Sports: Formula One - Page 4

Nashe · #61 Posted **Mar 6, 2026, 11:10 AM**

Bahrain and Saudi Arabia are gonna be no-shows, at least. The other 3 are much later in the season, so you never know. I could see them being a target if they don't move...
Heck, Mercedes and McLaren were having trouble getting everything OUT of the Middle East to get to Melbourne, last I heard. Along with Pirelli. It's gonna be a messy year, in a lot of ways.

Coldrsx · #62 Posted **Mar 7, 2026, 10:23 PM**

Qually basically what we expected and man o man Isack looks good.

Max from the back tonight will be interesting and should make for some good action.

Nashe · #63 Posted **Mar 8, 2026, 1:08 AM**

Mercedes ability to engineer themselves past everyone else when the landscape changes is impressive. They've done it before, too.

I don't think Max will win, (I think it might be a double-Mercedes if Kimi can hold it together), but if anyone can get into the top 8 from 20th, it's Max.

Hadjar, Lindblad look good. And where did Audi come from? Is that Bortoleto's best quali?

I can't wait!

Coldrsx · #64 Posted **Mar 8, 2026, 3:43 PM**

So it's a 1, maybe 2 team field this year by the looks of it and once again Ferrari strategy sucks.

Felt bad for Isack.

A fun start, but then it settled in.

Mercedes is leaps and bounds ahead though.

Max did what he could, but it's clear that they are on pace and fighting McLaren.

Well done rookie and nice to see Audi be competitive.

WarrenC12 · #65 Posted **Mar 9, 2026, 10:13 PM**

Lindblad looks amazing compared to most of last year's rookies. Funny how it took a whole year to find out Hadjar was the one for the #2 seat at Red Bull. Oscar missing out on his home race was tough.

Calgarian · #66 Posted **Mar 10, 2026, 4:33 PM**

It's kinda crazy that Aston Martin are having this big of a problem with their Honda engine, you would think that an engine manufacturer that's been around F1 for this long would deliver a solid product. Was good to see Stroll finish the race at least!

Coldrsx · #67 Posted **Mar 11, 2026, 1:21 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Calgarian

It's kinda crazy that Aston Martin are having this big of a problem with their Honda engine, you would think that an engine manufacturer that's been around F1 for this long would deliver a solid product. Was good to see Stroll finish the race at least!

Have you seen most of their cars over the last 10-15 years? I kid... sorta.

You just have to look back to the McLaren Honda reboot and how poorly prepared Honda was.

Honda of the 80s/90s was a very different group.

Even the HRC group is a shadow of its former self and lost a lot of folks during the on again/off again fun.

CanSpice · #68 Posted **Mar 12, 2026, 4:54 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Calgarian

It's kinda crazy that Aston Martin are having this big of a problem with their Honda engine, you would think that an engine manufacturer that's been around F1 for this long would deliver a solid product. Was good to see Stroll finish the race at least!

They left F1 in 2021 and then decided to come back a couple of years later. When they did this a lot of the team that was together in 2021 went off to work on other things, and the team that reformed in 2023 isn't the same. And in 2021 and 2022 the other PU teams kept innovating in an environment that didn't have any budget caps, but when Honda came back in 2023 there was a budget cap that they (and everybody else) had to work under.

This article goes into it in more detail, including this surprising block:

Quote:

An explanation for Honda's shortcomings, perhaps, but one that was followed by a far more shocking claim. Asked if Aston Martin was aware of the extent of Honda's brain drain between 2021 and 2023, Newey added: "No, we weren't.

"We only really became aware of it in November of last year when Lawrence [Stroll, team owner], Andy Cowell [former team principal and now chief strategy officer] and myself went to Tokyo to discuss rumours starting to suggest that their original target power they wouldn't achieve for race one.

"Out of that came the fact that many of the original workforce had not returned when they restarted. So, no is the answer."

Calgarian · #69 Posted **Mar 12, 2026, 7:17 PM**

Honda did build the Red Bull power unit from 2019 to 2025 and helped win 4 championships, so I think it was fair that AM expected a decent amount of people to stick around and not have to start over from scratch.

CanSpice · #70 Posted **Mar 12, 2026, 9:20 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Calgarian

Honda did build the Red Bull power unit from 2019 to 2025 and helped win 4 championships, so I think it was fair that AM expected a decent amount of people to stick around and not have to start over from scratch.

Yeah, and the article touches on that:

Quote:

As part of that decision, Honda agreed to continue to supply Red Bull with engines until the end of 2025 but only under an FIA-mandated freeze on development for all manufacturers. With no commitment to F1 beyond 2025, Honda's power unit team disbanded to work in other parts of the company or, if they so wished, other industries.

Honda's later interactions with Aston Martin and Newey may have been influenced by "saving face" where Honda may have been reluctant to say how far they'd dropped behind. I have coworkers who've worked with Japanese companies and they say it's a relatively big part of the business relationship. Aston Martin may not have realized because Honda may not have told them, or weren't entirely clear.

Calgarian · #71 Posted **Mar 12, 2026, 9:36 PM**

Well the question will be whether AM drop Honda as the engine supplier and go back to Mercedes. Are they even allowed to change engine manufacturer mid season?

Coldrsx · #72 Posted **Mar 15, 2026, 7:18 PM**

Congrats to our young superstar.

McLaren not having a good day/year.

Great to see some mid-fielders showing promise.

Aston is improving.

samne · #73 Posted **Mar 15, 2026, 10:40 PM**

Really happy with the results today. Love to see Kimi with his first win. Merc 1-2. Lewis getting his first podium in red.

The Lewis/LeClerc was awesome.

Great day.

Nashe · #74 Posted **Mar 15, 2026, 10:56 PM**

AM might be improving, but the increment is small. Did you see those clips of Alonso releasing the wheel and shaking his hands to get feeling back into them on the straights? Yikes.

Very happy for Kimi. And I'm very conflicted about these new "boosts"... it's giving some good action but I can't ignore that it DOES seem even more "artificial" than the old DRS system. I think adding battery management to the pile of things a drive has to worry about while navigating at that speed is... a lot to ask.

Coldrsx · #75 Posted **Mar 16, 2026, 1:23 PM**

It's clear to me that this is going to lead to some rule changes ASAP as it is leading to some poor 'racing' overall given the discrepancies, even though it's entertaining in a lot of ways.

Calgarian · #76 Posted **Mar 16, 2026, 7:26 PM**

Verstappen's argument that this makes it kinda like Mario Kart is pretty valid, it's entertaining to see the back and forth, but it does seem to take away a bit from the pure skill of guys like max.

Poor AM, the issues with the motor are crazy, them battling it out with Cadillac (who I'm actually impressed with as a year 1 team) for the bottom are very sad, hoped Fernando would get a shot at a podium with Newey in charge...

Nashe · #77 Posted **Mar 26, 2026, 3:33 PM**

Predictions?

Calgarian · #78 Posted **May 25, 2026, 4:45 PM**

Anyone attend the race over the weekend? looked quite chilly, wonder if they regret bumping the race up a month.

Nashe · #79 Posted **May 25, 2026, 5:02 PM**

Great race!

savevp · #80 Posted **May 25, 2026, 5:37 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Calgarian

Anyone attend the race over the weekend? looked quite chilly, wonder if they regret bumping the race up a month.

Any Canadian could have told the organisers what a terrible idea this was. They're lucky it was only 14 and drizzling, could have been 10 and pouring (as it was in Toronto on the Saturday).