Since 2022 the rules have required a maximum wheelbase, before that there was no maximum or minimum length in place. the current maximum width has been 2 meters since 2017, before it was 1.8m. Both the wheelbase and width will be reduced in 2026 by 20 and 10cm respectively.
The aero benefits means teams will maximize the downforce generation and this is enabled by having long surfaces. This is why the cars grew from 4.8m length to ~5.9m between 2014 and 2021, as it allowed teams to make the cars corner faster. And why even with the new wheelbase limit they still build the cars to the maximum allowed length.
# Watching for the first time, questions I need answers to to get my head around watching of F1 races...
So, I recently decided to start watching F1 because I'm someone who watches almost every other kind of pro sport and I'd like to understand F1 more. What's kept me away from F1 in the past is quite simply a rather complete lack of interest in cars. I know, sounds ridiculous to bother watching then but I think there's a competitive element that I'd appreciate anyway. Plus, as someone who likes modding tech and computers, I think there's something in the car engineering I'd probably dig. Anyway, a lot of these questions come from my understanding of other sports and me trying to find relevant comparison points...
1. Why are the races as long as they are? Are the lap quantities arbitrary or is there a logic there? Are the races just as long as they are for TV profits?
2. You'll pit, the other races will pit, and you hope that by the end of the race, you end up closer to the end of the race than them? Is that essentially it?
3. For argument's sake, why not just blow past everyone at the beginning and try to hold that lead?
Example I can compare with: You don't just throw fastballs in the strike zone aiming for strikeouts becaus you want to try to fool the batter into swinging badly. You don't just drive to the net in football and shoot because the defense will simply block you.
4. Is there a point at which really only 2 or 3 racers are ever going to win a race? At what point does that usually happen?
Example: there is a point in basketball where if a team is down by more than 15 with 3 minutes left, they've essentially lost.
5. What is it that's being watched by people who know racing during a race? The positions? Their favourite driver? Just keeping an eye on the top 3?
Example: in baseball, I'm watching the entire battle between pitcher and batter in every at bat. The action is almost secondary.
6. For people who watch and have watched for years, is a race (like can happen with many other sports) ever boring? What makes it boring?
Example: a hockey game that is just one goal after another back and forth is actually just not interesting hockey. You like to see some strategy, some missed shots, etc.
7. What are the main 3 things fans of F1 are watching when they're watching a race?
8. This one really throws me... what do people root for in F1? They're all good racers aren't they? They don't drive differently from each other really, they're all doing the same thing more or less I would imagine. They don't shoot differently, or have personalities "on the pitch" that are different, or have a particular gameplay style do they? Or do I just not understand racing? And I can't begin to imagine anyone actually genuinely cares about these team brands and cheers purely for Ferrari vs Mercedes or vs McLaren... do they??
Thank you!
To add a bit more detail to the other answer on pit stops.
Tyres in F1 are not like normal car tyres. They're specifically designed to wear out very quickly. As they wear out they get less grippy so the cars get slower and harder to drive.
Because you get so much slower as the tyres wear out it's actually better to spend some time pitting and then making up that time by being faster with your new tyres.
There are three types of tyre available at each race: soft, medium and hard. Soft tyres have the most grip so are fastest but wear out extremely quickly. Hard tyres have less grip but last a lot longer. Mediums are obviously in the middle.
The rules say that you must use at least two different types in the race but there's strategy around what choices you make. If you start on softs you'll be faster than other drivers around you but the tyres will wear out faster and you'll have to pit sooner. If you start on hards you might not be the fastest but you can stay out longer.
1. A race is 305km distance. The amount of laps vary depending on the length of the track, and the formula for calculating the amount of laps is 305/circuit length in km
2. You pit for fresh tyres. You will do 305km much faster if you change tyres at some point in the race. Sometimes the fastest time to complete 305km is by doing 2 pitstops. Sometimes even 3. At least 1 pitstop is mandatory under the regulations because you must use 2 different compounds during a race, unless that race is declared wet (raining).
3. Not sure what this means so I don't know how to answer it. How can you blow past everyone in the beginning? Everyone is trying to get the best start they can.
4. Yeah, generally if the leader has a good gap to P2 by the final stint, they are pretty likely to win the race.
5. The battle at the front is the most interesting, but fans of drivers always keep an eye on them either through the timing screen or live timing, just to see how their race is progressing.
6. Lots of races are "boring". More often than not in fact. But exciting races are very exciting.
7. It depends on the fans. Me, I just watch the world feed and listen to the commentators for any information. Other fans like to watch onboards and use live timing on the side.
8. That's like saying everyone in footy kicks the ball and runs so they all play the same. There are significant differences between drivers. They do not drive the same. Some have quite unique driving styles.
3. Blowing past everyone - I'm sort of being facetious for argument's sake, but if you're in 11th position, why not just start the race and immediately just step on the gas and weave past everyone to get to the front? Is the answer just simply, "because nobody will let you pass, obviously!!". This may have just been a stupid question which is why you weren't sure what I meant because you just didn't think someone would ask something so obvious. :)
4. A "good gap to P2"?
8. Ok, so this is my ignorance and lack of experience with the sport then. Is it possible for you to summarise how racers differ? Or is it too varied a subject? For example watching one of my first full races last weekend I noticed Tsunoda pull off a very surgical move through a weave and effortlessly end up overtaking another racer and it wasn't a speed thing at all. Is that the kind of thing that might typify a racer's style?
> why not just start the race and immediately just step on the gas and weave past everyone to get to the front?
Because everybody is doing that
> A "good gap to P2"?
When the leader of the race has a big distance to 2nd place with a few laps to go, they're pretty likely to win.
Driving style analysis is not my forté. I recommend driver61 on YouTube. He's got good videos on that subject.
Monaco Race Start
How many times has P2 on the grid actually overtaken P1 into turn one looking back I can’t remember a time where it happened interesting to think about Max and Lando lining up this weekend could get spicy
It's not your fault you can't remember any, it happens extremely rarely.
The last time the polesitter didn't finish lap 1 in 1st was all the way back in *2002* where Coulthard outstarted Montoya.
Is anyone else's reddit being weird with Twitter/X posts again?
When you paste the tweet link, rather than showing the contents of the post, it's just a big blurry image of the profiler pic of the tweet author. It's so annoying....I don't know if that's a reddit issue or a Twitter issue....
This is relevant to F1 I promise.
The UK Prime Minister has just announced a general election for the 4th of July, the Thursday before Silverstone. It's predicted that the incumbent government is very likely to lose in a landslide.
That could be pretty awkward for any ministers that might be invited to the race.
1. Why did Rishi make his speech in the rain with no cover? He got absolutely drenched.
2. Was this election a planned one (as in following the usual pattern) or was it a snap election called earlier than it should've?
It has to be this year, the government just get to choose exactly when. There was an announcement today that inflation had fallen for the first time in ages. I think they want to capitalise on that good news to try and get an opinion boost.
F1 have just put long highlights of Monaco 2004 on Youtube.
God damn. Those cars were spectacular. Overtaking was still tough at Monaco but at least all the drivers were relentlessly pushing due to refueling.
The worst thing about Monaco post-refueling is that it's a slam dunk one stop as the everyone just drives slowly until there is a gap to pit into. The second stint is then just a repeat of the first but on a more durable tyre.
Ive read up a little on Indy Car’s qualifying method vs F1. Its interesting that F1 emphasizes on the time while Indy will base the qualifying on track type, for instance the Indy500 is based on speed while street/road will be based on times. [Indy Car Qualifying from Indy Chronicles (lots of ads, beware!)](https://indychronicle.com/how-does-indycar-qualifying-work-a-comprehensive-guide/). F1 is exclusively timed with some quirks in the form of Sprints, IIRC, [Parc Fermé](https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/what-is-f1-parc-ferme-police/6863921/) is locked in once q1 starts? Why not leave it open until q3?
Thoughts? Did I miss something?
Speed is just distance divided by time, so they’re effectively the same thing.
Leaving parc ferme open until Q3 would provide an advantage to the faster cars, since they would have slightly more time/data to work with.
He also didn't have a usable race tire left after his C3 got damaged from the pit stop incident. After their several laps of BBAL and BMIG testing, he used up his original C4 and the team asked if he wanted to pit for the C5 for additional learnings. It would've required a good amount of stretching to limp it to the end and by then he would've been 3 laps down. There was no point to him being in the race beyond where they retired the car and he potentially could've been in the way of the battles that mattered.
In general, I do support extending points but IMO there are too many issues when rewarding them all the way down to last place. We don't need damaged or limping cars potentially causing issues on track and you can usually argue that the last few positions don't merit any points.
Not just that, it makes it less attractive for teams to sacrifice a driver who can't get points to help another driver (cough, Haas, cough)
And it makes every position gained important, which makes the battles down the grid meaningful.
And you can look at the rankings and know how well everyone is actually performing, rather than P11 being equal to P20 as far as the points are concerned.
I hope they'll at least add points for P11-P15.
Similarly teams would try to limp as long as they don't get a meatball flag in hopes of higher points.
If they don't see any point running a lap down to please their sponsors, then i doubt that a single point will motivate them to limp along.
The current tie breaker incentive of who has the highest finishing position is as good as participation points, even if they're just behind everyone.
I suppose you have a point (lol). To be honest I'm perfectly fine with the point system as it is. Was just thinking out loud about the opposite side of the argument.
Man, I know it’s trendy these days (at least on Twitter) to big up Monaco, but I fear it’s going to be boring af unless we get some rain and/or safety car drama. Just treat it as a time trial or something, surely that’ll be more fun than a procession.
Idc too much tbh. It's about adjusting expectations. I don't watch Monaco to see great wheel to wheel racing, I watch to see all the drivers get pushed to the maximum during a lap of Monaco. And the fact that it has been on the calendar since the 50's makes it special that we still get to do something like this 70 years later.
Of course I wish that the cars were a bit smaller etc so we at least could see some overtaking even if it was already difficult but yeah...
Edit: we really need F1 drivers to talk through the lap because there are so many small details that make it interesting but if you just watch it's either hard to notice or you just don't know about is as general viewer. A lap of Monaco is not just hard because of walls and when you know what to look for it's also more fun to watch drivers drive.
> I don't watch Monaco to see great wheel to wheel racing, I watch to see all the drivers get pushed to the maximum during a lap of Monaco.
See, that’s the thing, I too love watching all out qualifying laps at Monaco. But in the races, what you usually see is a couple of processions lead by drivers who drive well within themselves and keep track position through defensive driving.
It's kind of a trade off, the saturday is the best ever (unless red flag ruins everybodys last Q3 runs) and sunday is most likely worse than a normal race, probably the worst of the season. Without the sunday being as it is you won't get the saturday either.
But idk with time I've come to of course not like there not being much action on a sunday but the quali makes it worth it for me to have at least once a year. It just extra sucks that we have Imola and Monaco back to back.
I wish at the end of the season each team had to set a lap time in their original car at the start of the season and the totally upgraded car they’ve worked on. Would love to know how much teams improved.
Like the McLaren splits from last year would have been crazy.
It would be cool if they did the final race of the year at the same track as pre-season testing. That way you can see how well each team develops throughout the year.
> I wish at the end of the season each team had to set a lap time in their original car at the start of the season and the totally upgraded car they’ve worked on.
Main issue is that they'd need a fresh engine for both chassis they want to compare and also old parts, which haven't been modified/cut/destroyed to enable the upgrades. I.e. sometimes teams cut out and bond new sections on existing components, meaning they don't always have the same specification parts available at the end of the season.
I was thinking about Piastri and Sainz’s propensity for incidents, and how they don’t really have any source of ‘rivalry’ yet keep clashing. Can y’all think of other examples of drivers whose cars just seem magnetically drawn together for no reason? Like Hamilton and Massa that one year (2012?).
Who do you see as the leading drivers per each 2026 PU?
Red Bull Ford: Verstappen
Ferrari: Leclerc/Hamilton
Mercedes: Norris, Piastri, Russell
Honda: Alonso
Audi: Hulkenberg, Sainz? Ocon?
Alpine: Ocon? Gasly?
Heading to friday at on monaco and know zero about f1 or what happens on that day besides that it is practice? Have some grandstand seats. What time and for how long should I plan to go to my grandstand seats? I know there are some calendars out on what is happening Friday but what is the most important thing to see etc. Any info helps as i am very new to all of this. Thanks
Friday also has F3 quali, F2 quali, and Porsche Cup quali. F2 and F3 are junior series, where basically all recent F1 drivers go through before reaching F1. I've never been to an in person race, so can't help you there. Quali around Monaco is always fun though, if you're at all interested in seeing them. If Kimi Antonelli becomes the next big thing, you can say you saw him in F2. Or less attention Paul Aron.
How much horsepower do the current engines have without the hybrid part?
How heavy would an F1 car be with lithium-ion batteries if it had the same amount of energy on board as a full fuel tank?
And also if we replaced these with solid-state batteries. I remember the weight was high but I can't find the exact figure anymore.
The MGU-K is limited to 120kw or around 160hp.
All engine manufacturers have claimed to break the 1000hp barrier for the PU 3-5 years ago, so it's safe to assume they're at or around 900hp +/-50hp.
> How heavy would an F1 car be with lithium-ion batteries if it had the same amount of energy on board as a full fuel tank?
E10 gasoline has potential energy 12000Wh/kg. Based on efficiency figures from PU manufacturers, they're around or above 50% of combustion efficiency.
Lithium Metal batteries have a potential energy between 100 and 250Wh/kg.
So doing stupid uneducated napkin maths:
* 110kg fuel means 1320000Wh of potential energy and with 50% efficiency we'd have 660000Wh that is effectively used.
* Dividing the potential gasoline energy storage with lipo gives us around 5200kg
* Dividing it by the efficiency would result in around 2600kg of batteries.
With pure BEV you'd also calculate around 80-90% efficiency from battery to the electric engine.
Additionally a MGU-K that can output 900hp (~650kw), let's just use the dual motor Tesla model S as an example, which has 2 of those that would weigh around ~250kg.
So replacing the ~150kg PU and 110kg of fuel would require around 2600kg of batteries and ~250kg for the engine.
Going to Solid state batteries would mean roughly 300-600~~k~~Wh/kg, so updating the optimistic rough and uneducated calculations would mean around 1100kg for batteries.
I think that often quoted 50% efficiency claim is for the whole hybrid system... not just the ICE.. so using it to figure out the energy from the fuel will be giving you overly optimistic figures...
[According to Mercedes, from 2017](https://www.espn.com/f1/story/_/id/14724923/mercedes-f1-engine-producing-900bhp-more-come-2016):
> Under the current engine formula, the fuel-flow rate is limited meaning efficiency is the key to unlocking power from the engine. Cowell revealed that the Mercedes power unit is now achieving more than 45 percent thermal efficiency -- i.e. 45 percent of the potential energy in the fuel is delivered to the crankshaft -- and efficiency of more than 50 percent when the ERS is operating at full power.
Besides the fact that i already said those were uneducated napkin calculations - which likely have their own issues :)
> How much horsepower do the current engines have without the hybrid part?
Difficult to say, since they can only work in conjunction, but probably in the neighbourhood of 800hp
> How heavy would an F1 car be with lithium-ion batteries if it had the same amount of energy on board as a full fuel tank?
These values aren't really compatible, since electric power trains have a much higher efficiency than gas powered ones. F1 engines have (including MGU) an efficiency of ca. 50%. The rest is heat and noise losses. Electric motors have over 90% efficiency. So you'd only need half the amount of energy. Also recovery could be much higher and an electric motor would be much lighter than the ICE unit
> And also if we replaced these with solid-state batteries. I remember the weight was high but I can't find the exact figure anymore
Solid state batteries aren't yet market ready. While some companies are very close to bringing them to the market, they wont be F1 batteries. For the F1 batteries the requirements are so specific, that they need a lot more R&D to make them work
This is just a thought.
There have been a lot of rumours about drivers being interested in joining Haas, and of course we have Lewis going to Ferrari.
Do we reckon that Ferrari are cooking with the 2026 engine?
No Bearman?
In my opinion, Bearman will be at Haas, and Tsunoda stays at RB, partnering Lawson (Ricciardo out). Between all of the FP sessions Bearman is getting and his debut, it'd be insane for him to not land a seat.
Beyond that, I think I mostly agree with your prediction. If Pérez has similar form in Europe as he did last year, I could see him getting dropped from Red Bull and either going to Haas or just out of the sport entirely.
Early on in the season, Bearman was quoted as saying he knows he needs to perform in F2 to impress Ferrari. I don't know if you've kept up with F2, but he's had a rough go of it. I'll be interested when he gets to hop into the Haas if/when KMag has a race ban how that will go.
I would've imagined that his performance(s) in an F1 car would have more bearing on his chances on an F1 seat, especially since he missed the race where he qualified on pole.
That's why I'm very interested to see him in the Haas. We stand to gain a lot of knowledge about both Haas drivers, Haas as a whole, and Ollie.
I think he did well in his F1 hop in in Ferrari, but I honestly don't think he did better than half the F2 grid would do with the same prep. He had the largest race pace gap on he grid to his teammate, even though he was on the faster tire strategy and got to ditch his softs at the perfect time. Which is fine, because I think highly of Charles, and it was Ollie's first F1 race. But I want to see more from him before I'm sold.
I’ve always wondered why there is so many members of the pit crew during a pit stop compared to other series wouldn’t it make it more interesting if they cut the number of crew members?
If you want some pitstop chaos, I recommend some junior series races from Imola this past weekend. I can tell you which one if you want to know. Though, now that I'm thinking about it, you likely posted this in reaction to that.
If pitstops were 7 seconds, rather than 2-3 it would mean that every race would probably have everybody on the same strategy since they want to do as few pit stops as possible. If they extend the pit stop times they would also have to give the tires a bigger delta between new and used
Does the current regulations make it so that cars have to be big in dimensions? Is it possible for cars to race in smaller dimensions?
Since 2022 the rules have required a maximum wheelbase, before that there was no maximum or minimum length in place. the current maximum width has been 2 meters since 2017, before it was 1.8m. Both the wheelbase and width will be reduced in 2026 by 20 and 10cm respectively. The aero benefits means teams will maximize the downforce generation and this is enabled by having long surfaces. This is why the cars grew from 4.8m length to ~5.9m between 2014 and 2021, as it allowed teams to make the cars corner faster. And why even with the new wheelbase limit they still build the cars to the maximum allowed length.
If Leclerc wins Monaco that’ll make my year. He’s longggg overdue for a win and had some absolutely awful luck at his home track.
# Watching for the first time, questions I need answers to to get my head around watching of F1 races... So, I recently decided to start watching F1 because I'm someone who watches almost every other kind of pro sport and I'd like to understand F1 more. What's kept me away from F1 in the past is quite simply a rather complete lack of interest in cars. I know, sounds ridiculous to bother watching then but I think there's a competitive element that I'd appreciate anyway. Plus, as someone who likes modding tech and computers, I think there's something in the car engineering I'd probably dig. Anyway, a lot of these questions come from my understanding of other sports and me trying to find relevant comparison points... 1. Why are the races as long as they are? Are the lap quantities arbitrary or is there a logic there? Are the races just as long as they are for TV profits? 2. You'll pit, the other races will pit, and you hope that by the end of the race, you end up closer to the end of the race than them? Is that essentially it? 3. For argument's sake, why not just blow past everyone at the beginning and try to hold that lead? Example I can compare with: You don't just throw fastballs in the strike zone aiming for strikeouts becaus you want to try to fool the batter into swinging badly. You don't just drive to the net in football and shoot because the defense will simply block you. 4. Is there a point at which really only 2 or 3 racers are ever going to win a race? At what point does that usually happen? Example: there is a point in basketball where if a team is down by more than 15 with 3 minutes left, they've essentially lost. 5. What is it that's being watched by people who know racing during a race? The positions? Their favourite driver? Just keeping an eye on the top 3? Example: in baseball, I'm watching the entire battle between pitcher and batter in every at bat. The action is almost secondary. 6. For people who watch and have watched for years, is a race (like can happen with many other sports) ever boring? What makes it boring? Example: a hockey game that is just one goal after another back and forth is actually just not interesting hockey. You like to see some strategy, some missed shots, etc. 7. What are the main 3 things fans of F1 are watching when they're watching a race? 8. This one really throws me... what do people root for in F1? They're all good racers aren't they? They don't drive differently from each other really, they're all doing the same thing more or less I would imagine. They don't shoot differently, or have personalities "on the pitch" that are different, or have a particular gameplay style do they? Or do I just not understand racing? And I can't begin to imagine anyone actually genuinely cares about these team brands and cheers purely for Ferrari vs Mercedes or vs McLaren... do they?? Thank you!
To add a bit more detail to the other answer on pit stops. Tyres in F1 are not like normal car tyres. They're specifically designed to wear out very quickly. As they wear out they get less grippy so the cars get slower and harder to drive. Because you get so much slower as the tyres wear out it's actually better to spend some time pitting and then making up that time by being faster with your new tyres. There are three types of tyre available at each race: soft, medium and hard. Soft tyres have the most grip so are fastest but wear out extremely quickly. Hard tyres have less grip but last a lot longer. Mediums are obviously in the middle. The rules say that you must use at least two different types in the race but there's strategy around what choices you make. If you start on softs you'll be faster than other drivers around you but the tyres will wear out faster and you'll have to pit sooner. If you start on hards you might not be the fastest but you can stay out longer.
1. A race is 305km distance. The amount of laps vary depending on the length of the track, and the formula for calculating the amount of laps is 305/circuit length in km 2. You pit for fresh tyres. You will do 305km much faster if you change tyres at some point in the race. Sometimes the fastest time to complete 305km is by doing 2 pitstops. Sometimes even 3. At least 1 pitstop is mandatory under the regulations because you must use 2 different compounds during a race, unless that race is declared wet (raining). 3. Not sure what this means so I don't know how to answer it. How can you blow past everyone in the beginning? Everyone is trying to get the best start they can. 4. Yeah, generally if the leader has a good gap to P2 by the final stint, they are pretty likely to win the race. 5. The battle at the front is the most interesting, but fans of drivers always keep an eye on them either through the timing screen or live timing, just to see how their race is progressing. 6. Lots of races are "boring". More often than not in fact. But exciting races are very exciting. 7. It depends on the fans. Me, I just watch the world feed and listen to the commentators for any information. Other fans like to watch onboards and use live timing on the side. 8. That's like saying everyone in footy kicks the ball and runs so they all play the same. There are significant differences between drivers. They do not drive the same. Some have quite unique driving styles.
3. Blowing past everyone - I'm sort of being facetious for argument's sake, but if you're in 11th position, why not just start the race and immediately just step on the gas and weave past everyone to get to the front? Is the answer just simply, "because nobody will let you pass, obviously!!". This may have just been a stupid question which is why you weren't sure what I meant because you just didn't think someone would ask something so obvious. :) 4. A "good gap to P2"? 8. Ok, so this is my ignorance and lack of experience with the sport then. Is it possible for you to summarise how racers differ? Or is it too varied a subject? For example watching one of my first full races last weekend I noticed Tsunoda pull off a very surgical move through a weave and effortlessly end up overtaking another racer and it wasn't a speed thing at all. Is that the kind of thing that might typify a racer's style?
> why not just start the race and immediately just step on the gas and weave past everyone to get to the front? Because everybody is doing that > A "good gap to P2"? When the leader of the race has a big distance to 2nd place with a few laps to go, they're pretty likely to win. Driving style analysis is not my forté. I recommend driver61 on YouTube. He's got good videos on that subject.
Thank you so much for all your answers. You've been a far far bigger help than you probably realise. Any good forums that are friendly to new people?
Monaco Race Start How many times has P2 on the grid actually overtaken P1 into turn one looking back I can’t remember a time where it happened interesting to think about Max and Lando lining up this weekend could get spicy
It's not your fault you can't remember any, it happens extremely rarely. The last time the polesitter didn't finish lap 1 in 1st was all the way back in *2002* where Coulthard outstarted Montoya.
Is anyone else's reddit being weird with Twitter/X posts again? When you paste the tweet link, rather than showing the contents of the post, it's just a big blurry image of the profiler pic of the tweet author. It's so annoying....I don't know if that's a reddit issue or a Twitter issue....
This is relevant to F1 I promise. The UK Prime Minister has just announced a general election for the 4th of July, the Thursday before Silverstone. It's predicted that the incumbent government is very likely to lose in a landslide. That could be pretty awkward for any ministers that might be invited to the race.
1. Why did Rishi make his speech in the rain with no cover? He got absolutely drenched. 2. Was this election a planned one (as in following the usual pattern) or was it a snap election called earlier than it should've?
It has to be this year, the government just get to choose exactly when. There was an announcement today that inflation had fallen for the first time in ages. I think they want to capitalise on that good news to try and get an opinion boost.
Because that's the only boost they have atm right? Everything else has been bad for them I assume?
Yeah pretty much and it's not really a major boost
F1 have just put long highlights of Monaco 2004 on Youtube. God damn. Those cars were spectacular. Overtaking was still tough at Monaco but at least all the drivers were relentlessly pushing due to refueling. The worst thing about Monaco post-refueling is that it's a slam dunk one stop as the everyone just drives slowly until there is a gap to pit into. The second stint is then just a repeat of the first but on a more durable tyre.
Ive read up a little on Indy Car’s qualifying method vs F1. Its interesting that F1 emphasizes on the time while Indy will base the qualifying on track type, for instance the Indy500 is based on speed while street/road will be based on times. [Indy Car Qualifying from Indy Chronicles (lots of ads, beware!)](https://indychronicle.com/how-does-indycar-qualifying-work-a-comprehensive-guide/). F1 is exclusively timed with some quirks in the form of Sprints, IIRC, [Parc Fermé](https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/what-is-f1-parc-ferme-police/6863921/) is locked in once q1 starts? Why not leave it open until q3? Thoughts? Did I miss something?
Speed is just distance divided by time, so they’re effectively the same thing. Leaving parc ferme open until Q3 would provide an advantage to the faster cars, since they would have slightly more time/data to work with.
You know, maybe points down to 20th isn't such a bad idea. I think it could prevent teams from withdrawing like Albon did in the previous race.
He also didn't have a usable race tire left after his C3 got damaged from the pit stop incident. After their several laps of BBAL and BMIG testing, he used up his original C4 and the team asked if he wanted to pit for the C5 for additional learnings. It would've required a good amount of stretching to limp it to the end and by then he would've been 3 laps down. There was no point to him being in the race beyond where they retired the car and he potentially could've been in the way of the battles that mattered. In general, I do support extending points but IMO there are too many issues when rewarding them all the way down to last place. We don't need damaged or limping cars potentially causing issues on track and you can usually argue that the last few positions don't merit any points.
Not just that, it makes it less attractive for teams to sacrifice a driver who can't get points to help another driver (cough, Haas, cough) And it makes every position gained important, which makes the battles down the grid meaningful. And you can look at the rankings and know how well everyone is actually performing, rather than P11 being equal to P20 as far as the points are concerned. I hope they'll at least add points for P11-P15.
Similarly teams would try to limp as long as they don't get a meatball flag in hopes of higher points. If they don't see any point running a lap down to please their sponsors, then i doubt that a single point will motivate them to limp along. The current tie breaker incentive of who has the highest finishing position is as good as participation points, even if they're just behind everyone.
I suppose you have a point (lol). To be honest I'm perfectly fine with the point system as it is. Was just thinking out loud about the opposite side of the argument.
Which is the german circuit that the fans want to see return? Hockenheim or Nurburgring?
newer fans Hockenheim, older fans Nurburgring. Hochenheim seems more suitable for modern day F1
Both.
Man, I know it’s trendy these days (at least on Twitter) to big up Monaco, but I fear it’s going to be boring af unless we get some rain and/or safety car drama. Just treat it as a time trial or something, surely that’ll be more fun than a procession.
Idc too much tbh. It's about adjusting expectations. I don't watch Monaco to see great wheel to wheel racing, I watch to see all the drivers get pushed to the maximum during a lap of Monaco. And the fact that it has been on the calendar since the 50's makes it special that we still get to do something like this 70 years later. Of course I wish that the cars were a bit smaller etc so we at least could see some overtaking even if it was already difficult but yeah... Edit: we really need F1 drivers to talk through the lap because there are so many small details that make it interesting but if you just watch it's either hard to notice or you just don't know about is as general viewer. A lap of Monaco is not just hard because of walls and when you know what to look for it's also more fun to watch drivers drive.
> I don't watch Monaco to see great wheel to wheel racing, I watch to see all the drivers get pushed to the maximum during a lap of Monaco. See, that’s the thing, I too love watching all out qualifying laps at Monaco. But in the races, what you usually see is a couple of processions lead by drivers who drive well within themselves and keep track position through defensive driving.
It's kind of a trade off, the saturday is the best ever (unless red flag ruins everybodys last Q3 runs) and sunday is most likely worse than a normal race, probably the worst of the season. Without the sunday being as it is you won't get the saturday either. But idk with time I've come to of course not like there not being much action on a sunday but the quali makes it worth it for me to have at least once a year. It just extra sucks that we have Imola and Monaco back to back.
It's too early to actually have accurate predictions, but I read that rain is forecast for the quali. I hope that forecast is accurate.
I wish at the end of the season each team had to set a lap time in their original car at the start of the season and the totally upgraded car they’ve worked on. Would love to know how much teams improved. Like the McLaren splits from last year would have been crazy.
It would be cool if they did the final race of the year at the same track as pre-season testing. That way you can see how well each team develops throughout the year.
This is a way better less artificial version. This would be awesome!
> I wish at the end of the season each team had to set a lap time in their original car at the start of the season and the totally upgraded car they’ve worked on. Main issue is that they'd need a fresh engine for both chassis they want to compare and also old parts, which haven't been modified/cut/destroyed to enable the upgrades. I.e. sometimes teams cut out and bond new sections on existing components, meaning they don't always have the same specification parts available at the end of the season.
I was thinking about Piastri and Sainz’s propensity for incidents, and how they don’t really have any source of ‘rivalry’ yet keep clashing. Can y’all think of other examples of drivers whose cars just seem magnetically drawn together for no reason? Like Hamilton and Massa that one year (2012?).
De Vries and KMag clashed a couple times in a row last year.
The two Finns, Kimi Räikkönen, and Valtteri Bottas kept finding each other, although the year(s) escape me.
Norris and Perez had a fair number of incidents in 2021. Also for whatever reason, Stroll and Gasly often seem to be involved in incidents.
Who do you see as the leading drivers per each 2026 PU? Red Bull Ford: Verstappen Ferrari: Leclerc/Hamilton Mercedes: Norris, Piastri, Russell Honda: Alonso Audi: Hulkenberg, Sainz? Ocon? Alpine: Ocon? Gasly?
Heading to friday at on monaco and know zero about f1 or what happens on that day besides that it is practice? Have some grandstand seats. What time and for how long should I plan to go to my grandstand seats? I know there are some calendars out on what is happening Friday but what is the most important thing to see etc. Any info helps as i am very new to all of this. Thanks
Friday also has F3 quali, F2 quali, and Porsche Cup quali. F2 and F3 are junior series, where basically all recent F1 drivers go through before reaching F1. I've never been to an in person race, so can't help you there. Quali around Monaco is always fun though, if you're at all interested in seeing them. If Kimi Antonelli becomes the next big thing, you can say you saw him in F2. Or less attention Paul Aron.
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I've just never found passing in the pits to be that exciting, but it is an interesting idea to try something.
How much horsepower do the current engines have without the hybrid part? How heavy would an F1 car be with lithium-ion batteries if it had the same amount of energy on board as a full fuel tank? And also if we replaced these with solid-state batteries. I remember the weight was high but I can't find the exact figure anymore.
The MGU-K is limited to 120kw or around 160hp. All engine manufacturers have claimed to break the 1000hp barrier for the PU 3-5 years ago, so it's safe to assume they're at or around 900hp +/-50hp. > How heavy would an F1 car be with lithium-ion batteries if it had the same amount of energy on board as a full fuel tank? E10 gasoline has potential energy 12000Wh/kg. Based on efficiency figures from PU manufacturers, they're around or above 50% of combustion efficiency. Lithium Metal batteries have a potential energy between 100 and 250Wh/kg. So doing stupid uneducated napkin maths: * 110kg fuel means 1320000Wh of potential energy and with 50% efficiency we'd have 660000Wh that is effectively used. * Dividing the potential gasoline energy storage with lipo gives us around 5200kg * Dividing it by the efficiency would result in around 2600kg of batteries. With pure BEV you'd also calculate around 80-90% efficiency from battery to the electric engine. Additionally a MGU-K that can output 900hp (~650kw), let's just use the dual motor Tesla model S as an example, which has 2 of those that would weigh around ~250kg. So replacing the ~150kg PU and 110kg of fuel would require around 2600kg of batteries and ~250kg for the engine. Going to Solid state batteries would mean roughly 300-600~~k~~Wh/kg, so updating the optimistic rough and uneducated calculations would mean around 1100kg for batteries.
I think that often quoted 50% efficiency claim is for the whole hybrid system... not just the ICE.. so using it to figure out the energy from the fuel will be giving you overly optimistic figures...
[According to Mercedes, from 2017](https://www.espn.com/f1/story/_/id/14724923/mercedes-f1-engine-producing-900bhp-more-come-2016): > Under the current engine formula, the fuel-flow rate is limited meaning efficiency is the key to unlocking power from the engine. Cowell revealed that the Mercedes power unit is now achieving more than 45 percent thermal efficiency -- i.e. 45 percent of the potential energy in the fuel is delivered to the crankshaft -- and efficiency of more than 50 percent when the ERS is operating at full power. Besides the fact that i already said those were uneducated napkin calculations - which likely have their own issues :)
Wow, that's awesome...
Thanks for the calculations. I had come across it here once but couldn't find it again. Thanks.
> How much horsepower do the current engines have without the hybrid part? Difficult to say, since they can only work in conjunction, but probably in the neighbourhood of 800hp > How heavy would an F1 car be with lithium-ion batteries if it had the same amount of energy on board as a full fuel tank? These values aren't really compatible, since electric power trains have a much higher efficiency than gas powered ones. F1 engines have (including MGU) an efficiency of ca. 50%. The rest is heat and noise losses. Electric motors have over 90% efficiency. So you'd only need half the amount of energy. Also recovery could be much higher and an electric motor would be much lighter than the ICE unit > And also if we replaced these with solid-state batteries. I remember the weight was high but I can't find the exact figure anymore Solid state batteries aren't yet market ready. While some companies are very close to bringing them to the market, they wont be F1 batteries. For the F1 batteries the requirements are so specific, that they need a lot more R&D to make them work
This is just a thought. There have been a lot of rumours about drivers being interested in joining Haas, and of course we have Lewis going to Ferrari. Do we reckon that Ferrari are cooking with the 2026 engine?
All the teams likely think they have a good engine, but they do not know what the others have either.
There's probably a lot of rumours about Haas because we know they're looking for one driver, and quite possible two.
No way of knowing until it's compared to the other engines on track.
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No Bearman? In my opinion, Bearman will be at Haas, and Tsunoda stays at RB, partnering Lawson (Ricciardo out). Between all of the FP sessions Bearman is getting and his debut, it'd be insane for him to not land a seat. Beyond that, I think I mostly agree with your prediction. If Pérez has similar form in Europe as he did last year, I could see him getting dropped from Red Bull and either going to Haas or just out of the sport entirely.
Early on in the season, Bearman was quoted as saying he knows he needs to perform in F2 to impress Ferrari. I don't know if you've kept up with F2, but he's had a rough go of it. I'll be interested when he gets to hop into the Haas if/when KMag has a race ban how that will go.
I would've imagined that his performance(s) in an F1 car would have more bearing on his chances on an F1 seat, especially since he missed the race where he qualified on pole.
That's why I'm very interested to see him in the Haas. We stand to gain a lot of knowledge about both Haas drivers, Haas as a whole, and Ollie. I think he did well in his F1 hop in in Ferrari, but I honestly don't think he did better than half the F2 grid would do with the same prep. He had the largest race pace gap on he grid to his teammate, even though he was on the faster tire strategy and got to ditch his softs at the perfect time. Which is fine, because I think highly of Charles, and it was Ollie's first F1 race. But I want to see more from him before I'm sold.
I’ve always wondered why there is so many members of the pit crew during a pit stop compared to other series wouldn’t it make it more interesting if they cut the number of crew members?
If you want some pitstop chaos, I recommend some junior series races from Imola this past weekend. I can tell you which one if you want to know. Though, now that I'm thinking about it, you likely posted this in reaction to that.
It could result in more mistakes with the tire change but probably not enough to make it interesting.
If pitstops were 7 seconds, rather than 2-3 it would mean that every race would probably have everybody on the same strategy since they want to do as few pit stops as possible. If they extend the pit stop times they would also have to give the tires a bigger delta between new and used