2026 F1 Thread

[serfty]

Looks a bit damp ...

 

[moa999]

My back is getting soaked, my front is just under a Heineken umbrella.

Absolutely massive monsoon just rolled in about 2.30 local

Getting a little lighter but still raining

 

[kookaburra75]

Stay dry and classy @JessicaTam and @moa999

 

[kookaburra75]

Got two behind us for (real) child and her partner
Sorry Kooka and Deja

@DejaBrew , Martine only called him her 'real' child, not her favourite. We might still have a chance then

 

[TheRealTMA]

Stay dry and classy @JessicaTam and @moa999

One out ot two ain’t bad!

 

[MARTINE]

All I am seeing is crowd shots.
What you wearing @JessicaTam and @moa999 ?
Wave!!

 

[mel-world]

Quite an entertaining race spoilt by over complex regulations. I don't often agree with Martin Brundle but thought he was right today re lapped drivers during a safety car. Glad to see VER win. RUS cannot win a trick. A bit like Oscar last year.

 

[jastel]

Just add water for a better race.

Why do they make wet tyres if they wont use them?

Waiting 3 laps for PER to overtake the field is stupid too....fair enough if they are "in the way" of the top 10, but PER can barely keep up with the Pace Car..

$%@% Max won....that wasnt supposed to happen... where is the Dutch and Austrian National Anthem.....

 

[JessicaTam]

All I am seeing is crowd shots.
What you wearing @JessicaTam and @moa999 ?
Wave!!

I was sitting on the south side of the main grandstand. Facing turns 8 and 9 near the point of the 'V' of the north and south sections. There were no cameras anywhere near, so no shots.

But just in case - I was wearing a papaya coloured polo shirt, so I should be easy to spot.

 

[Scarlett]

Some rather interesting teams tactics to be reviewed from that race. It was being shown in the breakfast room here in my hotel in Montevideo.

Ferrari doing their random plan generator is expected, so great drives from HAM and LEC to get back from the tail of the field. However what were McLaren thinking keeping PIA on hards? Twice? Everyone else on softs was moving up the field. Maybe they’ve just given up this season and accepted they’re not as fast as Merc, Red Bull and Ferrari…

 

[JessicaTam]

Some thoughts on the race -

The rain came down in torrents, and some very close lightning as well. So I don't begrudge them delaying the start initially. The medical car did a lap every five minutes after the storm started abating. On their first lap they were sliding appreciably. Admittedly, that was fun to watch. But by their second run, they had traction and I reckon the race should have started then. Even if it was on mandatory inters or wets. Not waited as long as they did.

There was some good overtaking to watch. PIA made a couple of them just in front of us as he climbed back through the field from the pit lane start after his tyre change.

Transport - an utter cluster. The roads were closed in some areas to give buses priority, but by the time the cars were redirected, they were blocking the buses. There was very little control at intersections which led to this. A much greater police presence was necessary. I have just got back to my hotel after leaving the track five hours ago. I got a Grab from the dedicated pick up spot the shuttle dropped me, and that trip was 2 1/2 hours.

@moa999 was a bit behind me on the way to the shuttle stop and got caught in stupid traffic. He is probably another hour or so away. And he caught the train from KLIA which is actually quicker.

[/rant]

 

[eastwest101]

Some thoughts on the race -

The rain came down in torrents, and some very close lightning as well. So I don't begrudge them delaying the start initially. The medical car did a lap every five minutes after the storm started abating. On their first lap they were sliding appreciably. Admittedly, that was fun to watch. But by their second run, they had traction and I reckon the race should have started then. Even if it was on mandatory inters or wets. Not waited as long as they did.

There was some good overtaking to watch. PIA made a couple of them just in front of us as he climbed back through the field from the pit lane start after his tyre change.

Transport - an utter cluster. The roads were closed in some areas to give buses priority, but by the time the cars were redirected, they were blocking the buses. There was very little control at intersections which led to this. A much greater police presence was necessary. I have just got back to my hotel after leaving the track five hours ago. I got a Grab from the dedicated pick up spot the shuttle dropped me, and that trip was 2 1/2 hours.

@moa999 was a bit behind me on the way to the shuttle stop and got caught in stupid traffic. He is probably another hour or so away. And he caught the train from KLIA which is actually quicker.

[/rant]

I saw the race live, the crowd seemed very vocal and it seemed like there was quite the atmosphere there within the circuit and with the crowd, even if the actual logistics were a bit wonky.

I think this race will be the pivotal point and the death knell of hybrid powertrains with such electronic complexity for F1 racing - the calls for traditional V8 or V10's will continue to escalate..

Not quite the debacle of Spa in 2021, and at least we got enough racing to see the outcomes of different strategies and tyre choices and saw quite a bit of random chance, but also some driver skill demonstrated on track, so got to see driver skill play more of a role in determining the points rather than just the technically superior car zooming off into the sunset.