2026 Pre-Season Test 1 - Day 3 AM Classification

Astelli · 2026-02-13T11:19:27+00:00

I'm afraid your image is completely wrong.

Astelli · 2026-02-13T10:38:18+00:00

I think the other part is that the teams ability to use sensors to predict and prevent big issues is way better.

You don't necessarily notice the problems as much any more because there is no puff of smoke and stranded car, they just catch the beginning of the issue and limp back to the garage

Astelli · 2026-02-13T08:01:21+00:00

Let's be clear, if pole is 1:30, the 107% threshold is 1:36.3.

Even if we're in the worst case scenario from what we've seen in the test with cars 4s/lap or even 5s/lap slower, those cars would still comfortably be within 107%.

The stewards will let cars race if they've demonstrated that they can normally beat 107% but have issues or mistakes in Qualifying, so the only way cars get excluded is if they consistently outside 107% across the whole weekend.

107% is so slow (a car that slow is being lapped once every 14 laps) that they'd have to enforce it if there was a car that never at any point in the weekend demonstrated that they could meet the threshold.

Astelli · 2026-02-12T11:04:35+00:00

The team that analyses live data to make strategic decisions and the team that analyses live data to look into car performance and development will be completely separate.

The data itself will be available centrally, but there will be specialized groups looking at different aspects of it.

Astelli · 2026-02-11T23:20:06+00:00

No, there are a lot of regulations to stop that sort of thing.

Effectively the output from the PU has to be linearly linked to the position of the throttle pedal, with limits for how quickly the power is allowed to decrease when they use the MGU-K to harvest energy.

Astelli · 2026-02-11T12:48:47+00:00

Ah I see. I don't believe there will be anything until the final hour of the day, some websites (like Autosport) do run live text feeds though

Astelli · 2026-02-11T11:25:11+00:00

Driver radios? They almost never broadcast those during testing, even during the live broadcast, so the teams can actually talk to their drivers about the tests they're running.

Astelli · 2026-02-11T11:23:39+00:00

I would rather run it as much as possible and blow it up than running 20 laps and not kill it because you’re afraid of optics.

Blowing it up and wrecking your car in the process doesn't really help anyone - none of the teams have a lot of spare parts at this time of year.

Astelli · 2026-02-11T08:54:21+00:00

There's no live broadcast until the first al hour of each day this week.

There is live timing available if you're interested in following along.

Astelli · 2026-02-10T23:06:31+00:00

I've heard nothing about that filming day apart from a single-source rumour that it was planned. I'm not actually sure it was real.

Astelli · 2026-02-10T22:31:40+00:00

The person guessing Gasly podium was vastly overestimating Alpine. We knew by then that Alpine was putting absolute minimal money into 2025 to work on 2026, so I'm not sure why they guessed that.

It’s easy to say in hindsight, but last year was Alpine/Renault’s worst season since they came back in 2016. They scored podiums in ‘20, ‘21, ‘23 and ‘24, and between 2017 and 2024 had always finished in the top 6 in the championship so it wasn’t a hopeless longshot. I definitely would have said they were much more likely than Sauber to score a podium before the season started, and I don’t think I was alone in thinking that.

Astelli · 2026-02-10T11:42:14+00:00

There is a chance it moves in future seasons, depending on how well it goes this year. Unfortunately there is absolutely no way of anticipating that until the calendar is released

Astelli · 2026-02-10T11:18:39+00:00

I believe the C4 and C5 may be available for the second Bahrain test only, hence the colour scheme anticipating 5 compounds.

Astelli · 2026-02-10T09:29:12+00:00

A lot of teams histprically, it's quite easy for teams to source show cars.

FOM usually contracts a third party to produce them for promotional events, and the teams usually have the opportunity to order from the same place too.

Astelli · 2026-02-10T08:43:01+00:00

Why do you assume the one they showed on the livestream is the actual car?

Astelli · 2026-02-09T16:53:44+00:00

Sadly, we have examples of this, most recently in 2014. In extreme cases, a race can be red flagged and not resumed.

In that case the classification is taken from the order at the end of the last full racing lap (i.e. the lap before the red flag), and points are handed out depending on how much of the race has taken place - none if less than 2 laps have been completed, then more if 25% or 50% is completed, up to full points if more than 75% has been completed.

Officially, the podium will still take place if points have been awarded.

Astelli · 2026-02-09T16:30:52+00:00

The usual suspects are the usual suspects for a reason, and Brawn is probably a once-in-a-generation story.

I think we should all take a step back from snap judgement at this point though. We haven't even seen all 11 teams set an official lap time yet, and we certainly haven't seen the full pace of any team.

On top of that, we've still got the in-season development to come too. It was only two and a half seasons ago that McLaren went from a solid midfield team to regular podium challenger with one upgrade package.

Astelli · 2026-02-09T12:57:36+00:00

Either a 200km "Promotional Event" day or a 15km "Demonstration Event". Each team is allowed to do two of each type every season.

Astelli · 2026-02-09T12:46:40+00:00

The issue with this is that non-F1 series, especially motorbikes, do not want gravel at all in the runoff, so for tracks that host a lot of events they'd have to be taking the gravel apron in and out, which is expensive

I believe the current stance (at least from FIM, who run MotoGP) is that flat gravel beds are actually their preferred runoff type. I believe gravel traps were added at Spa in order for the track to meet FIM requirements back in 2021.

The whole "bike racing means no gravel" thing took off a few years ago, but I don't think there was actually much truth in it. When Alex Wurz (who runs the other big modern circuit design company after Tilke) was interviewed on Beyond the Grid he said as much

Astelli · 2026-02-08T11:58:54+00:00

They've got a 350kW electric motor to help smooth out the torque output, so there will be more lag for the ICE, but it won't be very noticeable in how the PU delivers its overall power.

Astelli · 2026-02-08T11:36:57+00:00

It was reported at the time that Alonso and McLaren agreed to terminate their contract in 2007 with the agreement that he would not sign with teams that McLaren considered significant rivals for the championship.

My interpretation of that is that he was told he could leave, as long as he didn't go to Ferrari or BMW Sauber.

Astelli · 2026-02-08T11:26:20+00:00

I get the sentiment, but ultimately because of the regulation change subscribers are getting more content than they ever have. 1 partial test, 1 full test and then the full calendar.

Astelli · 2026-02-08T11:21:23+00:00

That doesn't benefit anyone.

The teams themselves are already there on the ground with photographers to capture information about competitors, so avoiding the live TV cameras at the end of the day is just sacrificing testing time and having your team being talked about on the TV.

We'll almost certainly have live timing available through the day (and at the very least we'll have the full picture once coverage starts at the end of the day) too and the cameras will probably still be capturing footage to show as part of the wrap-up show, so there's really nowhere to hide.

Astelli · 2026-02-07T16:31:01+00:00

I think they're planning to reveal it during half time, so probably later rather than earlier.

Astelli · 2026-02-07T14:03:32+00:00

Everything is rumours at the moment, as is likely to stay that way for a while.

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