First thoughts on the New F1 changes and broadcast.

[loneryder]

Last night I watched P2 on Apple TV. Here are some of my first impressions.
1. A third of the cars wouldn't run or quit running. Max pulled about 6 ft out of his garage and his engine quit.
2. Drivers are struggling to drive the cars and are making mistakes all over the track. There is so much they have to keep up with.
3. Opinion of the announcers is still out. I do not like the women talkers as all they do is talk and don't tell you anything. They are not very attractive either.
4. Ford is powering Redbull and Bill Ford was there.
5. Cadillac was struggling like most others. It might just be neat to root for Cadillac and Ford this year. There's also Audi.
6. The cars look drastically different. Front and rear wings open up on straight a ways for everybody.
7. The cars are faster and have more excelleration than last year.

 

[JustN89]

Ford is powering Red Bull in name only. They apparently did help somewhat with the research and development of the battery/energy recovery, but Red Bull Powertrains is 90% Honda. When Honda announced that they would leave F1 in 2021, RB started hiring away the majority of the Honda team to start the new Red Bull Powertrains division.

 

[Pablo]

MB and Ferrari and Red Bull and McClaren have their stuff together but that can be defined however you like - same - but definitely different than last year.

Did they ever say why Max’s rear locked up?

 

[Klutch9]

I think visually, the cars look great. They also seem more of a handful to drive, and you can kind of manhandle them around. The acceleration is great and translates well on TV. However, the superclipping at the end of some straights just makes me upset. On the back straight in AUS, some cars were dropping almost 50kph BEFORE the braking zone. It sounds and looks ridiculous. I estimate that before the end of the season, they will either further limit the amount of energy the engine can put into the battery, or allow the engines to make more power to compensate.

 

[StarCaller]

Lando Norris was too busy looking at his steering wheel to see the debris he hit during qualifying​

 

[Klutch9]

View attachment 327265

This, plus the fact that at times there will be a large speed delta between cars in spots of the track the drivers aren’t used to, I think there’s a high possibility for some bad crashes this year. We almost saw one this weekend with Lewis and Franco.

 

[Vercingetorix]

Sky F1 is available on the F1TV app in the USA. The F1 broadcast is crap.

 

[Patman]

The cars are faster in acceleration but they are a few seconds slower on lap times because of the reduced downforce of the active aero cars.

 

[slo town]

I'm a lifelong F1 fan who started watching in the late '60s as a 13 or 14 year old. The new 2026 rules are ridiculous. The virtue signaling by today's F1 is a joke. There is NOTHING GREEN about F1 but they sure try and convince you otherwise.

I find it ironic that F1 has now become so "green" the drivers are now distracted drivers because they have to manage their hybrid systems rather than simply driving the car to its maximum potential. Have you noticed how soon they're lifting off on long straights so they can regen?! Kiss late braking passes goodbye.

Add to it the Heinz 57 Apple TV broadcast team....,F1 is becoming unwatchable for me. Montoya is the only one who knows what he's talking about. In a strange way I'm almost relieved to be done with the politically correct, morally superior (in their minds) F1 charade.

The WEC is better in every way. And say what you want about IndyCar spec racing, but at least that's a true Driver's Championship.

Scott

 

[loneryder]

Ford is powering Red Bull in name only. They apparently did help somewhat with the research and development of the battery/energy recovery, but Red Bull Powertrains is 90% Honda. When Honda announced that they would leave F1 in 2021, RB started hiring away the majority of the Honda team to start the new Red Bull Powertrains division.

That’s what the announcers said. That Honda was out but some teams were still using their power plant but they had to scramble for support.

I think visually, the cars look great. They also seem more of a handful to drive, and you can kind of manhandle them around. The acceleration is great and translates well on TV. However, the superclipping at the end of some straights just makes me upset. On the back straight in AUS, some cars were dropping almost 50kph BEFORE the braking zone. It sounds and looks ridiculous. I estimate that before the end of the season, they will either further limit the amount of energy the engine can put into the battery, or allow the engines to make more power to compensate.

Yes they have to let off well before turns to harvest energy. So far MB seems ahead of the pack and Toto is smiling.

 

[Vercingetorix]

Have you noticed how soon they're lifting off on long straights so they can regen?! Kiss late braking passes goodbye.

I think this will help passing, not everybody will always regenerate. Then the blocking begins to try and keep the position with less battery.

 

[Pablo]

I’m foreseeing crazy erse passing

 

[slo town]

I think this will help passing, not everybody will always regenerate. Then the blocking begins to try and keep the position with less battery.

Time will tell, but even if there is more passing it’ll be because of battery management instead of big balls.

Scott

 

[Hall]

The cars are faster in acceleration but they are a few seconds slower on lap times because of the reduced downforce of the active aero cars.

Slower overall is completely normal following a regulation change. Given a little time, it's likely they'll have these new cars as fast (or faster) as the previous regulation cars.

Add to it the Heinz 57 Apple TV broadcast team

You realize this is the same broadcast crew that's been on F1's broadcast for years ? In recent years, you've been watching the UK Sky TV broadcast crew, not F1's.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

I'm a lifelong F1 fan who started watching in the late '60s as a 13 or 14 year old. The new 2026 rules are ridiculous. The virtue signaling by today's F1 is a joke. There is NOTHING GREEN about F1 but they sure try and convince you otherwise.

I find it ironic that F1 has now become so "green" the drivers are now distracted drivers because they have to manage their hybrid systems rather than simply driving the car to its maximum potential. Have you noticed how soon they're lifting off on long straights so they can regen?! Kiss late braking passes goodbye.

Add to it the Heinz 57 Apple TV broadcast team....,F1 is becoming unwatchable for me. Montoya is the only one who knows what he's talking about. In a strange way I'm almost relieved to be done with the politically correct, morally superior (in their minds) F1 charade.

The WEC is better in every way. And say what you want about IndyCar spec racing, but at least that's a true Driver's Championship.

Scott

Remember the changes to the power train were done to pull Audi in. Audi has made huge strides using the hybrid set up in WEC (Hypercar).

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

Slower overall is completely normal following a regulation change. Given a little time, it's likely they'll have these new cars as fast (or faster) as the previous regulation cars.

You realize this is the same broadcast crew that's been on F1's broadcast for years ? In recent years, you've been watching the UK Sky TV broadcast crew, not F1's.

Maybe. They lose so much time in the corners because of the low down force.

 

[edyvw]

I refuse to watch this hybrid clown show.

 

[Vercingetorix]

Anybody else feel bad for the Toyota clown show? They can’t beat Ferrari at LeMans so they sponsor Haas F1 who uses Ferrari power?

 

[JustN89]

MB and Ferrari and Red Bull and McClaren have their stuff together but that can be defined however you like - same - but definitely different than last year.

Did they ever say why Max’s rear locked up?

I think I saw RB release something that pointed to a software issue in the energy harvesting/braking transition.

 

[bdcardinal]

I was so happy to be able to figure out how to watch the Sky broadcast on apple TV. The new cars are underwhelming IMHO. At least the World of Outlaws and High Limit still have dangerous fast cars.