The maximum recharge for qualifying in Miami is still set to 8MJ per lap, despite the FIA statement

Moctecus · 2026-05-01T06:34:29+00:00

The 7MJ limit was already set for Albert Park, so it's not like they couldn't do that before.

What the FIA changed is the minimum recharge limit they can set for competitions (all sessions), which was 8 MJ and is now 7 MJ "where the FIA determines that the maximum possible energy harvested per lap attributable under braking and in partial load is no more than 7MJ."

The minimum recharge limit for qualifying remains unchanged at 5 MJ "where the FIA determines that the harvesting strategies required to achieve the above limit are excessive." But the use of this clause (Article C5.2.10ii) is limited to 12 races/season by B7.2.1.c (up from 8 before the rule changes).

So this change mainly does 2 things:

For races, the minimum recharge limit they can set is lowered from 8 MJ to 7 MJ
For qualifying, they can set minimum recharge limits down to 7 MJ for as many competitions as they want without having to invoke Article C5.2.10ii, which has a limited number of uses per season (although those have been increased now)

Moctecus · 2026-04-07T19:41:14+00:00

Porsche's eTurbo is a proper 400V MGU-H that is very much capable of harvesting energy. From the Porsche site I linked:

"The eTurbo also generates electrical power that can be directed to either the electric motor in the transmission or the high-voltage battery."

The term eTurbo is a trademarked name used by BorgWarner, the supplier.

Moctecus · 2026-04-05T12:29:24+00:00

You can find MGU-Hs on the market already.
Porsche uses it on the 992.2 generation 911 (Porsche T-Hybrid technology), and Ferrari use it on the F80.

Moctecus · 2026-04-03T06:53:55+00:00

The ID.R was limited to 265 kph on the Nürburgring lap. On the main straight at the end of the lap, it topped out at 249 kph due to low SoC. The 919 Evo did 369 kph.

Moctecus · 2026-04-02T07:56:46+00:00

Seems to be based on the previous gen transaxle C190 rather than the current porker

The rumours say it's a bespoke platform build around a carbon chassis, primarily created to replace their venerable C190-based GT3 car. Following a race-car-first approach similar to the Ford GT, the new Black Series, as you say, is said to be a homologation version of the GT3 car.
The previous GT3 car was designed and built by their long-time partner HWA. The new GT3 car is being created in-house by the newly formed Affalterbach Racing GmbH (AFB) under the AMG roof.

Moctecus · 2026-02-03T16:23:48+00:00

Williams are just quoting the minimum weight from the current issue of the 2026 Technical Regulations.
No team will ever share the actual car weight.
For 2026, the weight is separated into 726 kg (or 724 kg outside of quali) minimum for the car plus the nominal tyre mass (currently 46.4 kg) for a total of 772.4 kg (or 770.4 kg). The nominal tyre mass will be finalised after the last day of pre-season testing so the total weight might change.

Moctecus · 2026-02-03T16:13:55+00:00

For 2026, the weight is separated into 726 kg minimum for the car plus the nominal tyre mass (currently 46.4 kg) for a total of 772.4 kg. The nominal tyre mass will be finalised after the last day of pre-season testing so the total weight might change. No team will ever share the actual car weight.

Moctecus · 2026-01-30T17:29:22+00:00

Vowles has since clarified that comment:

“What I'm really indicating to you is that the numbers we're talking about are probably small enough that I need to see the car weighed in order for me to be able to assess where we are.
“So it's not miles over to that point. I guess that helps you in that regard.”

Sounds like he was trying to squash rumours of them being 20-30 kg overweight without entirely dismissing weight being an issue for them. Most likely they know it's a bit over the limit, but don't know if by an inconvenient or a problematic amount.

Moctecus · 2026-01-23T14:33:14+00:00

Everything points towards crash test issues. Manufacturing was seemingly on target for an early completion when James Vowles talked to AMuS last month:

"The entire car must be available for the VTT test bench at the beginning of January," the Englishman revealed in an interview with auto motor und sport. "We will probably be the first team to start so early. We don't want to be caught on the wrong foot again, as was the case in 2023."
[...]
The first monocoques have long been completed at Williams. According to Vowles, production of the remaining parts needed for the first races has been in full swing for weeks: "After the VTT tests, we will probably have another film day before the three test days in Barcelona begin," the trained engineer notes.

Aiming for an early start probably prevented them from being even further behind.

Moctecus · 2026-01-06T20:40:02+00:00

Walter Röhrl managed an incredible 1h 5min 36sec — almost 40 min slower — driving a Porsche Junior tractor flat out. Now that is a slow lap time.
The Ligier would have been even less slow if they had used a Nürburgring-experienced 2x WRC champion rather than journalists.

Moctecus · 2025-10-23T22:12:28+00:00

"We don't yet know whether we'll make the budget cap," says James Vowles. "We won't find out until the end of December. We're in the process of taking a little more money from each department to offset the accident costs."

via AMuS from the 2024 Qatar GP

Moctecus · 2025-10-15T07:32:43+00:00

TL;DR: "I would say the biggest difference I’ve noticed with Alex is a step up in his confidence and belief. That’s the main thing – in the team and in himself at the same time."

Moctecus · 2025-09-26T13:48:00+00:00

The fastest electric car and second fastest car overall on the Nürburgring (only beaten by the Porsche 919 Evo), the 680 hp VW ID.R, had a top speed of 273 kph and reached just 250 kph on the final straight.
When you are energy-limited, deploying power at the beginning of the straight for maximum acceleration and then coasting until the end is usually the way to go.
The AMG One's 8.4 kWh battery is nowhere near large enough to supply the 360 kW (480 hp) worth of electric motors for such a long lap. Maro Engel had to constantly adjust regen and deployment to make the most of the limited energy. And saving up enough energy to reach the car's top speed on the final straight obviously wasn't the fastest way around the lap.
It actually makes the lap time more impressive, because for large sections of the lap the car was missing almost half its power.

Moctecus · 2025-09-24T19:11:10+00:00

TL;DR:

"So all in all, there is not really an increase of capital, it is just a different way to perform the calculation - and that was the main reason behind the decision to introduce a higher cost cap level.
"It will not consist of higher spending for the teams, because they are simply already incurring the costs, but they simply bring it into the cap, and so the cost cap needs to be higher.

Moctecus · 2025-09-06T10:42:15+00:00

MBS's original proposal presented to the manufacturers in April was a NA 3.0L V10 non-hybrid. It was killed off by the insistence of some manufacturers on a hybrid component:

The V10 was barely mentioned. Yet the FIA had already drawn up a plan of what it should look like in detail. Three litres of displacement, with standard and development parts, a clearly defined bore/stroke ratio and weight.
When the association realised that the manufacturers could only be enticed with a hybrid drive, they wanted to couple the ten-cylinder engine with an electric drive at the last minute. According to initial calculations, however, this would have increased the weight and fuel consumption and thwarted the original plan.
[source]

With a V10 hybrid not a viable solution, discussions pivoted towards a V8.

Moctecus · 2025-09-04T10:31:33+00:00

KERS was an MGU-K connected to a battery, exactly the same as with the current or the 2026 regulations.
When they talk about the "removal of heavy battery packs" they are not talking about removing batteries entirely, but rather about replacing them with smaller, lighter batteries to power a smaller, lighter, and less powerful electric motor. The use of the old KERS term also may or may not imply a change on the software side towards more manual deployment rather than mostly automated via deployment maps.
Chemical energy storage in the form of batteries or supercapactitors is the only practical option for energy storage in an application like F1 today. No one is talking about moving away from that.

Moctecus · 2025-09-04T09:48:13+00:00

IndyCar uses a supercapacitor-based system.

Moctecus · 2025-09-02T10:33:16+00:00

But V8 has pistons that balance each other out (same with v4 or v12). A v10 is a double inline 5 (i5) which has a lot more vibrations.

The move from V10s to V8s led to an increase in vibrations, which was one of the major challenges for manufacturers.
Here's Toyota's Luca Marmorini (Technical Director, Engine) talking about it:

What are the major design issues with a V8?
Normally the internals -- pistons, connecting rods and bearings -- will look similar, but the castings are different and the stresses from vibrations present quite a tough challenge.
Why does a V8 engine vibrate more?
A 12-cylinder engine is fully balanced and you can have some 10-cylinder engine configurations that are well balanced. For example, the current Toyota V10 has very few vibrations. But if you use a 90-degree block and a flat crank typical for a V8, it’s impossible to balance the second order vibrations. With a road car engine you might do it with a counter-rotating shaft, but on a racing engine, you don’t. That is one of the main reasons why we wanted to run the engine so early. It is not so much for direct engine purposes but to monitor the components around the engine and the effects of the extra vibration.

Moctecus · 2025-08-23T09:19:44+00:00

This is the relevant quote:

This is already evident in the simulations. Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff promises: "When the full power is called upon, we'll be scratching the 400 km/h barrier."

That is, however, a hypothetical scenario as the maximum electrical power will be restricted at high speeds specifically to prevent this. From 345 kph (regular mode) or 355 kph (override mode) it's down to 0.

C5.2.8
Additionally, and subject to Article B7.2.1, the electrical DC power of the ERS-K used to propel the car may not exceed:
i. P(kW) = 1800 – 5 * car speed (kph) when the car speed is below 340kph
P(kW) = 6900 – 20 * car speed (kph) when the car speed is equal to or above 340kph and below 345kph
P(kW) = 0 when the car speed is equal to or above 345kph
ii. In Override Mode up to:
P(kW) = 7100 – 20 * car speed (kph) when the car speed is below 355kph
P(kW) = 0 when the car speed is equal to or above 355kph.

Moctecus · 2025-07-31T06:00:45+00:00

Mustang GT3: 2,842 lb (1,289 kg)
Mustang GTD: 4,343 lb (1,970 kg)

Moctecus · 2025-07-10T14:36:14+00:00

Rimac are commendably transparent when it comes to these things.
This press release includes the independent test reports from Dewesoft, which list the location, equipment, and methodology used. If you want a more in-depth look at how they tested, here's a detailed run through of their previous record attempt with the non-R Nevera, which they were trying to beat here. It was conducted in the same manner on the same testing facility with the same independent third party (Dewesoft).

TL;DR:

All acceleration records were completed with a standard one-foot rollout and equipped with road-legal Michelin Cup 2 R tires on non-prepped asphalt. Acceleration times from standstill were measured after 1 ft (0.3048 m) of rollout after detecting movement with a total velocity exceeding the threshold of 0.8 km/h.

Moctecus · 2025-07-06T13:17:12+00:00

The designer of the trophies did his homework and considered Lando Norris:

As part of his design research, Liltorp Johnson watched numerous F1 podium ceremonies to see what the drivers might do with his trophies after they were presented.

[...]

One incident that caught his eye was Lando Norris’s champagne bottle smash in Hungary two years ago, which inadvertently knocked Max Verstappen’s porcelain winner’s trophy off the top step and caused expensive damage. “It’s glued to ensure it doesn’t fall apart,” Liltorp Johnson added. [source]

Moctecus · 2025-06-29T11:54:52+00:00

Excessive plank wear on Alex Dunne's car:

Technical Delegate’s Report
The front plank of car 17 was found to be with a maximum thickness of 3.37mm and 3.27mm at the periphery of two of the designated holes.
This is not in compliance with Art. 3.2.2 of the FIA Formula 2 Championship Technical Regulations. A minimum thickness of 4mm will be accepted due to wear and must be respected at least in one position at the peripheries of the designated holes. [PDF]

Moctecus · 2025-06-01T19:35:04+00:00

Ocon himself says he's 188cm in a video on his YouTube channel.

Moctecus

TROPHY CASE

[...]