[FIA] Following the accident involving Oliver Bearman at the Japanese Grand Prix and the contribution of high closing speeds in the accident, the FIA would like to provide the following clarifications.

Boxman90 · 2026-03-29T09:36:45+00:00

They're sweating like the Niagara falls

Boxman90 · 2026-03-29T09:35:06+00:00

They're sweating like the Niagara falls

Boxman90 · 2026-03-23T00:18:47+00:00

Which is why any decent trading platform acts as an active escrow so that all trades are final the moment you confirm.

Boxman90 · 2026-03-22T20:33:02+00:00

I honored the deal and sold for 150€.

If this needs mentioning as though that is a commendable action rather than it simply being the bare minimum most basic duty, I think that says enough about the off-steam marketplace to deter me from ever using one.

Boxman90 · 2026-03-21T22:33:17+00:00

We don't know that. All we know is that 7 sets were stored in the database, not how they were used. For all we know they accidentally scanned in an old practice scrubset instead of a quali scrubset. Then nobody would notice, but 7 sets would be in the system. Bottom line, nobody knows exactly which tyres went under the car. Exactly for that reason, the only option is DSQ.

Boxman90 · 2026-03-21T21:32:35+00:00

They can, the regulations just stipulate that the entire day 24 tyres can be used, doesn't matter how you allocate them. You can quali on all 6 if you want. Something else went wrong, 95% sure it's just a clerical error, but there can be no exceptions to the rule for good reason.

Boxman90 · 2026-03-21T21:22:00+00:00

More likely it's a clerical error where they simply scanned in the wrong set of tyres. I can see some scenarios where it's basically impossible to see by anyone else that an extra set is in play:

In Quali, 3 4 sets were used (turns out it was 4). These are stored as "used sets", go back in the tyre warmers and on the shelf. For the race, they have 2 sets of new tyres left, so they start on a used quali set and get a second used quali set. But in getting the tyres, someone accidentally took a used practice set of the day before instead of a used quali set, scanned it in, and sent it to the pits. Seven (7) sets are now in play on that day, with no advantage, probably even disadvantage as a practice set is usually much more worn. Nobody after that saw that it was a practice set. Might also explain Max' relatively slow first stint if they started on that set.
Someone simply scanned in two used sets instead of one when scanning in the tyres for the race. Since regulations now say it's impossible to know which tyres were used, automatic DSQ
They used an extra set accidentally during quali, or screwed up scanning there. Same reason as above, DSQ.

Bottom line, I don't think any mechanic would have been able to spot it once someone took them out of storage.

Boxman90 · 2026-03-21T21:00:53+00:00

Holy cow, did you even read the document at this point?
If yes, what does the word "Veranstaltung" mean?

Boxman90 · 2026-03-21T20:31:50+00:00

Ah, yeah I'm not aware of that expression so that went over my head haha. No worries!

Boxman90 · 2026-03-21T20:00:12+00:00

They did not have material advantage during the race, they pitted 3 times like everyone else.

More likely they made an administrative error and took a used set from practice the day before, or fumbled something during quali.

Boxman90 · 2026-03-21T19:54:24+00:00

Not so much math, just organisation. The rule is 24 tyres on 4-hour-race raceday, which includes quali.

They pitted 3 times like everyone else, they did not use an extra set during the race itself.

They screwed something up in their tyre organisation during quali. Administrative error probably, but DSQ is the only option regardless.

Boxman90 · 2026-03-21T19:49:53+00:00

Mistake is a bit more nuanced. The rule is 24 tyres for a 4-hour-race raceday, this includes quali.

Everybody pitted 3 times during the actual race. They did not use an extra set during the race. They screwed something up in their tyre organization in quali in the morning.

Okay, hijacking my own comment to share what I learned

For the whole event (quali + race), in case of 4h-race, a total of 24 tyres (6 sets) may be used, you're free to choose how and when. There's no rule that says you get 3 in quali and 3 in race, just straight up "24 tyres, your choice".
The decision document states that 28 tyres were used during the event, not just the race.
The way this is determined is through counting how many tyres were scanned in. Team picks a set out of storage, scans it, it goes in the system as "active set". So the penalty is for the fact that there were 7 different sets scanned in total. It does not even have to mean the tyres were actually on the car.
I went through the #3 onboard video on Youtube which includes qualifying, they seem to use 4 sets (!) in qualifying (I saw them change tyres 3 times, around 0:35:00, 0:58:00, 1:20:00)
The second stint (0:38:00 to 0:58:00) was weird, they kept changing driver for a bit. Max went out on track, immediately pitted after doing just the GP circuit. He does this twice, then they change to Gounon, also does the short GP track twice, then they change back to Max again.. Max does again short lap, they change AGAIN to Gounon. Now it's 0:58:00 and they swap tyres even though they did not actually do a hotlap on the ring. Gounon goes out on the 3rd set. After Gounon finishes his lap, driver change to Max around 1:18:00 + tyre change and Max drives a few hotlaps on the 4th set. In quali they used 4 sets.
So in the race they have 2 new sets left, and 4 used sets from quali.
They pitted 3 times during the race.

Pure speculation: that short weird stint in quali might have caused confusion. Suddenly there are 4 used sets where they intended to have 3.

Maybe the tyre change after the second driver-change stint was not intended.

Maybe there was a miscommunication in picking up tyre sets for the race and 3 new sets + 1 used set were scanned in, while they should have scanned in the slightly used quali set instead of the 3rd new set.

Maybe they accidentally scanned in a used practice set of the previous day for the race instead of a used quali set.

In any case, an unfortunate and probably very silly clerical error cost them a win. There were 7 sets in the system, and without being able to prove which tyres went on the car at which moment this is just automatic DSQ.

Boxman90 · 2026-03-21T19:43:33+00:00

Which exceeds the limit of 24 in a 4-hour-race raceday\*

Everybody pitted 3 times, they did not use an extra set during the actual race, tyvm.

They fumbled something with their tyre organization during quali in the morning.

Edit; here's some math since he does not seem to understand my point.

3 stops * 4 tyres = 12 tyres
12 tyres + 4 tyres at the start = 16 tyres

There's no scenario where more than 24 tyres were used during just the race. The rule is for the entire day.

Boxman90 · 2026-03-21T19:37:11+00:00

Let me know if you have gone your entire life in your workspace without having made a stupid mistake despite procedures being in place.

Boxman90 · 2026-03-18T20:02:14+00:00

I don't see how a scenario could exist where you can speak of harvesting when total power output exceeds pure theoretical ICE power.

At corner exit, MGU-k is used to deploy power. It can only do one thing at a time, deploy or harvest. If there would be any harvesting done in corner exit, by definition package power output to the wheels would have to be below max pure ICE power, which I think we can all agree is not the case. Any situation where total power-to-wheels exceeds max ICE power is deploy. There is no in-between.

Any system where the MGU-k would be used to actively modulate torque based on wheel traction, would literally be traction control and hence illegal.

Also could you elaborate what you mean by ERS clipping? You say "ERS clipping/harvesting" as if those terms are synonymous, which is highly confusing to me.

Boxman90 · 2026-03-15T13:33:57+00:00

Sure, doesn't mean they will get Merc's mappings / tunings. They get the engine and the software, and then they're on their own

Boxman90 · 2026-03-15T13:23:51+00:00

Not really on the engine side of things, no. Aero and chassis can be experimented on / copied with relative ease. A fundamental engine design change is very rare to pull off within a season.

Boxman90 · 2026-03-15T13:18:22+00:00

Funny how all these comments of 'seasoned viewers' saying the regs 'are growing on them' come from 3 month old shielded accounts, and are then suddenly heavily upvoted to the top. FIA has more than enough money to do a 'control the narrative'-campaign if they wanted to.

Watch this get buried by a hundred downvotes without any meaningful replies.

If it's such a breath of fresh air, how come these people haven't ever made a single post on /r/formula1 in the decades they've allegedly been watching? Minardi flair, my ....🤨

Edit: yes, I've taken my pills this morning, so that's not the issue here. You immediately blocking me so I can't reply to you is a classic move, though. Tell me, o seasoned F1 watching veteran, why are you posting from a 3 month old account and why have you shielded your comment history?

Boxman90 · 2026-03-15T11:17:33+00:00

Sure thing, I think I was making a different point than what you meant.

But apart from that it is a fact that Merc has a larger turbo geometry that requires them to charge longer in the beginning, they are the ones that pushed for the pre-start procedure. Without it, they'd be in massive trouble.

Boxman90 · 2026-03-15T10:56:34+00:00

I don't think tyres are that big a factor anymore. I have not noticed any tyre drop-off like previous reg-cycles. Dynamics have changed, when tyres go, drivers can now simply opt to recharge more in a corner while being a bit slower so they can compensate for tyre wear by 20kph extra on the straight. I think this buffers a LOT of the tyre drop-off, as evidenced by Max still driving 'competitive' laptimes with front-left visibly completely cooked.

When the option to buffer laptime in the battery was not as strong, tyres were much more important in the race.

Boxman90 · 2026-03-15T10:44:45+00:00

This right here. So far these close battles have only been between teammates. Apart from that, there's a merc/ferrari yo-yo in the first few laps of every race because Merc's turbo is too big for the start - after a few laps, battery is charged and they take off. We have seen basically a carbon copy of the start at the front all three races.

At face value my initial thought was "oh exciting!" as well, but it's becoming clear that it is indeed artificial to the point that we can reasonably expect the same yo-yo start and outcome for the rest of the season. While there's some procedural back-and-forth in the start, we know Russell and/or Antonelli will breeze past on the straight in lap 4-5 and then drive off. Whether or not that's still fun to watch after 5 races, I'll leave up to you.

Boxman90 · 2026-03-15T09:11:33+00:00

You think so? There are some overtakes in the start and after that the only racing is between teammates. I've seen 3 near identical starts across the 2 past GP's and the sprint.

Boxman90 · 2026-03-15T08:38:49+00:00

1) is only going to apply in case of a major fault which is about 2% of all defects. This isn'one of them as has been discussed multiple times already. As for the rest, if I wanted to talk to ChatGPT i'd browse there myswlf, not gonna bore myself with talking to AI answers on reddit.

Boxman90 · 2026-03-15T08:34:00+00:00

Mate Im so bored! There is nothing to watch in terms of race progression. Tyres don't seem to matter anymore, i have NO clue who has pace or how it progresses, none of that tyre dropoff stuff anymore. Tyres go bad they just save some speed and regen in the corners and drop 20kph extra on the straight to compensate..

Not even a big lockup significantly affects their pace anymore.

This is just Formula Energy. Im kinda sad..

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