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Or maybe the updated wind tunnel arrived too late ?

Anyway, SPA this week.

Apparently it will show (again) the limits of 2026's Hybrid combo, team mates have hugely different lap times in FP due to how difficult it is to prep the battery for a fast lap.

I expect a very chaotic quali as a result. Probably ridiculous as well.

However, with many grid penalties, and Mc Laren's engine update, I hope for a nice race. Ofc, either Antonelli or Russell could be half a lap away after 3 laps too, but I'm pretty certain some nice fights will happen for top ten spots.

Spa is among the greatest circuits in the world. I adore the track, and have all through the years, in every configuration. And this track has seen massive changes down the years of course. I'm sure I've driven more miles here than any track aside from the Nordschleife. Spa is just so nice. Fantastic turns, elevation change (it doesn't really show how much on TV, or even in the cockpit). It is a perfect surface, smooth as can be. Kerbs are nice. Scenery is beautiful, and Eau Rogue is among the most famous corners in racing. There was talk a few years ago of dropping Spa and I'm so happy they did not. I guess the facility is lacking in some ways (seating, parking, concessions, etc) but luckily it remains on the schedule.

There are only two heavy braking zones and they come together, at the end and beginning of the lap (Bus Stop, La Source) so yes, we could see some dead battery overtakes, and Spa is naturally one of the better overtaking tracks, so I hope to see a bunch and more chaos please.

This image reveals how much elevation change Spa has

Spa Elevation

Spa is also my all times favorite, with Monza not too far back.

It's just sad that it will stop being raced every year now

Pretty nice race eh ?

Grats Kimi, no sweat win despite events. Charles fought well and is believing in himself, that's great !

Poor Russell was quite unlucky.

Hadjar got a solid aura boost, good job really.

Really fun season so far, hope Kimi isn't so dominant next races and the others come back a bit.

Max's pass at the start was epic, too bad he couldn't hold it.

Yeah, not a bad race. Kimi continues to impress and is world champion in waiting. If he wins the first as a teenager he could go on to set all the records, but will need to have the car under him to do it. But if he does, he has shown he has the stuff to make it count. He's fast and fearless. Max 2.0

That George had closed the gap only to see it double again is making this season fun. The frustration will continue to build and an explosion of some kind is coming. To watch Antonelli walk away with what Russell surely thought was his will tear him up.

We need the other top three teams to close the gap just a bit. At the moment Merc is just fast enough to not be troubled. Two or three tenths a lap will do it.

Hungary, last chance for Aston to save the season from ridicule.

Fez dominant in free practise 1 and 2, but as always, that means little.

Still, I hope for a good race, with many more overtakes than in previous seasons.

his algorithm just deployed the energy early while merc deployed it later, it's not racing

Yeah, well I think we are well past that. You can either accept it for what it is, or rail against it. I don't think any of us are fans of these regs, but that's what we have this year. You can accept or ignore the drawbacks of the brand of racing on offer this year, or consider it untenable and come back next year, maybe. If you are going to dismiss everything based on the regs then maybe a year off is a good idea.

I don't disagree in the main, but it was still an epic pass in one of the most dangerous corners on earth, regardless of why Max was able to pull it off.



Same, but not expecting it. Of course Hungaroring is not usually conducive to overtaking, except in sector 1. The first few turns are a battle ground, and in the past drivers got a double dose of DRS here. After turn 4 there can be very little overtaking I reckon, even with energy offsets, though maybe will spice it up as drivers attempt to make something out of nothing given varying states of battery charge and deployment. Hungary has a lot of braking, so its a track where I won't expect much in the way of empty batteries but let's see.

Spiiiicy griiiiid

Yes it is Loop. And I would have to say that most grids are spicy any more. It's all so jumbled up the past few years, not the Noah's ark team-pair by team-pair sort of grid we used to see a lot. Add the grid penalties and two of the fastest cars are out of position. Add to that, a very long run down to turn one. This is where Bottas speared half the grid out of the race a few years ago isn't it? That's the race Ocon won.

Speaking of which, Haas have been disappointing this year. They've gotten a bit of a pass because Aston have been so bad that everyone talks about that and not Haas. With Bearman they felt like they were on the rise, but the new regs have not suited them so far, and Ocon isn't good enough I don't think, for whatever reason. They need a change in that seat I think.

Williams are another disappointing team, they are nowhere. Vowles has never convinced me. The drivers are demoralized. Bad season for Williams when they were hoping to be firmly back in the midfield. They have a bit of an air of a shoestring operation, a bit amateurish, which is a damning indictment on one of F1's most storied teams.

No one expected the Caddies to do anything this year, and they have a lot to hang their hat on. But they too will be disappointed I think to have not scored yet, and to now officially be the slowest car on the grid with Aston hauling themselves clear with their B spec car. How you design two cars under the cap is a mystery, but there you go.

the Roring should suit Fez today, they have the best car. Merc have the best power plant, but this track doesn't reward power quite like others do. It's Ferrari's race to lose I think

Well they did lose it, then.

I trusted Norris and I was right to

Poor Piastri suffered from reliability and Sainz's distraction, or he may have won.

Too bad for Lewis, podium was in reach.

Not a bad race, even if little actually happened. We can complain about this set of regulations, and with good reason, but one highlight of these regs is how much easier it is to follow another car. In the past, you couldn't stick close behind for more than a lap or two, and then had to back off. The dirty air reduced down force, causing the car to slide, heating up the tires even more. Cooling issues too. But now the trailing car can stay right with the car in front for much longer. Of course playing follow the leader isn't exciting, but you need to be close to get by and these regs at least bring some of this.

It's good to have McLaren back up front, we need as many cars as possible with a shot at a win. Congrats to lando who was very quick and it was never in doubt once he took the lead.

Ferrari felt favorites and made too many mistakes, a cascade of errors that cost them the win potentially

Red Bull are doing well, but need a couple more tenths to challenge for the win. Hadjar has been doing a good job

And congrats to Hulk for finally scoring and to Fernando for rediscovering what running in the top ten feels like

Now we have summer break

Sepang is replacing Bahrain and will host a race later in the season. I'm happy they filled the void, but personally it's not one of my favorite tracks to drive. That said, it can produce some good racing and has done in the past. It's interesting because only a few of the drivers will have run here before, for most they will have never turned a lap so it should be interesting to see.

That's crazy! I got my first win at Sepang so I'm biased, but I think it's a great drivers track, and lots of high speed winding corners, great to see it back on the calendar, if only for this year.

I looked it up and the last F1 race at Sepang was 2017, won by Max.

Current F1 drivers who also drove in that race

Lance Stroll
Max Verstappen
Fernando Alonso
Lewis Hamilton
Pierre Gasly
Sergio Perez
Nico Hulkenberg
Esteban Ocon
Vatlteri Bottas

So actually that's nearly half the field, who have raced at Sepang in F1 machinery

Last tango in Zandvoort !

Yeah that's a shame. I adore this circuit. Sure it kinda sucks for racing, but it is sublime to drive.

Good job by George to kick off his second half in style.

Yup, GJ George.

Lando is showing good signs as well, Yuki and Liam too.

Masterful Lando, too bad he started the season with a bad car.

Some real tension between teammates at Fez and Merc or media overreaction ?

Good race for Lando. When he's on, he is really good. That isn't always the case however. But when he is out in front he puts the hammer down, doesn't think too much about managing gaps.

Love the track and there were some good battles out there, but only one corner for overtaking is too few.