2026 F1 Thread

[kookaburra75]

Interesting chatter on Whirlpool - which I found on the Ask the Pilot thread about getting the cars and teams to Australia

F1: General Discussion - Motorsport - Sport - Whirlpool Forums

forums.whirlpool.net.au

The observations about Aston Martin are news to me.

 

[DejaBrew]

The observations about Aston Martin are news to me.

Hadn't heard about them potentially retiring early, but I guess it will depend on whether they've sorted the vibration issues and also how many spare parts they've got on hand. This early in the season you wouldn't want to be damaging too much....

 

[JessicaTam]

Interesting chatter on Whirlpool - which I found on the Ask the Pilot thread about getting the cars and teams to Australia

F1: General Discussion - Motorsport - Sport - Whirlpool Forums

forums.whirlpool.net.au

The observations about Aston Martin are news to me.

This comment made me laugh:

Leclerc might have a chance of winning, if Ferrari strategy team is stuck in transit.

 

[DejaBrew]

Leclerc might have a chance of winning, if Ferrari strategy team is stuck in transit.

LEC: Where is the Strategy Team?
Pit Wall: We are checking.....

 

[eastwest101]

LEC: Where is the Strategy Team?
Pit Wall: We are checking.....

 

[DejaBrew]

Further to the reports of Aston Martin considering to retire early from the Australian GP....

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/aston-martin-plans-early-australian-gp-retirements-amid-honda-f1-crisis/10801586/

Key paragraphs...

Honda is completely unprepared for the Australian Grand Prix, with multiple engine failures in Bahrain jeopardising spare parts supplies, to the extent Aston Martin considered skipping Melbourne by invoking force majeure. But this would have been a PR disaster for F1 as its new technical era begins, and Aston would have had to pay compensation for breaking the Concorde Agreement’s terms. The AMR26s will be in Australia, but only intend to make the 107% rule to qualify for the grid and race for a few laps before retiring.

Aston’s chief strategy officer Andy Cowell, who led Mercedes’ F1 engine department to multiple world titles, has been sent to Japan, but time is running out to restore basic reliability before even working on performance. Newey is believed to have sarcastically commented that Honda’s internal combustion engine wasn’t powerful enough to recharge the battery – it reportedly lacks some 80hp in those conditions.

The disaster is undermining Aston Martin’s image, after billionaire Lawrence Stroll invested heavily in state-of-the-art facilities in Silverstone and key staff hires including team principal and tech chief Newey.

Sounds like the team is in a whole world of pain right now. On the plus side, this has all the makings of a very amusing Lollipop Man F1 video!!