re: 2026 Formula 1 (F1) Season Thread

Apple TV is actually cheaper than what a lot of us were paying for F1TV and now we get the sky sports broadcast. We are getting a lot more content now, sadly we are watching a product that missed on the new motors. I like the new cars and the new aero. The new motors suck though

They are allowing them a higher power unit recharge rate this week.

“The recharge rate has been raised for this track because its layout will offer more opportunities for drivers to recharge their power units. Brake supplier Brembo estimates drivers will spend over 16 seconds on average per lap braking, giving them a chance to generate energy, which is more than twice as much as in Melbourne.“

16 seconds of braking a lap seems high but I have no idea what it was last year.

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Some of the tracks are still bad because of not enough time in heavy braking zones for energy recovery.

I found this list of "most effiecient" tracks for energy recovery based on the ratio of time braking and time accelerating:

Monaco
Singapore
Mexico City
Baku
Hungaroring
Interlagos
Bahrain
COTA
China
Zandvoort
Circuit Gille Villeneuve
Miami
Las Vegas
Barcelona
Red Bull Ring
Yas Marina
SIlverstone
Spa
Qatar
Suzuka
Monza
Melbourne
Jeddah


Melbourne is one of the worst tracks. China is much better and they will be able to recover full energy each lap.

I was also paying for ESPN

I’m not now

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I was also paying for ESPN

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So you had stand alone ESPN app (and no longer due) solely for F1 and didn't watch anything else huh? Yeah, ok

And you said Apple is cheaper than you were paying for F1TV, which I just showed was inaccurate

I told you I was saving money this year since I don’t have to pay for F1 and ESPN anymore

Prediction lists will be locked in 2 hours!

FP1 in 3 hours!

Apple claiming more than 1.1m viewers....

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In an exclusive given to The Hollywood Reporter, Apple claims that their first broadcast of Formula 1 eclipsed what ESPN was able to draw on linear television a year ago. However, in continuing their total lack of transparency when it comes to their sports rights, they provide no data to actually back that claim up with numbers.

ESPN drew 1.1 million viewers for the Australian Grand Prix last year. Could Apple really top that? It’s a highly dubious claim.

Apple TV+ has an estimated 45 million subscribers. Cue has claimed there are more, but again he and Apple refused to say just how many. But that’s a global number. The American number that could access the race is estimated all the way down at 18.7 million subs.

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But Apple being opaque with sports viewership numbers is nothing new. For the vast majority of the tech giant’s tenure with Major League Soccer, they have refused to give out real data regarding viewership numbers. MLS and Apple have slowly started to selectively release some numbers, but they are all ones that are PR-friendly even though feelings are mixed about the success of that arrangement.

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LINK

Predictions for the Chinese GP are now locked!

Look at everyone's race predictions here: dg42.net/TDF1/race-prediction.php

FP1 in one hour!

This is also a sprint weekend. Only one free practice then straight to sprint qualy, then sprint, then qualy, then main race.

Geezus, Osama Bin Russell is so easy to dislike...

bbc.com/sport/formula1/articles/cz6ezxyq359o

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Ferrari benefited because their engine has a different design than those of other manufacturers and is easier to get off the line.

Russell said: "The FIA was looking to potentially adjust that but as you can imagine some teams who were making good starts didn't want it, which I think is just a little bit silly.

"The FIA did just want to make our life easier and just remove this harvest limit, but people have selfish views and they want to do what's best for themselves."

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