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The engine cover cannons, the overbite sidepod inlet and the vertical side cooling duct are all Mercedes updates. The updates work, just not on their car it seems.
As a very general point, this result isn't *that* out of the ordinary for McLaren since really July 2023.
I am emphatically not complaining - just that any oscillation is *generally* minor.
As the race put it: really from last summer it becomes odder when McLaren were *not* the 2nd strongest package.
Finally someone I agree with. On outright pace the redbull isnāt as fast as everyone thinks just verstap is amazing and itās the car with the least tyre deg
Hulkenberg has always been recognized as a higher-tier talent. His problem was that he always seemed to choke away great opportunities when they presented themselves.
He had maybe 3-4 podium opportunities in his whole career. Definitely enough to raise eyebrows that he didn't capitalize on any of them, but also not so many to say it's outside the realm of bad luck.
And after a while it becomes a self-fulfilling narrative. The pressure of not having had a podium makes it harder *not* to choke when you get close to one.
The list of drivers who have won F2 in their junior season are:
Hamilton
Rosberg
Leclerc
Russell
Piastri
Hulkenberg
There's a pattern, and it's not one of drivers who lack talent
What does turnaround mean ,he was always consistently on the edge of being signed by big team,he never got a chance,he was a bit unlucky.Any f1 fan can tell you without a doubt that his driving ability was never in question.
George never gets any credit when he deserves it. Only hate when he fucks up. And like being 0.001s behind the upgraded and hyped Ferrari. He definitely deserves credit for that.
I dislike the plastic action-man PR robot as much as the next racing fan, but he's been looking quite strong in that car this weekend given it is what it is. You know. A bathtub with a turbo charger on the plughole.
I mean 0.26 seconds isnāt exactly comparable to 0.001. Charles is less than that from pole position.
I donāt think we can discount the Ferrari upgrade yet, at least for it suiting Charles. Carlos has looked very weak in comparison
McLaren werenāt able to deliver a good qualifying in Miami, despite looking fast all weekend, and then went on to show an amazing race pace.
Right now McLaren are still ahead of Ferrari in one lap pace, but McLaren were ahead of Ferarri in one lap pace before Miami. Theyāve also had two weeks to understand the upgrades and tweak them. Their qualifying in Miami didnāt exactly grow great
Iām just saying Mercedes were closer than I expected to Ferrari when Ferrari brought in a big upgrade.
Ferrari were faster in qualifying than McLaren at the first three rounds although since then it seems like McLaren has stepped up or Ferrari have struggled at other tracks in qualifying trim.
Still I think it was fair for many to expect Ferrari to put in a closer fight to McLaren and Max with them constantly mentioning how they would only bring in their first major upgrade at Imola.
I legit thought Charles would be able to fight for pole and tbf he was sort of in the running in the first run for Q3, but in the final runs neither Ferrari could find much more time compared to the top three.
Maybe it gets better for Ferrari although with three practice sessions this weekend I think they had enough time to try and understand their upgrades. Either they still havenāt quite got the setup right for qualifying or the upgrades havenāt been as good as it was publicly expected. For their sake I hope itās more of the former and they can show strong race pace.
Wouldāve been nice to have pole, but the upgrades look like a step up. Track temps dropped and they constantly struggled in sector 1. Seems like they still have some issue with tire warmup. Weāll see how their race pace does. Early in qualifying they looked great even on mediums.
They still seem to struggle in finding more time towards the end of Q3 I feel. Maybe the race pace can be strong although at Imola it will be very hard to overtake on track so outside of the start trying to gain positions tomorrow would need to come through smart pit stop strategy or luck via a VSC or full SC.
I think the track temp dropping really hurt them. They really didnāt improve much in q3 because of their S1 times. They were bleeding time there all weekend and it really hurt their last run. .3 and .2s down after the first few corners.
I agree, race is going to be hard to pass. Going to need good strategy with the pits and maybe a SC
I think it's safe to say that the McLaren upgrades were not a flash in the pan at Miami.
Max is ridiculous (meant in the best way).
Great laps by both McLaren drivers. Shame it looks like Piastri will get a penalty, would have been good to see them team up on Verstappen tomorrow as I think they have the race pace too.
Really good job by both VCARB drivers and Hulk.
Also kudos to Russell, that's a really decent gap over Lewis.
The fact that both McLaren are less than a tenth behind and the other Red Bull is 11th is looking so good. I don't even care if McLaren don't win tomorrow, that fat that they're older again in the conversation about winning after what's happened over the last 12 years I'm just happy.
Today it really seems Max did the difference. The mclarens seemed to be faster but Max made the difference with a very good lap.
Now letās see race pace but mclaren is looking amazing
As with the past few race weeks, still hoping the SF24 is a race car for Sunday. Granted we do need to improve our quali one lap pace, but at least still keep if not improve the race pace.
Ferrari race pace has been good all season, but thereās been struggles since Australia for Charles, but for both drivers.
Charles got p2 last race but there was a lot of struggle from the surrounding drivers.
I think this was a step forward in Charles quali pace, although i think Carlos took a step backwards.
Charles didnāt improve in his second lap, and it definitely seemed like he had more pace to unlock if he put the lap together.
The Mclarenās have taken a big step forward though with this quali pace which makes it harder to show improvement.
Both Mclaren and Ferrari are closer to red bull and weāll see tomorrow how close Mclarens race pace is and what Ferrari have in store for race pace as well
If Piastri and Lando can challenge Max going forward and Perez being nowere. Season could get interesting.
If McLaren can give us a good race trim and keep the upgrades coming!
I'm still hesitant, in Miami while Lewis was rapid in the race George was beaten on pace by Yuki. With some safety car shenanigans it might be on for Yuki tomorrow.
Also interesting is Mercedes have completed their Miami upgrade this weekend and Allison described it as "not a revolution" and simply to make a gap to the other cars behind (I'm paraphrasing here).
But still they are nowhere near the McLarens and Ferrari, they are actually lucky Aston did an Aston Martin special with their in season upgrade and have again somehow regressed but catching McLaren and Ferrari seems a bit impossible now.
Yeah with the leap McLaren have made since their Miami upgrades I donāt think Mercedes can catch up to them for 3rd now.
Overtaking seems really hard at Imola (look at the F2 sprint race as an example) so I think as long as George gets a good enough start I donāt see him being beat by Yuki in a pure fight.
Youāre right though that RB themselves have seemed to get a lot closer to Mercedes since their own Miami upgrades, and it looks like theyāve replaced Aston Martin as the 5th fastest now.
Aston is a mystery, since 2023 their in season development actively regresses the car.
VCARB beating Mercs on pace seems a tall order and tbf their fight is more with Hulk in P10 so they'll probably focus on him but yeah still can't count them out.
Itās really disappointing compared to how much progress they had made at the start of 2023. I remember there was a midseason technical directive introduced last season and I wonder if that had any impact on Aston Martinās performance and upgrades?
Either case it seems like their best chance at moving up is to prepare for 2026 and hope Honda create a great engine too.
>midseason technical directive
Yeah iirc their front wings flexed beyond the regulations and they had to change a fair amount. But i think their issues are deeper than that cause after Ferrari, Aston had the most comprehensive update package this weekend yet seemingly they haven't shown pace at all. They might discount Alonso's race and just start him from the pitlane but Lance isn't doing any better. Let's see for tomorrow and their race pace.
>hope Honda create a great engine too.
Honda and AM are like a dark horse for 2026, no one really expects them to nail but you can't really count them out either.
Yeah second straight season introducing a massive upgrade and seemingly going backward in the field is a very disappointing trend.
2026 has a lot of changes with a new engine and I think a new chassis along with active aero being introduced. Honestly think all five of Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes, Aston Martin-Honda, and McLaren could have a shot at getting it right and putting themselves at the top. On paper Ferrari seems to have the most momentum and experience in recent times out of every one but this is never a guarantee for championships.
McLaren is entirely dependent on Mercedes getting the engine regs right tho, even with a superb chassis it'll be hard to outperform a shit engine. Though the Brixworth team hasn't really been "shit" has it since it got taken over entirely by Merc in 2005. I'd say Mercedes has an edge over Ferrari, RBPT and Honda on nailing the engine.
Ferrari had reliability issues as recently as in 2022 literally 8 years after the turbo hybrid era started and have only sorted it now but imo the ban on performance upgrades has aided them, not the mention the illegal engine in 2019.
RBPT have poached a lot of people however still remain unproven.
Honda had a disastrous start in 2014 but turned it around v well, arguably have had a higher peak than Ferrari. So they definitely look strong. Yet the ban on performance upgrades might have cushioned their titles post 2022.
Imo the chasis side is where all Ferrari, RB, McLaren have had higher peaks than Mercedes ever had so they might be a bit lost cause the ground effects are being carried over into 2026.
It's fun, rule changes always make for exciting seasons yet it also often ends with one team nailing the regs and just running away. Hopefully that's not the case in 2026.
Yeah so many unknowns for the top teams heading into 2026. Youāre right though that if the cars still rely primarily on ground effect for downforce in the new regs then currently that would hurt Mercedes and Aston Martin.
Iām curious how much the active aero could change things technically and if there are any changes in the suspension too.
With so many changes coming up I feel itās very likely one team runs away with it because that tends to be the case historically in the first year of new regulations. If Mercedes can come out with an incredible engine like they did back in 2014 maybe it could be a bit of a fight between them and McLaren but thatās it imo.
Nit really. This field has no backmarkers. The closest thing to it is the Sauber which is still a fighty thing in the right conditions. Fieldspread is the smallest it's ever been.
The few onboards we got of them today, the car looked like a pig to drive. They cut to Lewis in the last corner several times and every time the car was loose and unstable.
I do genuinely think theyāre 6th or 7th quickest and their drivers are pulling miracles every week to get points, combined with being a totally overmatched lineup for the midfield. Once Lewis leaves and drags staff with him they will fall very quickly. If only theyād listened and hadnāt been so set in their ways.
Donāt think weāve had a speed upgrade in 3 years with this Mercedes package.
Well we were doing ok end of 2022 but still itās not the point.
Supposedly these upgrades fix the high speed issues.
I think Lewis went the wrong setup again though. Georges car looked a really nice car to drive and I didnāt get to see an onboard of Lewisā to compare
Third (?) time this season where it looks like we're in it for pole and the pace vapourises by Q3. Fucking hell man... We had so much pace too in Q1 and a Leclerc in good quali form.
Lets goo Yuki! Otoh, anticlimatic for Ferrari after their upgrades.
Not optimistic about AM's pace but hopefully Stroll can snag a point or two with good strategy and/or SC timing luck, unlike Miami
Aston needs to smarten up and get Yuki for next year, if he continues to improve and get his emotions more under control he could find himself in the red bull seat for 26. And as much as he has a connection to Honda the chance to win a ship should be enough to sway him to stay at Red bull.
There should be a blanket ban on journalists predicting another team beating Red Bull on any given weekend. Iād rather the surprise than the disappointment.
Itās likely to be his 1000th lap in Imola since the end of 2022. He can drive around there with his eyes closed and his ears blocked. He was McLarenās wind tunnel correlation guinea pig.
Oh when counting sim time, of course itād be much more. But thatās different to the F1 grand prix weekend environment, especially with the wind changes today.
Max is exceptional. The first Q3 lap was on rails. The McLaren being 1 tenth behind with yellow sectors showed how equal the car performances were today.
McLarenās ascension is incredible, and it was around this time last year that Mika Hakkinen said in an interview that he believed McLaren were the only team that would be in the fight against Red Bull. We laughed. Now he laughs.
george absolutely maximized the hell out of the merc, only ~~0.01~~ 0.001 from ferrari is no joke. even though merc are firmly still below the top 3 teams, hopefully george can feel proud of that drive
Ric and Tsunoda both racing very well. Seems like the engineers are doing a fantastic job for both individual drivers.
Safe to put the āRicciardo is doneā nonsense at least until the end of the season.
So apparently Max got a giant slip stream from Hulk the entire start/finish straight to start his final lap. That's probably what made the difference between Piastri pole and Max improving his lap to take pole. Unreal.
Wow Max again out of the blue opened the turbo and secured one more Pole Position.
I am amazed by Mclaren, solid steps forward and maybe they will challenge Max tomorrow.
I hope Ferrari will unlock more performance from the new package.
[The **Statistics** flair](https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/wiki/flairguide#wiki_statistics) is reserved for posts highlighting interesting statistics. As a rule of thumb, Statistics posts need to inform readers through visualizations and insights that cannot be obtained from raw data alone. For example, a post containing a qualifying gap between two drivers expressed in tenths of a second is an easily obtainable raw piece of data and constitutes a bad Statistics post. A visualization of what that translates to on-track, or visualization of how that gap came to be would constitute a good Statistics post. *[Read the rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/wiki/userguide). Keep it civil and welcoming. Report rulebreaking comments.* *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/formula1) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Alonso P19 and Perez P11 š It's gonna be an interesting one tomorrow
Alonso didn't sound optimistic in the interview, said Imola is even worse than Singapore for overtaking.
They gonna start from the pit-lane probably after changing stuff in the Parc ferme and treat it like a glorified test session probably.
And wait for the accident at T1 to sweep by after it. P15 by end of lap 1.
Yup! Being at the front is probably a disadvantage here lol that first turn will be insane for sure
Alonso will probably start on harder tires and try to go long and hope for a cheap pit stop under SC/VSC. So not much as much overtaking by him.
This track was tough for overtaking 20 years ago. But now the cars are way too big for Imola which makes it worse.
Yeah, it's very narrow and full of low speed corners and chicanes, there's barely room for two cars side by side on the straights.
In Singapore you can overtake if you have the tire advantage, Imola doesn't allow even that.
Especially as they've gimped the DRS zone even more
But I thought since this track is in Europe it automatically has better racing than any track in the rest of the world.
Yeah, this is gonna be a headache given the overtaking abilities on the track. It'll certainly test both drivers.
Canāt speak to the battle on track, but the battle for Driver of the Day with all the overtakes from those two š¤š¤
Battle for DOTD.
not from Perez it isn't. He's clearly been told this season "I dont' care what position you get, just don't crash"
Mclaren upgrades are š„
Aston upgrades are š©
Plus Merc upgrades
Merc upgrades work. They just don't make the car faster. If stability in high speed is what you wanted, you have gotten it tbf
Yeah Merc upgrades have gone very well. Pretty pleased with them tbh.
I thought the goal was to make the car go fasterā¦ who cares for stability if it still means being slow?
The engine cover cannons, the overbite sidepod inlet and the vertical side cooling duct are all Mercedes updates. The updates work, just not on their car it seems.
As a very general point, this result isn't *that* out of the ordinary for McLaren since really July 2023. I am emphatically not complaining - just that any oscillation is *generally* minor. As the race put it: really from last summer it becomes odder when McLaren were *not* the 2nd strongest package.
Fastest car last week, and I'd say fastest car this week as well. It's just Max's brilliance which stopped them from taking the front row.
And the tow from Hulkenberg.
Finally someone I agree with. On outright pace the redbull isnāt as fast as everyone thinks just verstap is amazing and itās the car with the least tyre deg
i know this can be said nearly every week but i am so impressed by hulkenberg. what an incredible career turnaround from him.
Yeah, didn't expect he'll dominate Kmag so convincigly when he joined last year. He earned that Audi seat fair and square.
Iām surprised about this comment. He killed Sainz in their time together. Heās just been wrong place wrong time most of his career
Nobody seems to remember that ;)
Iāve always felt the exact same
He has ALWAYS been a class above the teams he's raced for and above Kmag as a driver.
i think Hulkenberg has the updated car but KMag is still driving the old one
Both are on the latest spec car now after only MAG had the floor update in Miami
was that the case for the entirety of last year lol
Hulkenberg has always been recognized as a higher-tier talent. His problem was that he always seemed to choke away great opportunities when they presented themselves.
He had maybe 3-4 podium opportunities in his whole career. Definitely enough to raise eyebrows that he didn't capitalize on any of them, but also not so many to say it's outside the realm of bad luck. And after a while it becomes a self-fulfilling narrative. The pressure of not having had a podium makes it harder *not* to choke when you get close to one.
A Norris Hulkenberg pairing in a midfield/upper midfield car would've been fascinating to watch
Same. I'm glad he has a seat for another few years.
As a future Audi fan, so happy to have him. Canāt wait to see who gets the second seat but Hulk is a great start
Good luck with seidl and more with key.
As a future Audi fan lmfao
The list of drivers who have won F2 in their junior season are: Hamilton Rosberg Leclerc Russell Piastri Hulkenberg There's a pattern, and it's not one of drivers who lack talent
What does turnaround mean ,he was always consistently on the edge of being signed by big team,he never got a chance,he was a bit unlucky.Any f1 fan can tell you without a doubt that his driving ability was never in question.
Hopefully he gets a good car when he goes to Audi!
Death, Taxes and Hulkenburg making Q3
Magnussen about to wait for the field to lap him so he can help Hulk lol
Wdym turnaround hulkenberg has always been a very good driver a class above the midfield drivers
OOOOLKENBEEERRRGGG
Wish we could see what he'd accomplish in a red bull
VCARB, so hot right now
We set ourself up for dissapointment once again.
got all hyped, hopeful and happy for nothing
The Ferrari way of life :(
but dont worry, we always got next year
This is the way. I was expecting a front row atleast.
They promised us an sf24 2.0. We got the sf24
Time for Dutch anthem boys!
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Correction: Mclaren are fighting Red Bull. Ferrari is also present.
The key is to be disappointed in advance so you donāt feel anything when it inevitably happens.
Come on, that was an amateur level of disappointment.
We never learn, do we?
Carlos only 0.001 second faster than George š
Perhaps it would be nice if George got some credit. Maxed the hell out of that car.
George never gets any credit when he deserves it. Only hate when he fucks up. And like being 0.001s behind the upgraded and hyped Ferrari. He definitely deserves credit for that.
He gets more than enough credit for his leading role in the Fallout series.
Not only that, but consistently beating his teammate in qualifying.
I dislike the plastic action-man PR robot as much as the next racing fan, but he's been looking quite strong in that car this weekend given it is what it is. You know. A bathtub with a turbo charger on the plughole.
I'm surprised he is so close to a Ferrari.
Even Charles was only 0.26s ahead of George. Considering how big and hyped up Ferrariās upgrades were supposed to be at Imola this is disappointing
I mean 0.26 seconds isnāt exactly comparable to 0.001. Charles is less than that from pole position. I donāt think we can discount the Ferrari upgrade yet, at least for it suiting Charles. Carlos has looked very weak in comparison McLaren werenāt able to deliver a good qualifying in Miami, despite looking fast all weekend, and then went on to show an amazing race pace. Right now McLaren are still ahead of Ferrari in one lap pace, but McLaren were ahead of Ferarri in one lap pace before Miami. Theyāve also had two weeks to understand the upgrades and tweak them. Their qualifying in Miami didnāt exactly grow great
Iām just saying Mercedes were closer than I expected to Ferrari when Ferrari brought in a big upgrade. Ferrari were faster in qualifying than McLaren at the first three rounds although since then it seems like McLaren has stepped up or Ferrari have struggled at other tracks in qualifying trim. Still I think it was fair for many to expect Ferrari to put in a closer fight to McLaren and Max with them constantly mentioning how they would only bring in their first major upgrade at Imola. I legit thought Charles would be able to fight for pole and tbf he was sort of in the running in the first run for Q3, but in the final runs neither Ferrari could find much more time compared to the top three. Maybe it gets better for Ferrari although with three practice sessions this weekend I think they had enough time to try and understand their upgrades. Either they still havenāt quite got the setup right for qualifying or the upgrades havenāt been as good as it was publicly expected. For their sake I hope itās more of the former and they can show strong race pace.
Wouldāve been nice to have pole, but the upgrades look like a step up. Track temps dropped and they constantly struggled in sector 1. Seems like they still have some issue with tire warmup. Weāll see how their race pace does. Early in qualifying they looked great even on mediums.
They still seem to struggle in finding more time towards the end of Q3 I feel. Maybe the race pace can be strong although at Imola it will be very hard to overtake on track so outside of the start trying to gain positions tomorrow would need to come through smart pit stop strategy or luck via a VSC or full SC.
I think the track temp dropping really hurt them. They really didnāt improve much in q3 because of their S1 times. They were bleeding time there all weekend and it really hurt their last run. .3 and .2s down after the first few corners. I agree, race is going to be hard to pass. Going to need good strategy with the pits and maybe a SC
I think it's safe to say that the McLaren upgrades were not a flash in the pan at Miami. Max is ridiculous (meant in the best way). Great laps by both McLaren drivers. Shame it looks like Piastri will get a penalty, would have been good to see them team up on Verstappen tomorrow as I think they have the race pace too. Really good job by both VCARB drivers and Hulk. Also kudos to Russell, that's a really decent gap over Lewis.
What's the penalty for?
Looks like a slam dunk penalty for impeding KMag in Q1 https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/s/TTfA6ZluBe
Piastri deserved the penalty, but Magnussen sure as hell deserved the inconvenience
Impeding Magnussen in Q1. Not confirmed yet but heāll be very lucky if he gets away with it.
The fact that both McLaren are less than a tenth behind and the other Red Bull is 11th is looking so good. I don't even care if McLaren don't win tomorrow, that fat that they're older again in the conversation about winning after what's happened over the last 12 years I'm just happy.
I doubt anyone else in today's grid would have put that RB into pole except Max. Lewis and Alonso in their prime maybe.
It's just the car with Max. /s
Today it really seems Max did the difference. The mclarens seemed to be faster but Max made the difference with a very good lap. Now letās see race pace but mclaren is looking amazing
McLaren comfortably the best Mercedes team. I have waited for this moment for years.
Ferrari looked good in S2 and S3. With a possible penalty for Piastri, I still there's a chance they can be competitive in race trim.
As with the past few race weeks, still hoping the SF24 is a race car for Sunday. Granted we do need to improve our quali one lap pace, but at least still keep if not improve the race pace.
Ferrari race pace has been good all season, but thereās been struggles since Australia for Charles, but for both drivers. Charles got p2 last race but there was a lot of struggle from the surrounding drivers. I think this was a step forward in Charles quali pace, although i think Carlos took a step backwards. Charles didnāt improve in his second lap, and it definitely seemed like he had more pace to unlock if he put the lap together. The Mclarenās have taken a big step forward though with this quali pace which makes it harder to show improvement. Both Mclaren and Ferrari are closer to red bull and weāll see tomorrow how close Mclarens race pace is and what Ferrari have in store for race pace as well
Charles improved in his 2nd lap by 4 hundredths I think
Imagine telling someone in 2020 that Mclaren would be better than Mercedes 4 years later LOL
Was it 2020 or 2021 that Lando started the year with a podium in COVID Austria?
2020
Eh imagine more like 2018
McLaren are so close to Red Bull. close fight could be on the table tomorrow.
Race pace can be totally different then Qualy pace though. I did not see the long runs, were they close?
They were ahead
They were but Verstappen was also having issue yesterday. https://reddit.com/r/formula1/comments/1cu9wx9/fp2_top_4_teams_long_runs_pace/
Ah yea. Max 2 tenth behind Perez shows me enough. Prob a Max win tomorrow then
Letās hope the race pace is as good as the quali pace.
Looked pretty good on the only long runs we saw yesterday.
If Piastri and Lando can challenge Max going forward and Perez being nowere. Season could get interesting. If McLaren can give us a good race trim and keep the upgrades coming!
McLaren looking amazing, and RB looking pretty strong here too. Good quali all round, especially with Max actually having to work for it.
Max the ultimate edger
Ham bot ver 2.0
Perez really likes the number 11
This is embarassing for Mercedes, they are literally getting caught by the "backmarker" teams.
On the other hand Russell only being 0.26s behind the fastest Ferrari with their big upgrades in qualifying is a relative step forward for them
I'm still hesitant, in Miami while Lewis was rapid in the race George was beaten on pace by Yuki. With some safety car shenanigans it might be on for Yuki tomorrow. Also interesting is Mercedes have completed their Miami upgrade this weekend and Allison described it as "not a revolution" and simply to make a gap to the other cars behind (I'm paraphrasing here). But still they are nowhere near the McLarens and Ferrari, they are actually lucky Aston did an Aston Martin special with their in season upgrade and have again somehow regressed but catching McLaren and Ferrari seems a bit impossible now.
Yeah with the leap McLaren have made since their Miami upgrades I donāt think Mercedes can catch up to them for 3rd now. Overtaking seems really hard at Imola (look at the F2 sprint race as an example) so I think as long as George gets a good enough start I donāt see him being beat by Yuki in a pure fight. Youāre right though that RB themselves have seemed to get a lot closer to Mercedes since their own Miami upgrades, and it looks like theyāve replaced Aston Martin as the 5th fastest now.
Aston is a mystery, since 2023 their in season development actively regresses the car. VCARB beating Mercs on pace seems a tall order and tbf their fight is more with Hulk in P10 so they'll probably focus on him but yeah still can't count them out.
Itās really disappointing compared to how much progress they had made at the start of 2023. I remember there was a midseason technical directive introduced last season and I wonder if that had any impact on Aston Martinās performance and upgrades? Either case it seems like their best chance at moving up is to prepare for 2026 and hope Honda create a great engine too.
>midseason technical directive Yeah iirc their front wings flexed beyond the regulations and they had to change a fair amount. But i think their issues are deeper than that cause after Ferrari, Aston had the most comprehensive update package this weekend yet seemingly they haven't shown pace at all. They might discount Alonso's race and just start him from the pitlane but Lance isn't doing any better. Let's see for tomorrow and their race pace. >hope Honda create a great engine too. Honda and AM are like a dark horse for 2026, no one really expects them to nail but you can't really count them out either.
Yeah second straight season introducing a massive upgrade and seemingly going backward in the field is a very disappointing trend. 2026 has a lot of changes with a new engine and I think a new chassis along with active aero being introduced. Honestly think all five of Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes, Aston Martin-Honda, and McLaren could have a shot at getting it right and putting themselves at the top. On paper Ferrari seems to have the most momentum and experience in recent times out of every one but this is never a guarantee for championships.
McLaren is entirely dependent on Mercedes getting the engine regs right tho, even with a superb chassis it'll be hard to outperform a shit engine. Though the Brixworth team hasn't really been "shit" has it since it got taken over entirely by Merc in 2005. I'd say Mercedes has an edge over Ferrari, RBPT and Honda on nailing the engine. Ferrari had reliability issues as recently as in 2022 literally 8 years after the turbo hybrid era started and have only sorted it now but imo the ban on performance upgrades has aided them, not the mention the illegal engine in 2019. RBPT have poached a lot of people however still remain unproven. Honda had a disastrous start in 2014 but turned it around v well, arguably have had a higher peak than Ferrari. So they definitely look strong. Yet the ban on performance upgrades might have cushioned their titles post 2022. Imo the chasis side is where all Ferrari, RB, McLaren have had higher peaks than Mercedes ever had so they might be a bit lost cause the ground effects are being carried over into 2026. It's fun, rule changes always make for exciting seasons yet it also often ends with one team nailing the regs and just running away. Hopefully that's not the case in 2026.
Yeah so many unknowns for the top teams heading into 2026. Youāre right though that if the cars still rely primarily on ground effect for downforce in the new regs then currently that would hurt Mercedes and Aston Martin. Iām curious how much the active aero could change things technically and if there are any changes in the suspension too. With so many changes coming up I feel itās very likely one team runs away with it because that tends to be the case historically in the first year of new regulations. If Mercedes can come out with an incredible engine like they did back in 2014 maybe it could be a bit of a fight between them and McLaren but thatās it imo.
Nit really. This field has no backmarkers. The closest thing to it is the Sauber which is still a fighty thing in the right conditions. Fieldspread is the smallest it's ever been.
Yeah hence I put the word backmarkers in qoutes.
The few onboards we got of them today, the car looked like a pig to drive. They cut to Lewis in the last corner several times and every time the car was loose and unstable. I do genuinely think theyāre 6th or 7th quickest and their drivers are pulling miracles every week to get points, combined with being a totally overmatched lineup for the midfield. Once Lewis leaves and drags staff with him they will fall very quickly. If only theyād listened and hadnāt been so set in their ways.
Remember when Allison was supposed to turn the team around? Yeah i bet Mike Elliott is quietly enjoying this somewhere.
Donāt think weāve had a speed upgrade in 3 years with this Mercedes package. Well we were doing ok end of 2022 but still itās not the point. Supposedly these upgrades fix the high speed issues. I think Lewis went the wrong setup again though. Georges car looked a really nice car to drive and I didnāt get to see an onboard of Lewisā to compare
Canāt resolve tire temperature issues over how many years now? š
Don't worry, they will fix the temp issues (and then reintroduce massive tire degradation).
Max' comeback (from the practice sessions) and Yuki's performance were the highlights for me!
Third (?) time this season where it looks like we're in it for pole and the pace vapourises by Q3. Fucking hell man... We had so much pace too in Q1 and a Leclerc in good quali form.
Is Piastri under investigation for impeding Kmag?
Yeap, he will more likely start P5
Yep.
I missed the show, what happened to Sargeant?
he breached track limits all 3 fast laps according to Williams' qualifying report.
Thanks!
Lets goo Yuki! Otoh, anticlimatic for Ferrari after their upgrades. Not optimistic about AM's pace but hopefully Stroll can snag a point or two with good strategy and/or SC timing luck, unlike Miami
Hope Stroll gets a good start. He's pretty good on start normally
LETS GO YUKI! P7 to just continue his insane run of form
Aston needs to smarten up and get Yuki for next year, if he continues to improve and get his emotions more under control he could find himself in the red bull seat for 26. And as much as he has a connection to Honda the chance to win a ship should be enough to sway him to stay at Red bull.
O5CAR PIA5TRI
Are the 5s for incoming 5 palce grid penalty -____-
3 place. Which would move him from 2nd to 5th
How it started: *Aston Martin last year at this time* How itās going: *Aston rn*
It'a going down baby!!
COMETH THE MAANN, COMETH THE POLE. MAX VERSTAPPEN
I see the Aston downgrades are working well
There should be a blanket ban on journalists predicting another team beating Red Bull on any given weekend. Iād rather the surprise than the disappointment.
Cucked once more! Hoping Yuki gets a good result and Mclaren and Ferrari's race pace can put on a good show.
Max Verstappen the Real Madrid of F1.
Considering this is Piastriās first time racing here, thatās a huge qualifying performance
Itās likely to be his 1000th lap in Imola since the end of 2022. He can drive around there with his eyes closed and his ears blocked. He was McLarenās wind tunnel correlation guinea pig.
Oh when counting sim time, of course itād be much more. But thatās different to the F1 grand prix weekend environment, especially with the wind changes today.
Not on the sim, the actual track.
Impressed by Verstappen, Hulkenberg, the McLarens and the Vcarbs.
Yuki 7sunoda
Max is exceptional. The first Q3 lap was on rails. The McLaren being 1 tenth behind with yellow sectors showed how equal the car performances were today.
Aw
This is the end of Sargentās career right? That was abysmal.
McLarenās ascension is incredible, and it was around this time last year that Mika Hakkinen said in an interview that he believed McLaren were the only team that would be in the fight against Red Bull. We laughed. Now he laughs.
The ferrari is just dogshit in quali , sainz and leclerc both slower in the first sector than their best lap in final run.
george absolutely maximized the hell out of the merc, only ~~0.01~~ 0.001 from ferrari is no joke. even though merc are firmly still below the top 3 teams, hopefully george can feel proud of that drive
Ric and Tsunoda both racing very well. Seems like the engineers are doing a fantastic job for both individual drivers. Safe to put the āRicciardo is doneā nonsense at least until the end of the season.
So apparently Max got a giant slip stream from Hulk the entire start/finish straight to start his final lap. That's probably what made the difference between Piastri pole and Max improving his lap to take pole. Unreal.
That's qualifying for you. The tows are so critical if you can land one
Mclaren has been the highlight! That pace š
Unfortunate that KMag is too far away to help Yuki stay ahead of Hamilton
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Can someone explain the gap column to me? It's incorrect right?
With limited overtake opportunities, the chances of a snoozer tomorrow are....significant. Maybe it rains?
Wtf is wrong with perez?
Heās South American
Nothing he sucks as usual
They couldnt even make it to the front row :(
Max āCall an ambulance..but not for meā Verstappen
Man without Verstappen weād be constantly hearing about how inconsistent and hard to set up the RBR is
McLaren is actually back, arenāt they? Also, VCARB looking great.
On a track where driver matters, useless Perez shows where he truly belongs. Hopefully he gets kicked out of the RB seat
Congratulations to Stroll for out qualifying Alonso
Itās insane how hard Max is carrying Redbull.
Checo will never get to P5. He's old, slow and washed! Time for RBR to replace him with Ricciardo, the sooner the better!
Hamilton .270 slower than Russell
Wow Max again out of the blue opened the turbo and secured one more Pole Position. I am amazed by Mclaren, solid steps forward and maybe they will challenge Max tomorrow. I hope Ferrari will unlock more performance from the new package.
Ferrari going the AM way of upgrades as one can see
Perez showing he's an overrated driver again
What happened to logan?
Lap time deleted
Hulk +Audi wow
Well until next week.
Is sargeant allowed to race with no time? or does it not matter since it was deleted times? Thinking of the 107% rule
Sergio is going to duct tape this graphic to the inside of his eyelids in case he starts to get comfortable againĀ
Why is Sargeant starting from the back? (Never thought I would ask this)
For some reason, every time they say a circuit is bad for overtaking, it turns out not to be that bad. I hope this will be the case as well.
Fucking get in there Yuki!
Is Sargeant going to race? Wonder if heāll last the season
Go Go Papaya!!!
RB is now fighting with Mercedes on pure pace š
P11-P14 didnāt post any Q3 lap times, this table is misleading
The graphic is all wrong. Q2 times for the bottom 5 etc.
I really didnāt think Max was going to make it today.