2026 F1 Thread

[DejaBrew]

LAW taking out HUL
Jinxberg
HAM speaking Italian

 

[jastel]

Pretty Funny and I'm not talking about Clarkson's hair....

 

[cjd600]

LAW taking out HUL
Jinxberg
HAM speaking Italian

Jinxberg hilarious

 

[jastel]

117K views · 6.3K reactions | Lift to fly. F1 formula1 austrian gp George Russell, Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc #f1 #formula1 #georgerussell #austriangp #charlesleclerc | The Lollipop Man

Lift to fly. F1 formula1 austrian gp George Russell, Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc #f1 #formula1 #georgerussell #austriangp #charlesleclerc

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FIA making a mess of things again...

 

[DejaBrew]

 

[jastel]

 

[jastel]

ALO wins the British F1 Grand Prix...LEGO Edition.

 

[DejaBrew]

ALO wins the British F1 Grand Prix...LEGO Edition.

But I suspect there will be an appeal lodged by Cadillac regarding ALO's "brake check" on BOT

Seriously though, such a fun way to do the drivers' parade. The drivers seem to love it, the crowd loves it, the broadcasters love it. And it also provides another opportunity for Mohammed Ben Sulayem to insert himself into the proceedings

PS> Lollipopman nailed the sprint race

 

[cjd600]

Jeez, the yo-yo battery racing can be a hard watch sometimes.....at least some exciting wheel-to-wheel action....but......fake racing

 

[DejaBrew]

So disappointing to see the race finish under the SC. LEC thoroughly deserved the win, but it felt like such an underwhelming finish to what was otherwise an relatively entertaining race.

 

[moa999]

What happens when you don't have a Michael Masi in charge.

I'm still surprised that better procedures weren't the result of tha investigation of that finish - ie. Let lapped cars drop back rather than overtake, or compulsory red flag for Incidents with 2-5 laps to go for example.

 

[DejaBrew]

I'm still surprised that better procedures weren't the result of tha investigation of that finish - ie. Let lapped cars drop back rather than overtake, or compulsory red flag for Incidents with 2-5 laps to go for example.

Actually, the investigation did result in better procedures, albeit on the basis of last night's race, it's still not ideal.

For those who don't know or are curious, here's a good AI-generated summary of the changes stemming from Abu Dhabi 2021....

1. "Any" became "all" for lapped cars
   The biggest rule change was to the wording governing unlapping.
   
   Before 2022, the regulations said that "any lapped cars" could be allowed to overtake the Safety Car. During Abu Dhabi 2021, then-race director Michael Masi allowed only the five lapped cars between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen to unlap themselves, while leaving other lapped cars in place.
   
   The FIA amended the Sporting Regulations so they now explicitly state that all cars lapped by the leader must be allowed to overtake if the unlapping procedure is used. That removes the possibility of selectively choosing only certain cars.
   
   
2. The restart timing became more clearly defined
   The regulations were also adjusted to clarify exactly when the Safety Car can come in after the "LAPPED CARS MAY NOW OVERTAKE" message is issued.
   
   The revised rule states that, unless the Safety Car is still needed, it returns to the pits at the end of the following lap after the unlapping message is sent. This provides a more objective sequence and reduces the scope for improvised timing decisions.
   
   
3. Automating the unlapping process
   In its review of Abu Dhabi 2021, the FIA concluded that identifying which cars should unlap themselves had been a manual process.
   
   For 2022, it introduced software to automate the identification and communication of the lapped cars eligible to overtake, reducing the chance of human error during a hectic Safety Car period.
   
   
4. Race control reforms beyond the rulebook
   The FIA also made broader procedural changes:
   - Michael Masi was removed as race director.
   - Direct radio lobbying from team principals to race control during races was greatly restricted.
   - Race control responsibilities were redistributed to reduce the workload on a single race director.
   - A remote operations center, similar in concept to VAR in football, was introduced to assist race control with decision-making.

What the FIA was trying to achieve
The FIA's investigation concluded that the Abu Dhabi controversy arose from an unprecedented combination of pressure, manual procedures, and ambiguous wording in the regulations—not from a deliberate attempt to influence the championship. Its reforms therefore focused on making Safety Car restarts more rule-based and less dependent on discretionary decisions by the race director.

In practical terms, under the post-2021 rules, race control cannot recreate the Abu Dhabi sequence by allowing only selected lapped cars to pass and immediately restarting the race. Either all eligible lapped cars are released under the prescribed procedure, or they remain in position, making the restart process much more standardized.