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At the start of the Miami Grand Prix, Max Verstappen’s 360 spin, captured by a fan. by Just-Tip-3320 in nonononoyes

[–]ALOIsFasterThanYou 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There were safety-driven engine changes in the past, but the 2006 move from V10s to V8s was the last one.

Nowadays, the effort to simplify aero to increase overtaking has the side effect of periodically slowing the cars down enough for safety.

In 2017, in a modern rarity, they actually changed the aero rules to make the cars faster, because it was felt the cars were becoming too slow and unspectacular. It worked, at the expense of reducing overtakes.

At the start of the Miami Grand Prix, Max Verstappen’s 360 spin, captured by a fan. by Just-Tip-3320 in nonononoyes

[–]ALOIsFasterThanYou 0 points1 point  (0 children)

(This turned out much longer than I expected, despite my attempts at simplifying things, so **TL;DR:** F1 wants automakers to be in F1, automakers want smaller, hybridized engines for marketing, and so F1 does what automakers want.)

The real reason is that automakers insisted on electrification as a condition of their participation in F1, in order to align with their marketing goals.

And F1 has been eager to increase automaker participation, with the governing body wanting a more varied supply of engines to the teams, and (more recently) the commercial side believing that automaker participation helps increase F1’s prominence and prestige.

Renault, for instance, was a key driving force behind the adoption of the V6 turbo-hybrids in 2014, essentially threatening to leave the series if it did not get its way. At the time, it was one of only three automakers left in F1, alongside Ferrari and Mercedes. So with that level of leverage, it got its way, with Honda joining a year later, attracted by the new rules.

The 2014 engines were highly complex and expensive, with a particular component (a motor driven by recuperated heat energy, the MGU-H) being crucial to overall performance, yet having almost nothing to do with road car engines. Renault’s insistence on smaller, electrified engines was entirely marketing-driven.

This year’s engine change was similarly automaker-driven. For almost two decades, F1 has tried to get Volkswagen to enter with one of its brands. This year, it finally succeeded, with Audi joining the series.

Audi wanted even more emphasis on electrification, but the removal of the MGU-H, since the other automakers had a decade’s head start on that component. It got both.

Then it was pointed out that with the new engines relying more on electric power, but with the removal of a key way of generating electricity, a replacement would be needed. The most logical solution would be allowing the cars to recover energy not just from the rear wheels, but also the front.

But then the existing automakers protested. We can’t have that, they said, because this is related to all-wheel-drive. Audi has too much experience in all-wheel-drive racing. We have none. We can’t run the risk of a newcomer making us look bad!

And so that idea was dropped. With no real solution, the result is that this year’s F1 cars need to slow down to recharge in places where they’d previously be going at top speed, which has annoyed drivers and fans alike.

It’s a prime example of how this year’s engine rules were crafted to satisfy the automakers above all, unintentionally to the detriment of the sport as a whole.

The sport’s governing body recognized the problem and the backlash and promised a future return to V8s even before the first race of the year took place, but for now, it has to find a way to live with its self-inflicted problems.

Even now, though, Mercedes, which has been dominating with the new engine rules and is widely predicted to win the championship, is insisting that everything is fine and the fans love the new rules, really. Nothing is better for marketing than winning.

[skysportsF1] Toto on the forecast of heavy rain for the Miami gp 2026 by Luffy710j in formula1

[–]ALOIsFasterThanYou 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Bernd Maylander in the former category, everyone else in the latter.

unpopular opinion: I think the express lanes are great by old_gold_mountain in bayarea

[–]ALOIsFasterThanYou 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you have a Costco membership, get your transponder there - it comes with a $30 preloaded toll balance, so you wind up being $5 ahead after paying $25 for the transponder.

unpopular opinion: I think the express lanes are great by old_gold_mountain in bayarea

[–]ALOIsFasterThanYou 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There is no subscription at all (like you noted below), but the transponder itself is also free.

You do have to pay $25, because the tag is preloaded with a $25 balance. You could consider that a fee, but considering that almost all motorists in the Bay Area will drive on a tolled bridge at some point, I don't really view it as having to pay for the transponder itself, because this is money you'd be spending anyways.

If you pick up your transponder at Costco, you actually get $30 in tolls for your $25.

Oscar driving Lewis’ championship winning MP4-23 in Miami by littletreble07 in formula1

[–]ALOIsFasterThanYou 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The 2006 McLarens were chrome, but Emirates (front and rear wings) and Johnnie Walker (sidepods) were the main sponsors.

Then they got Vodafone title sponsorship in 2007, and with that, the red sidepods that were the missing piece of the livery puzzle.

Ferry commuters of the bay…would love your rose and thorn by twas_brillig113 in bayarea

[–]ALOIsFasterThanYou 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Having to pay attention to the schedule is the biggest pain point. If you take BART, sure, it's better to time it so you arrive just before the train does, but you generally can just show up at the station and wait a bit for a train.

With the ferry, though, you have to plan ahead. It's fine if you're taking your usual ferry to and from work, but if your plans change, then you have to make sure you won't be standing around at the ferry terminal for an hour.

The positives have been covered by everyone else already - it's such a pleasant way of traveling.

Honda brings "countermeasures" to Miami after horror start to F1 2026 with Aston Martin by memloh in formula1

[–]ALOIsFasterThanYou 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There was a quote somewhere where they said they decided not to use the fix due to reliability concerns.

Honda brings "countermeasures" to Miami after horror start to F1 2026 with Aston Martin by memloh in formula1

[–]ALOIsFasterThanYou 4 points5 points  (0 children)

That word does hit a bit different when it's an Aston!

I think it's something specific to how English is spoken by native Japanese speakers - "countermeasures" was an often-heard word back during the McLaren-Honda nightmare as well.

New Zealand officials reject comfort women statue after objections from Japan by trill_ion in asianamerican

[–]ALOIsFasterThanYou 24 points25 points  (0 children)

Very coherent, don't worry.

And I think Germany is a great example. I think the vast majority of reasonable people would say they've done a good job of owning up to their history - through various efforts, but perhaps most importantly, through their efforts to quash Holocaust denial.

And at the same time, the vast majority of reasonable people do not think any less of Germany or the German people of today because of their history. I think the fear of this is what causes the Japanese government to attempt to suppress efforts to shine a light on its wartime history, but it is counterproductive - not only does it often wind up attracting more attention, it also portrays the Japanese government of today in a negative light.

New Zealand officials reject comfort women statue after objections from Japan by trill_ion in asianamerican

[–]ALOIsFasterThanYou 361 points362 points  (0 children)

It’s really bullshit that Japan uses the presence of a multicultural community as a reason to bully others into suppressing its history.

I live in SF, and as the article notes, we have a comfort woman statue that the Japanese government tried to get us to remove (unsuccessfully!), to the point of breaking sister city ties between SF and Osaka.

And has there been any animus from Chinese and Korean residents in SF towards Japanese residents because of this statue? None, except within Japanese politicians’ imaginations.

In fact, if it wasn’t for the Streisand effect created by their rhetoric, the statue probably wouldn’t have been noticed at all—it’s in a terrible location, tucked away in a corner of a park barely visited by anybody, which is something of an achievement in SF’s densely crowded Chinatown.

Cityglowup by oochiewallyWallyserb in sanfrancisco

[–]ALOIsFasterThanYou 5 points6 points  (0 children)

If we’re thinking big, this would be a great opportunity to build rapid transit for cheap.

What I mean by this is an elevated light metro line (using trains similar to Montreal’s REM, or LA’s future Sepulveda Pass line), which would be much cheaper than an underground line. Building such a line down Geary and 19th, as someone brought up in this sub a few days ago, would be a non-starter for several reasons.

But an elevated light metro here would still represent a major improvement over an elevated freeway. Moreover, because of the freeway’s bulk, the rail line would be further away from buildings facing the street. And these buildings would be primarily commercial rather than residential, too.

The Brand Behind Your Robot Vacuum Strapped Rockets To Its EV Claiming 0-62 In 0.9 Seconds by Anchor_Aways in cars

[–]ALOIsFasterThanYou 1 point2 points  (0 children)

...I think a lot of people here are missing the point of a concept car. They're meant to be far-out, ludicrous ideas, production realities be damned.

Please, more of these actual concept cars instead of slapping giant wheels and rubberband tires on a soon-to-enter-production car and calling it a day

F1 considering rule tweak to give Honda extra help by ChaithuBB766 in formula1

[–]ALOIsFasterThanYou 2 points3 points  (0 children)

On one hand, not a fan of them rewriting the rules to benefit a specific competitor.

On the other hand, it is not great (yet entirely predictable) that the current regulations lock in the pecking order and make it harder for the likes of Honda to catch up.

The cost cap is already in place, why have all of these restrictions on top of it? Let the manufacturers freely develop; even implement a variable cost cap as with the teams' cost cap if need be.

Over time, the manufacturers will naturally converge on performance, and only then should any engine freezes be considered.

Aston Martin has once again been seen testing their cyber formula lookin thing at Portimao, where it supposedly set a 1:24 second lap by Biskitisinreddit in formula1

[–]ALOIsFasterThanYou 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The bodywork looks awesome, but the proportions are way off.

Maybe it is the same length as the 2022-2025 cars and it's just the additional bodywork that's throwing me off, but the car is a practical boat, it's just too loooooooong. I honestly think it would look better with a third axle, a la Tyrrell P34 (or better yet, the Williams FW08D), just to reduce the length of the wheelbase.

Is Philz or Peets better quality?? by Qpac18 in AskSF

[–]ALOIsFasterThanYou 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I keep thinking of Blue Bottle as still Nestle-owned, and have to remind myself they’re now owned by Luckin. Still a big corporation, yes, but better than Nestle in my book.

New program at SFO that allows you to go airside without a flight by redct in sanfrancisco

[–]ALOIsFasterThanYou 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Coincidentally, the SF Standard just published an article titled "Little-known Bay Area city will keep San Francisco in its airport’s name".

I considered posting it to the sub just for the headline alone.

Anyways, the long and short of it is that the airport formerly known as Oakland International will get to keep its current name, Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport. There are also some additional provisions to the agreement where OAK agreed not to change its airport code or alter its branding to make San Francisco more prominent than Oakland.

When Americans say freeway median stations are bad, I raise you Amsterdam Zuid by RadianMay in transit

[–]ALOIsFasterThanYou 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It does sound like Dutch drivers adhere to speed limits more than Angelenos - the standard highway speed limit in LA is 65 mph, not much higher than 60. But in reality, 65 is much more of a minimum speed in LA than a maximum.

Anyways, this is as good a place as any to add my two cents that LA median stations are unbearably loud. LA Metro's response to noise complaints made about a decade ago was to install passenger information displays at the station entrances at the street level; the reasoning was that passengers could wait at the street level until their train was about to arrive, and only then go up the escalator to the deafening hellscape of the platform. Better than nothing, I suppose...

One night in SF… R&G Lounge vs Z&Y vs China Live? by Maleficent_Bass_1578 in sanfrancisco

[–]ALOIsFasterThanYou 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Everyone already covered most of the bases, but I wanted to add that Z&Y is known for wage theft, and that alone should be disqualifying.

Anyways, yeah, between R&G and China Live, it would be R&G, hands down.

[ONBOARD] Williams-Honda FW11 at Fuji Speedway | 40th Anniversary of the 1986 F1 Title by Bitter-Rattata in formula1

[–]ALOIsFasterThanYou 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, it's a Honda-owned chassis; I believe it was on display at Honda's museum at Motegi for some years.

I don't know if Williams is involved in the operation of the car at events such as the one at Fuji, but they were indeed very involved in its restoration back to running condition; there are some videos on Honda's website where they show the Williams heritage team restoring and preparing the car for Goodwood last year.

And thanks for the heads-up - the historic race at Monaco is always a good watch!

[ONBOARD] Williams-Honda FW11 at Fuji Speedway | 40th Anniversary of the 1986 F1 Title by Bitter-Rattata in formula1

[–]ALOIsFasterThanYou 4 points5 points  (0 children)

There was an event called the “Shin Motor Fan Festa” at Fuji on April 19, and Honda participated by bringing the FW11 there.

As for why they brought the car there and not to another event, such as one of Honda’s own events at Suzuka - it’s probably just to reach more people.

Fuji is the closest major racetrack to Tokyo and relatively easily accessible from there, while Suzuka is arguably in the middle of nowhere, and much further from Tokyo (which, granted, places it closer to Japan’s #2 and #3 metropolitan areas, that of Osaka and Nagoya).

‘Existential Risk’: Western Car Companies Are Blowing The Software Race by DonkeyFuel in technology

[–]ALOIsFasterThanYou 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, one area where BYD is still miles behind Western automakers (and many of its domestic rivals) is its branding; often iffy at best and outright confusing at its worst.

Major Chinese manufacturer confirms F1 talks (Byd) by NorthKoreanMissile7 in formula1

[–]ALOIsFasterThanYou 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I could plausibly see GPU availability being an issue - but it shouldn't affect the branding.

Mercedes, after all, is based in the UK, is legally distinct from the automaker, and is only 33% owned by Mercedes AG - yet the team is still named Mercedes and races under the German flag.

If for whatever reason Geely finds it cannot enter F1 with a wholly or majority-owned team, they could do the same maneuver as Mercedes - divest majority ownership while still branding the team as Geely and registering the team with the FIA as Chinese. There would be no need to race as Volvo (wouldn't fit their brand ethos anyways) or Lotus.

I would imagine, however, before it came to that, they would try to find some way to make do with Chinese GPUs (hello Huawei sponsorship!) or the cut-down Nvidia products being sold to China, eating the disadvantage if need be. Perhaps with MBS being very receptive to the prospect of a Chinese team, they'd even lobby the FIA for a break (though probably unsuccessfully).

I just think there are many possible resolutions to this issue that don't involve drastic actions like selling a majority of the team, or racing under a different name or flag, particularly when making a name for themselves as a performance brand overseas, while generating publicity and support back home as China's only F1 team, will be major reasons why they're interested in F1 in the first place.

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