2026 British Grand Prix - Silverstone, July 03 - 05

[monkeyboy1976]

The LEGO cars are back this weekend!!

A closer look at the LEGO karts that are made up of nearly 30,000 bricks and can reach 20mph.
It’s going to be carnage on Sunday

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HMN7ftfWgAA ... name=large

Why do they have seatbelts?!

[Just_a_fan]

As everyone is convinced the cars will be too slow to notice them moving down the straights at some events this year, should the short format race be called the "Dawdle", or the "Perambulate", perhaps the "Jog" suits it best.

Who's going to win the Silverstone "Jog" on Saturday? I guess it's a Merc driver or Max, realistically, as they have the best PUs on the grid and thus should be able to jog longer than Ferrari et al.

[Just_a_fan]

The LEGO cars are back this weekend!!

A closer look at the LEGO karts that are made up of nearly 30,000 bricks and can reach 20mph.
It’s going to be carnage on Sunday

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HMN7ftfWgAA ... name=large

Why do they have seatbelts?!

The same reason they have roll hoops. You can't trust racing drivers not to nerf each other at some point and that leads to the risk of a roll or a driver being ejected from the car. As these things are worth millions (the drivers, that is), they want to protect them.

[WardenOfTheNorth]

Oh and not forgetting that the cars are too quiet (even though they're louder than a heavy rock concert in terms of decibels.

Yea I hate this argument as it shows a lack of awareness. A lot (maybe even most) fans don't want to wear earplugs or earmuffs for multiple hours outside on a hot sunny day. They want to be able to talk with the people in their group without having to worry about tinnitus in the future.

Not to mention use staff working trackside!!

But hey, who cares about the fans eh. Just so long as a niche clique of "real fans" are kept happy.

[WardenOfTheNorth]

WHEN did Max drive it in the simulator? Strange that he'd talk about that when he's spend a day driving the circuit in the real car a coupe of months ago for a filming day.

I am thinking that's an old quote being dragged out to feed the bias of the "2026 is crap" crowd who apparently care more a how long the cars are at full throttle than whether we have close competitive racing. Oh and not forgetting that the cars are too quiet (even though they're louder than a heavy rock concert in terms of decibels.

You can pull your head out of the sand now. They've already changed the regs for the next season and the FIA president can't stop talking about V8s in the first year of a new regulation. Do you think this is a sign that they are happy with the product?

Here's reality for you:

Why Silverstone will bring out the worst of F1 2026 https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/f1-d ... 2026-cars/

"I think this is going to be the most unprecedented weekend in terms of the power deployment," said Hamilton.

"All us drivers have been talking in the drivers' chat about just how poor the power is going to be through this track.

"We run out of battery power, there's only a few corners to charge the engine, so the [MGU-]K will be switched off for a large portion of the lap."
"Honestly, I think it's going to be huge. If you look at the speed traces, we start losing deployment going into Copse," he said.

"Normally the engine’s screaming as you're going into Copse, and you're holding on for dear life as you go through there flat out.

"This year, the engine will be coasting down, most likely will be downshifting whilst full throttle, trying to keep the engine revs higher. It'll be a long, long straight with no deployment, basically.

"And then Maggotts and Becketts is not going to feel the same because I think you have to lift and coast or something through there for a period of time. So it's just a completely different track.

Alonso said that Becketts had now become a "charging station" for the cars.

The Aston Martin driver also offered a downbeat assessment of how things will play out both this weekend and in the next race at Spa-Francorchamps.

"I think this year is going to be very different and not fun to drive," he said. "The cars, looking at the simulator lap and things like that, is going to be quite sad, I think for drivers, but also for the spectators, and vice versa."

Alpine driver Franco Colapinto said he was keeping his fingers crossed that the cars in real life were improved compared to how they had been during preparation runs in the simulator.

"Hopefully it's better than the sim," he said. "It was tough. I think generally it's a track that you always love driving at and that you push the F1 cars to the limit.

"Before the year started we already knew that Silverstone, Australia, Japan/Suzuka were going to be tracks that were going to be difficult with energy and that we would be running out with so long straights and with no braking at all almost.

"You're flat for 2km or something like that. It's going to be difficult. I think these corners are going to become less of a corner almost. Let's see tomorrow."

"A lot of the tracks with the most character in the previous generation, the fast-flowing high-speed circuits now just lack reward when driving them, and that hurts a bit," said Ollie Bearman.

"And one of maybe the ballsiest sections of track of the whole year - which was Maggotts and Becketts - this year it seems to be just one corner, and the bits before you're going so slow because you don't have any power that it's not actually a corner anymore."

Perez said: "It's really what's more optimal for the engine, for the energy.

"Sometimes I think we're going to be finding a case where probably going slower through the corner ultimately will be faster.

I'm not the one with my head in the sand....

And what does any of that have to do with the FACT that we've had close, competitive racing this season??

Strawman arguments aren't welcome anywhere. The Race runs a podcast called "Bring back the V10's", they're not a reliable source as they are just as biased as you. Plus they're basically a tabloid clickbait site these days.

I never said the PU couldn't be improved, but the idea that this season is awful is just plain wrong. We've had some epic races and it is shaping up to be a classic with Kimi, George, Lewis and Max all potentially in the title fight.

I guess they'll be giving away tickets next year as they won't be able to sell them if it's as bad as you seem. To think....

[Big Tea]

Oh and not forgetting that the cars are too quiet (even though they're louder than a heavy rock concert in terms of decibels.

Yea I hate this argument as it shows a lack of awareness. A lot (maybe even most) fans don't want to wear earplugs or earmuffs for multiple hours outside on a hot sunny day. They want to be able to talk with the people in their group without having to worry about tinnitus in the future.

Not to mention use staff working trackside!!

But hey, who cares about the fans eh. Just so long as a niche clique of "real fans" are kept happy.

For most of the time you can not hear the cars over the "SHOW" anyway. They would need sonic booms to compete with megawatts of sound from someone with earplugs and headphones on

[Badger]

I'm not the one with my head in the sand....

And what does any of that have to do with the FACT that we've had close, competitive racing this season??

Strawman arguments aren't welcome anywhere. The Race runs a podcast called "Bring back the V10's", they're not a reliable source as they are just as biased as you. Plus they're basically a tabloid clickbait site these days.

I never said the PU couldn't be improved, but the idea that this season is awful is just plain wrong. We've had some epic races and it is shaping up to be a classic with Kimi, George, Lewis and Max all potentially in the title fight.

I guess they'll be giving away tickets next year as they won't be able to sell them if it's as bad as you seem. To think....

Maybe you should read the comment you wrote yourself which was nothing but straw man arguments. You cast doubt on Max's criticism of the cars at this track and then turned it into a "I think the racing is great" argument. What does that have to do with what Max said? I highlighted to you that it's a major talking point amongst the drivers that Silverstone will be a particularly bad track for these cars. And it's a major talking point amongst the stakeholders that this formula isn't working as intended, hence the rules being changed already and discussions about the next engine formula from the FIA president. You thinking the racing is good is your opinion, we all have one, but what I am talking about comes from the people that matter inside the sport.

[Just_a_fan]

I'm not the one with my head in the sand....

And what does any of that have to do with the FACT that we've had close, competitive racing this season??

Strawman arguments aren't welcome anywhere. The Race runs a podcast called "Bring back the V10's", they're not a reliable source as they are just as biased as you. Plus they're basically a tabloid clickbait site these days.

I never said the PU couldn't be improved, but the idea that this season is awful is just plain wrong. We've had some epic races and it is shaping up to be a classic with Kimi, George, Lewis and Max all potentially in the title fight.

I guess they'll be giving away tickets next year as they won't be able to sell them if it's as bad as you seem. To think....

Maybe you should read the comment you wrote yourself which was nothing but straw man arguments. You cast doubt on Max's criticism of the cars at this track and then turned it into a "I think the racing is great" argument. What does that have to do with what Max said? I highlighted to you that it's a major talking point amongst the drivers that Silverstone will be a particularly bad track for these cars. And it's a major talking point amongst the stakeholders that this formula isn't working as intended, hence the rules being changed already and discussions about the next engine formula from the FIA president. You thinking the racing is good is your opinion, we all have one, but what I am talking about comes from the people that matter inside the sport.

Simplest solution is to return to last year's PUs. They worked and had none of the issues associated with the current PUs or those associated with returning to V8/V10. If it wasn't for Audi, we'd still have them anyway.

[SiLo]

I'm not the one with my head in the sand....

And what does any of that have to do with the FACT that we've had close, competitive racing this season??

Strawman arguments aren't welcome anywhere. The Race runs a podcast called "Bring back the V10's", they're not a reliable source as they are just as biased as you. Plus they're basically a tabloid clickbait site these days.

I never said the PU couldn't be improved, but the idea that this season is awful is just plain wrong. We've had some epic races and it is shaping up to be a classic with Kimi, George, Lewis and Max all potentially in the title fight.

I guess they'll be giving away tickets next year as they won't be able to sell them if it's as bad as you seem. To think....

Maybe you should read the comment you wrote yourself which was nothing but straw man arguments. You cast doubt on Max's criticism of the cars at this track and then turned it into a "I think the racing is great" argument. What does that have to do with what Max said? I highlighted to you that it's a major talking point amongst the drivers that Silverstone will be a particularly bad track for these cars. And it's a major talking point amongst the stakeholders that this formula isn't working as intended, hence the rules being changed already and discussions about the next engine formula from the FIA president. You thinking the racing is good is your opinion, we all have one, but what I am talking about comes from the people that matter inside the sport.

Simplest solution is to return to last year's PUs. They worked and had none of the issues associated with the current PUs or those associated with returning to V8/V10. If it wasn't for Audi, we'd still have them anyway.

They could have made slight adjustments so that they can keep the 1 second extra deployment modes. They didn't need to go so far to the electric deployment.

[WardenOfTheNorth]

I'm not the one with my head in the sand....

And what does any of that have to do with the FACT that we've had close, competitive racing this season??

Strawman arguments aren't welcome anywhere. The Race runs a podcast called "Bring back the V10's", they're not a reliable source as they are just as biased as you. Plus they're basically a tabloid clickbait site these days.

I never said the PU couldn't be improved, but the idea that this season is awful is just plain wrong. We've had some epic races and it is shaping up to be a classic with Kimi, George, Lewis and Max all potentially in the title fight.

I guess they'll be giving away tickets next year as they won't be able to sell them if it's as bad as you seem. To think....

Maybe you should read the comment you wrote yourself which was nothing but straw man arguments. You cast doubt on Max's criticism of the cars at this track and then turned it into a "I think the racing is great" argument. What does that have to do with what Max said? I highlighted to you that it's a major talking point amongst the drivers that Silverstone will be a particularly bad track for these cars. And it's a major talking point amongst the stakeholders that this formula isn't working as intended, hence the rules being changed already and discussions about the next engine formula from the FIA president. You thinking the racing is good is your opinion, we all have one, but what I am talking about comes from the people that matter inside the sport.

Ah yes, the strawman reply. You make a strawman argument then accuse me of ignoring your strawman response which had nothing to do with what I was claiming. Your argument had nothing to do with my original statement, hence strawman. My reply pointing that out and then reinforcing what I'd already said was NOT a strawman argument.

Anyway, this is way off topic and I am certain that you will never back down from your view that F1 is ruined, that it doesn't matter what the racing is like if the PU isn't to your liking.

The fact we have had close racing is not my opinion, it is a fact.

Do you disagree with the part that was my opinion - that we could have an epic season in store with multiple drivers in the title hunt?

The sport is more popular than ever. Who cares whether the drivers are content or not. If they don't like it go race in GT3 or whatever. There are plenty of drivers who would be happy to take their seats in F1.

Anyway, this is way off topic and I am certain that you will never back down from your view that F1 is ruined, that it doesn't matter what the racing is like if the PU isn't to your liking.

[Mosin123]

I'm not the one with my head in the sand....

And what does any of that have to do with the FACT that we've had close, competitive racing this season??

Strawman arguments aren't welcome anywhere. The Race runs a podcast called "Bring back the V10's", they're not a reliable source as they are just as biased as you. Plus they're basically a tabloid clickbait site these days.

I never said the PU couldn't be improved, but the idea that this season is awful is just plain wrong. We've had some epic races and it is shaping up to be a classic with Kimi, George, Lewis and Max all potentially in the title fight.

I guess they'll be giving away tickets next year as they won't be able to sell them if it's as bad as you seem. To think....

Maybe you should read the comment you wrote yourself which was nothing but straw man arguments. You cast doubt on Max's criticism of the cars at this track and then turned it into a "I think the racing is great" argument. What does that have to do with what Max said? I highlighted to you that it's a major talking point amongst the drivers that Silverstone will be a particularly bad track for these cars. And it's a major talking point amongst the stakeholders that this formula isn't working as intended, hence the rules being changed already and discussions about the next engine formula from the FIA president. You thinking the racing is good is your opinion, we all have one, but what I am talking about comes from the people that matter inside the sport.

This seasons racing is better than the GE racing on rails but cant unsettle floor era we just had.

[SB15]

Yeah Merc has a lot of pace in hand.

[Matt-A]

Lewis's fastest lap today is a full five seconds slower than the all time fastest lap he set in 2020.

[WardenOfTheNorth]

Lewis's fastest lap today is a full five seconds slower than the all time fastest lap he set in 2020.

Different PU, different tyres, different aero spec, different temps, potentially different wind direction.

Plus this was Free Practice not qualifying. Let's see what he does later today and then tomorrow afternoon.

[erudite450]

As everyone is convinced the cars will be too slow to notice them moving down the straights at some events this year, should the short format race be called the "Dawdle", or the "Perambulate", perhaps the "Jog" suits it best.

Who's going to win the Silverstone "Jog" on Saturday? I guess it's a Merc driver or Max, realistically, as they have the best PUs on the grid and thus should be able to jog longer than Ferrari et al.