re: 2026 Formula 1 (F1) Season Thread

The cautions after stages need to go. I will say it’s nice to have no idea who’s gonna win.

quote:

---

I'd bet one trip to lets say, Singapore, cancels out all the sustainability they gain from their bullshite in a year.

---

quote:

---

It's a click bait goal. F1 is sustainable but none of the teams are.

All the manufacturers are pushing for the BS goals so they can cross r&d with sponsorship.

---

Umm, let's break it down here. This is how I see it:

1. I think we all agree that F1 in total, in the foreseeable future of course will never be "sustainable" and will never have a "zero carbon footprint" and all that.

2. F1 is a technology series and the engine manufacturers use it to develop relevant future technologies. (Recently Honda even threatened to leave IndyCar if they didn't adopt a hybrid engine.) The hybrid PU makes a lot of sense from their point-of-view, especially since with street cars EV demand is softening and hybrids are growing. For example, Honda only sells cars with hybrid powertrains in Europe.

3. The 2026 F1 rules are really pushing the technology and right now it's a mess. But I can see why the engine manufacturers want to push the electric side of the hybrid equation. This is an attempt at a step forward.

4. Using F1 for the development of sustainable fuels is great news. If they can develop fuels that are sustainable, affordable, and greatly reduce carbon emissions (which they will), there are those within F1 who think we could get back to pure ICE PUs in F1. I think the engine manufacturers have to see sustainable fuels as a practical future for street cars before this can happen.

Ultimately, I don't think F1 can actually save ICE for street cars. The only reason we cling to ICE is the convenience and speed of refueling. EVs use far fewer parts and provide great performance. Once they solve the battery problem (cost, weight, speed of re-charging, infrastructure), ICE will go away. It feels like its decades away, but there could be a true leap in battery technology at any time. Since the Tesla Model S came out in 2012, I've been waiting for this great leap, and I'm surprised there's hardly been any improvement so far. Solid state batteries appear to be the next thing, but I don't think that's the technology that's going to kill ICE.

quote:

---

is the kangaroo going to be okay?

---

Honestly Australians are probably relieved, one less kangaroo. Kangaroos are assholes and anyone from Oz would agree.

There’s a reason they aggressively hunt them.

Speaking of the environment, I always wonder how much rubber and how many microplastics end up in the Mediterranean each year due to the race in Monaco.

Saw that Red Bull’s chief designer quit the team this week.
Seems odd.

I still can’t wrap my head around this whole start procedure thing and having to rev for 10+ seconds “to spool the turbo”

Maybe I never understood how the MGU-H worked previously.

They used to have electric motors on the turbo that could recover power and help keep the turbo spooled before?

Now the big arse battery is powering what exactly?

quote:

---

MGU-H was just using heat sink to electricity. They were crazy complicated. But made F1 engines the most efficient engine ever made.

---

And by heat, we just mean “spent exhaust gasses spinning the turbo and generating electricity” right?

Crazy that they would get away from that technology in this formula with even more electricity required.
Especially considering Mercedes and Porsche are now using it in their road cars.

These cars are now just turbo hybrids, not much different than my truck.

Still doesn’t explain why they need to rev for 10-20 seconds to spool the turbo.
Seems more like they’re charging the battery by revving.

quote:

---

still can’t wrap my head around this whole start procedure thing and having to rev for 10+ seconds “to spool the turbo”

---

I heard that the cars will be burning more fuel this year to keep the electric system working,

Per Peter Windsor

Yeah, I think that probably adds up. They’ve taken away the “free” way they were harvesting energy. No telling what the difference in fuel now.

Anyone know if nascar lost MPG when they switched to Ethanol if they did in fact switch fuel types within the last decade?

Right, I remember you mentioned that before. An even harder concept to wrap my head around.

Just heard the comment on a podcast talking about Honda’s engine saying how difficult it might be for them, Aramco has never made a synthetic fuel before, valvoline hasn’t made F1 oil in a long time and Honda didn’t come up with their own compression ratio trick.