2026 Austrian Grand Prix - Spielberg, June 26 - 28

[Mogster]

I do remember that the drivers loved the old circuit. Alain Prost thought it was the best circuit in the world, Mansell said similar. Mansell compared Elkhart Lake in the US with the Oesterreich Ring when he drove there in Indycar. Prost was interested enough to put forward some suggestions for areas where run off could be added I think. He seemed quite invested in keeping the circuit on the calendar. The start line crashes in 87 were the last nail in the coffin it seems.

I don’t understand the love for historic Hockenheim now. It was a terrible venue. Alonso was asked did he miss the old Hockenheim the last time F1 raced there in 2019, he just replied “no..”

[atanatizante]

So, top teams could easily run 30+ laps on the Mediums. Is a M-H one-stop strategy feasible for Sunday?
Of course, we'll need to watch their lap count on Mediums in FP2. It's far more relevant, considering track temperatures will be identical to Sunday's race conditions.

[Just_a_fan]

I don’t understand the love for historic Hockenheim now. It was a terrible venue. Alonso was asked did he miss the old Hockenheim the last time F1 raced there in 2019, he just replied “no..”

Hockenheim much like Monza. 4 "straights" with a couple of squiggly bits thrown in - at least Hockenheim had the infield stadium loop.

Hockenheim's fate might have been different if it had been more like Monza in being in a parkland type setting rather than a simple forest. The narrow track, an inability to work on it easily, not able to cut down swathes of trees to make improvements, etc., all scuppered it. That most of the action took place in the forests away from the fans in the stadium didn't help.

[atanatizante]

I know top speeds don't matter as much for this year's cars, but how much of an impact can PU mapping and deployment mapping have when the delta between Ferrari and Mercedes is 15-20 kph on the straights and just 4-5 kph in the twisty sector?

[renault rs26]

I do remember that the drivers loved the old circuit. Alain Prost thought it was the best circuit in the world, Mansell said similar. Mansell compared Elkhart Lake in the US with the Oesterreich Ring when he drove there in Indycar. Prost was interested enough to put forward some suggestions for areas where run off could be added I think. He seemed quite invested in keeping the circuit on the calendar. The start line crashes in 87 were the last nail in the coffin it seems.

I don’t understand the love for historic Hockenheim now. It was a terrible venue. Alonso was asked did he miss the old Hockenheim the last time F1 raced there in 2019, he just replied “no..”

While neither provided great racing, drivers adored the Oesterreichring for the pure joy of driving it, whereas fans loved Hockenheimring for its scenery.

[cplchanb]

Ferraris not running at anywhere near top speed. People need to chill

[zibby43]

[organic]

Hmm hadjar long run looking quite interesting

[erudite450]

Hmm hadjar long run looking quite interesting

Hadjar is a talented driver. He has not gotten anywhere close to the credit for the pace he has shown so far this season. It's easy to forget that this is his first year at Redbull and just his second year in F1.

[venkyhere]

https://postimg.cc/VS9Z8Ld3 https://postimages.org/


I know top speeds don't matter as much for this year's cars, but how much of an impact can PU mapping and deployment mapping have when the delta between Ferrari and Mercedes is 15-20 kph on the straights and just 4-5 kph in the twisty sector?

My 'read' of these numbers suggests that Redbull are either hiding deployment or their latest updates have a huge drag penalty.

[euv2]

https://postimg.cc/VS9Z8Ld3 https://postimages.org/


I know top speeds don't matter as much for this year's cars, but how much of an impact can PU mapping and deployment mapping have when the delta between Ferrari and Mercedes is 15-20 kph on the straights and just 4-5 kph in the twisty sector?

My 'read' of these numbers suggests that Redbull are either hiding deployment or their latest updates have a huge drag penalty.

Similar laptimes on similar age tires on race sim.
There's no way they increase their drag this much, it's most likely deployment. Red bull and Ferrari will get much closer tomorrow but still Mercedes looking like clear favorites at the moment.