2026 F1 General Discussion Thread

Can a mod lock my season prediction thread? Thanks.

I saw a report somewhere this morning, with Adrian Newey saying they visited the Honda factory in November and they were shocked at how unprepared they were and to find out almost none of the people from the previous Honda engine project were still there as they had moved on to other projects within Honda outside of F1.

But… how could they not know that? It was heavily reported in the media several years ago. Honda pulled out of F1, they wound down the whole program. They then changed their mind and started a new program, from scratch and with different people involved. This was well known. I'm pretty sure I've posted on here last year that I expected them to be slow (albeit not this slow) for this exact reason - they were in the same boat as Audi and Red Bull in starting from scratch and it's only Mercedes and Ferrari who have continuity to build on.

I find it insane that Aston Martin could have entered into such a vital agreement with Honda without realising what they were signing up for. They could have expected to be better than where they are for sure - they should be hitting the kind of targets Audi seem to be successfully hitting. But Newey specifically stated in a quote I read this morning that he was surprised that key people from the previous Honda engine program were not there. How could they not know that? They had to know Honda was building this new capability from scratch and it was always going to be a learning curve. This stuff should have been in their contracts. They should have been working closely together for years. How on earth could this be a surprise?

In what way?

It would seem incredible that someone would deem an engine unimportant, so what is leading you to say that?

The fact Newey seemed so utterly oblivious to the goings on at Honda mainly which is insane.

And when he did realise how bad the engine was going to be could he not have compromised his design a bit to try an offset these vibration problems? Obviously its majority Honda at fault with that Red Bull Boxcar engine but the design must be adding to it given the demented level of vibrations.

Maybe he did but he's not bragging about it now. He said he reckons its 5th best chassis. If he was bluffing, he could saynits the best chassis and blame it all on the engine.

All in all, I'd say he's probably giving a fair assessment of the situation. I wouldn't accuse him of overestimating his ability. His ability has been proven plenty of times.

well the deal was signed in 2023, so long before he had anything to do with it, before he could have had any input on contractual terms.

And he has said the vibration problems did not appear in the dyno tests - at what point were engine manufacturers allowed to be the engine in a car and do real world tests to discover this?

Also reported this morning that Merc and Red Bull also have a vibration issues, just much smaller.

I genuinely don't know if or what design changes they could have made to alleviate the engine vibrating. My assumption would have been 'none' on the basis it is the engine vibrating and not the housing of it that is the issue. Are there any reports or information on line that points to where the design has failed the engine?

"Given AMs huge financial backing, this is surely an utterly unacceptable situation for Stroll Sr - he must be spitting flames!"

Not sure it is such "huge financial backing." AM are in trouble since Trumps tariffs and Stroll recently transferred $50m from the F1 team to AM , for the dubious lifetime rights to the AM name. Dubious , because if the team were to be sold it is unlikely they would want to retain the AM name.

Maybe I was wrong to single out Newey it should be Lawrences job but I would have assumed Watanabe, Stroll and Newey would have all been operating in lockstep. So thered be no big surprise like this. But theres been an utter failure of communication.

I dunno maybe theres nothing but given the insane vibration level compared to anyone else I was just thinking surely Newey could devise some small trick that might aleviate things slightly. It'd still be an utter dog but it might be a bit more driveable?

Unlike Hispania or Williams when their cars were falling apart and held together by prayer Aston Martin aren't short money.

what an utterly bizarre case.

I've no doubt Newry thinks an engine is incredibly important, but the lack of oversight or even just partnership knowledge is incredible.

Watching the onboards and my god what are these shyte regulations? The cars are losing acceleration about 5 seconds before the braking point on the back straight. Its absolutely pathetic to watch. It doesnt appear to be much of a driving challenge for the drivers either. Id say Monza and Baku could be seriously embarrassing.

I think this season could do irreparable damage to the F1 brand. Its new found popularity in the USA is a bit of a fad and fads dont last once the hype dies down. They also have betrayed their roots a lot over the last few years so I can see a major downturn in its popularity coming. As a lifelong fan I am only really interested in how this season plays out because I think it could be a complete and utter disaster.

Literally everyone warned them the power units would be like this and they still persevered with the regs. The mind boggles.

the car company (AM Lagonda) and the F1 team are two completely separate legal/corporate entities, with I assume the same largest shareholder.

….

Ive seen some of his other videos but none were as bad as that. 57kph reduction before braking!!!! 😯 WTF?

That is insane. I think this is by far the worst Formula in the 76 year history of the sport. Its not even close really. I cant think of any sport that has ever shot itself in the foot like this before.

I thought they did a good job with the last rule change re letting cars follow closer through corners, not totally wrecking the tyres and overheating the engines when following close. We didn't have the engineers telling the driver to back off and manage the race all the time instead of being able to attack.

It feels like they've changed to the driver's having to manage every lap.

Hopefully I'm wrong, I hope the mid field can stay within a pit stop window of the front runners, keep the strategy calls a bit interesting.