F1 2026

[MickyD]

Theres a lot of talk that they're trying to get Jonathan Wheatley out of Audi to take over as TP - Newey would know him well from their time at Red Bull.

Crofty mentioned on the Sky Sports F1 podcast this week that Horner had been in talks with Aston, he said to Lawrence Stroll that he wants complete control which he was told he would have so he asked Stroll 'what would happen if my first decision is to replace your son?'. Apparently Lawrence Stroll told him Lance has a 5 year contract and isn't going anywhere and that was the end of that conversation.

Interesting! Lance Stroll does always feel a bit of a makeweight but fair do's, you have to be a seriously good driver to get one of those beasts around the track at all, nepo baby or not. (And he did very nearly win a race once - Baku, I think it was.)

As for Wheatley, wouldn't he have to take a lengthy gardening leave before he could do any work for AM - the last thing they need?

Edit - ah, crossed with Quinny.

 

[The Pilgrim]

Interesting! Lance Stroll does always feel a bit of a makeweight but fair do's, you have to be a seriously good driver to get one of those beasts around the track at all, nepo baby or not. (And he did very nearly win a race once - Baku, I think it was.)

As for Wheatley, wouldn't he have to take a lengthy gardening leave before he could do any work for AM - the last thing they need?

Edit - ah, crossed with Quinny.

I'd imagine so yeah, I'd imagine from a career stability point of view he's better off staying at Audi and building that team up - Aston get through a lot of TP's!

Lance is clearly a good driver but he's not great or world class, my issue with him is that any other driver of his ability would have had 3 or 4 seasons in the sport and have left, he's now approaching 10 years and is just taking up a seat that someone else deserves.

 

[GreenThing]

Lance Stoll is a strange one. We was slated continuously for being awful in his first few seasons, but was actually ok in the car provided to him, especially in tricky conditions, including Turkey in the covid season, which is the race that I think MickyD is referring to. Then, he got accepted as a regular driver, a lot of the criticism stopped and he started to live upto his reputation as bleddy useless.

 

[The Pilgrim]

Lance Stoll is a strange one. We was slated continuously for being awful in his first few seasons, but was actually ok in the car provided to him, especially in tricky conditions, including Turkey in the covid season, which is the race that I think MickyD is referring to. Then, he got accepted as a regular driver, a lot of the criticism stopped and he started to live upto his reputation as bleddy useless.

It doesn't help his cause that as good as Alonso still is, Lance has now been outqualified by a 45 year old something like 38 times in a row.

According to google he's been outqualified 148 times in 191 races by team mates which is a pretty extreme record.

 

[Quinny]

Wheatley leaves Audi...

Jonathan Wheatley: Audi boss leaves with immediate effect amid link to Aston Martin

Audi team principal Jonathan Wheatley leaves with immediate effect after an approach from Aston Martin.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[GreenThing]

Wheatley leaves Audi...

Jonathan Wheatley: Audi boss leaves with immediate effect amid link to Aston Martin

Audi team principal Jonathan Wheatley leaves with immediate effect after an approach from Aston Martin.

www.bbc.co.uk

Wow. Must be a bit of cash floating around for that to happen. I can’t see AM as a better option than Audi.

 

[MickyD]

That's a shocker. A zero added to the salary?

Or is that AM's end-of-season points total? Ho ho!

 

[MickyD]

So, the charming Max ups the ante another notch or two by stating more forcefully than ever: "Change things pronto so I enjoy it more and start winning again, or I walk."

Let him walk, I say. Everyone agrees that tweaks are needed, especially to avoid those major differences in closing speeds the like of which took Ollie Bearman out, but Verstappen can't be allowed to dictate.

The sport desperately needs to keep him? Cobblers. With all the young talent coming through, he'd be yesterday's man a season or two after leaving. See how you get on in NASCAR, Max!

 

[GreenThing]

I’m sure Max’s attitude would be different if he was out in front. Other drivers don’t seem to have a problem, especially Lewis who seems to be revelling in the new car.

So, 3 races in and I’ve been impressed so far. Australia was fun, but it looked like it was a case of pass then be passed, leading to a worry that drivers wouldn’t make moves as they couldn’t make it stick. However, it’s starting to look like an easy pass by using the battery will leave you vulnerable when you have to recharge, but using it sparingly to get into a position to make the move will leave you enough boost to defend.

Today’s race had some fantastic overtaking in turn 1, proper ballsy moves around the outside, and cars following through the S bends. Bring it on!

 

[MickyD]

Zackly. As I said a while back, it's become far more fun to watch than generally, however much the insiders may moan, and that's good enough for me - and I'm really pleased that Hamilton is getting such a kick out of it again. He's already had one or two cracking jousts with Leclerc this season.

 

[The Pilgrim]

I'm really enjoying the new rules, the only thing that doesn't sit right for me is that the drivers can't push 100% on a quali lap, if they can find a way to fix that then I'm 100% on board.

 

[GreenThing]

I'm really enjoying the new rules, the only thing that doesn't sit right for me is that the drivers can't push 100% on a quali lap, if they can find a way to fix that then I'm 100% on board.

Suzuka qualifying had reduced battery power deployment so that then drivers could push.

 

[The Pilgrim]

Suzuka qualifying had reduced battery power deployment so that then drivers could push.

Would be better if they can find a way to elongate the deployment, doesn't seem right watching cars lose 30-40mph towards the end of the straight.

 

[GreenThing]

Would be better if they can find a way to elongate the deployment, doesn't seem right watching cars lose 30-40mph towards the end of the straight.

That was the idea, reduce the maximum amount of deployment so that the battery lasts the full length of the straight.