, in my opinion. It used to be that championship points, and therefore prize money, was only awarded down to 6th place (simplified), so most teams actively lost money (until 2002, then awarded down to 8th and now 10th).
It was fine for so long because car development was relatively cheap. But owing to the push of engineering, cars got faster and more costly to develop, risking the death of the sport as it became less viable for a new team to overcome the barrier to entry.
Plus there's the safety aspect - we've long decided (since Clark, Senna and Bianchi) that deaths in F1 aren't acceptable. Drivers understandably want to be challenged to go faster, but that comes with an increased risk of injury.
So the FIA is in a battle it can never win. Slower cars are healthy for the sport in terms of competitiveness and safety, but worse for drivers and spectators who want to see fast, exciting action.
I do wonder how much speed really matters. Like yeah, people say they want speed. But can most spectators detect the difference very very very very fast and very very very fast? If this year's car, at least at the start, are 15-20mph lower than the end of last season, when the regs were the most mature, do people notice that? Without them actually seeing the speeds on screen or on a timing tower, I have some doubts.
Instead, I wonder if on-track action is really the barometer. Overtakes, daring late brakings, wheel to wheel rubbing-is-racing racing...maybe even crashes (provided the drivers walk away ofc). Like Max and Red Bull were just running away with it in 2023, often tens of seconds ahead of P2 in multiple races. And people thought that was boring. Even as a Max/RB fan, I'd agree.
Idk, I'm just kinda thinking out loud I guess. You're 100% right there are multiple directions the sport is being pulled in, often in different direction.
I agree, objective speed doesn't matter much. 90s F1 "feels" faster, even though it isn't, because the camera tech back then made things shakier and the cars didn't have the same downforce levels, so the cars appear harder to handle.
In many ways, IndyCar more or less gives what many F1 fans seems to want in that regard, but in reality the whole off-track drama and tech development is always a very integral part of F1 that makes it very different from closer to spec type of series.
I agree with your premise, but I can promise that announcers and commentators on the various video feeds will absolutely whine at every single track where a record is not being scratched or broken. Just ... that's how it's been since I began watching in 2010. Always!
I'd agree with that, I think fans will sympathetic to slightly slower cars if the benefit is having small, nimble cars that can follow closely and produce great racing.
just a theory, but I wonder if Skinner left Red Bull to join Newey. Not a lot of names left to move away.
...Alonso for WDC next year? 👀
Lance WDC with Nando in second using his tricks to hold everybody back :)
Heads would collectively explode...Which might make tickets to races cheaper!
I hadn't heard about this guy. He does look like a heavy hitter. The Darwinism of it all is fascinating. When a team gets successful, it gets pulled back into the pack by all the other teams picking off talent bit by bit. A really great self-managing mechanism. I'm really looking forward to the racing starting and all of this hype- and scandal-building to be put to rest (ha, I wish!).
The complaints following the switch to hybrid were strong and numerous. Same goes for the halo. Change and innovations are a part of F1. Of course things will be rocky. This is part of why I, and many others I’d imagine, watch the sport.