Soldato
I missed that while glancing through the list. It is well-deserved.
Motorsport Off Topic Thread
- Thread starter Shimmy
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That's interesting to hear and should be better for us as spectators if they can both pull out remarkable drives. If he really can follow Max down a very niche setup path then it gives exciting options for the team as a whole especially if they've got a Newey jr. up their sleeves.
That being said the closer grid in the second half of the season has been a welcome change to the status quo, so I don't want them disappearing off into the distance. I've got high hopes for the coming season.
Associate
My worry for the final season before a regulation change is that you can sometimes get teams throwing in the towel quite early if they aren't really closely competiting for the WDC/WCC so they can switch focus to the following season.
I am actually really hopeful that we're going to have a great season though because, as you said, the second half of last season we had everyone really close up. There were tracks where McLaren were fastest, tracks where Ferrari excelled, that strange middle part of the season where Mercedes suddenly looked like the best car for 3 races, and then Max being Max and somehow winning races in a car that was probably 3rd or 4th fastest on some weekends.
It was also really good further down the field seeing Alpine turn their season launching boat into a car that Gasly was regularly breaking into Q3 with or Haas just have a really solid season.
By all accounts the RB20 was a bit of a dog to drive, it's just that Verstappen was able to extract much more out of it than Perez, hence the huge points gap between the two.
His (Senna like) ability to get the very best out of his machinery is one of his main strengths, and why the Dutchman should never be discounted wherever he ends up on the grid come race day.
I'm hoping for extremely close racing this season before the 2026 rules reset, I certainly don't expect any team to drive off into the distance this year.
The Alpine turnaround was the surprise of the season for me, it was good to see them move up the grid.
It'll be interesting to see how much the Merc engine improves their performance, as they've had the worst engine for a while now. Obviously packaging, etc. will be affected, but that engine was so bad you could add a parachute and the Merc version would still be faster.
Caporegime
The 2026 engines are a big change from the current engines, who knows what the engine hierarchy will look like.
Soldato
I heard that lego are getting involved in the building of them!
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I think it's still fair to assume that the Renault engine would be terrible - it's been a weakness of theirs for years, although who knows what could happen with the simplified 2026 versions as those areas are where Renault struggled (split turbo and energy recovery).
Caporegime
Strikes me as a sample of one though. There have been engine reg tweaks since 2014, but they haven't really shaken things up much. Before that, the Renault engine had just taken four titles on the top in the back of Vettel's Red Bull. Mind you, Renault F1 have in general been a mess lately, so perhaps it is fair to assume that'd carry on?
I think it's largely down to poor management/decision making, or possibly just the lack of knowledge. Honda had a rough start but pivoted and ended up with the best engine on the grid/trading places with Merc. Renault would probably do better with the 2026 engine given lessons learnt.
Their V8 wasn't great either, but those were simpler engines so the deficit wasn't as bad as with the hybrid engines- RB made up for it in the corners though. Renault during the V10 era was probably their strongest showing.
Soldato
Since 1992 Renault engines have won 12 constructors championships, second-most in history after Ferrari.
Associate
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Renault have withdrawn from F1 in 2026 though so just 1 more season of lacklustre performance then we get to see how Audi and Ford manage in their debut
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Isn't that just the engine division, I thought Alpine were using Mercedes engines from 2026 onwards?
Associate
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Renault is the engine manufacturer, Alpine the team name, yes Alpine are set to join 2026 currently, it's just that the way recent posts read Renualt engines will be in 2026
Associate
Has anyone been to the Formula 1 exhibition at London ExCel?
Bit of money, but very awesome!
Has goosebumps when I came back out
Believe it’s extended until beginning of March also!
Bit of money, but very awesome!
Has goosebumps when I came back out
Believe it’s extended until beginning of March also!
Totally forgot all about this, ticket booked, appreciate the reminder.
Caporegime
Gotta admit, I think this is going to be one hell of a season:
