Motosport General discussion tread --- Formula1, MotoGP, WTCC, ETCC, DTM.....

[Davian144]

After several days of seeing the launch of Valentino Rossi's Ducati satellite team which has brought sponsors from Indonesia, the team's colors and name have now changed to Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team. However, what is even more special is that Valentino Rossi said he would go to Indonesia when the Mandalika race starts in the 2024 season.

Apart from that, another news that surprised me a little was about Andrea Iannone who has returned to WSBK racing on a Ducati Panigale motorbike. This can be seen from the test results at the Jerez circuit two days ago where he was in sixth place just below Stefan Bradl, so this will be quite possible to give rise to fiercer competition in the WSBK arena in the 2024 season because Toprak is no longer at Yamaha and Jonathan Rea will no longer be at Kawasaki for the 2024 season.

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[joniboini]

Detailed information is on Formula 1 official website: https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.madrid-formula-1-calendar-2026-spanish-grand-prix.rKwSPJ74MczwzDhHVxdQz.html

It seems like the track is not interesting for social media fans[1]. Most of them express regret that more street/hybrid races are added to the calendar as opposed to adding permanent races, with the latest rumor suggesting that Suzuka might be replaced with another street race[2]. Some analysts suggest that moving to Madrid is one of the better alternatives considering most races in Catalunya are quite boring, although they also stated that some negatives come from this such as reducing the opportunity for rookies to race in real-time, increasing the gap between racers, fans and the organizer, etc[3]. The current images around the track circulating online certainly don't help to reduce the complaints[4].

Are any F1 lovers here? I don't follow this sport closely but I'd be surprised if they really replace Suzuka or other iconic tracks with street races.

[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/comments/19dkrn3/2026_madrid_track_map_satellite_version/
[2] https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/comments/19f49is/japanese_city_eyes_f1_street_race_is_suzuka_under/
[3] https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/new-madrid-f1-race-spanish-gp-barcelona-uncertainty-verdict/
[4] https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/comments/1abcbyh/general_views_of_the_madrid_gp_provided_by_getty/

[Distraction]

Detailed information is on Formula 1 official website: https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.madrid-formula-1-calendar-2026-spanish-grand-prix.rKwSPJ74MczwzDhHVxdQz.html

It seems like the track is not interesting for social media fans[1]. Most of them express regret that more street/hybrid races are added to the calendar as opposed to adding permanent races, with the latest rumor suggesting that Suzuka might be replaced with another street race[2]. Some analysts suggest that moving to Madrid is one of the better alternatives considering most races in Catalunya are quite boring, although they also stated that some negatives come from this such as reducing the opportunity for rookies to race in real-time, increasing the gap between racers, fans and the organizer, etc[3]. The current images around the track circulating online certainly don't help to reduce the complaints[4].

Are any F1 lovers here? I don't follow this sport closely but I'd be surprised if they really replace Suzuka or other iconic tracks with street races.

..

Yeah there are many complaints about the new track in Madrid. If I don't remember it wrong there must be 5 or 6 street races in the 2024 calendar. As the number of street races increase people are starting to believe this can change the main concept of Formula 1. I understand these people also of course. I also would like to see the number of such races at reasonable level.

However on one hand we should see it first in action. For now the track looks quite nice in general. The number of turns is also satisfying to me.

Besides I guess it would at least be better than the boring Las Vegas track. 

[LTU_btc]

Adding Madrid is not really a problem, they are trying to make it go a lot harder and bigger, so that is an important thing. However, adding more and more tracks, which is their goal, to reach that 30 race season thing, is all about money and I am not sure if teams will be capable of doing that. Remember, adding more tracks means more income in the future, but it also means more expense, and while there are some teams like Mercedes and red bull which can sustain themselves and do this, there are teams like haas and williams which can't.

There needs to be some financial assistance to the teams that does poorly, I mean something bigger, punishing teams for being bad, makes them only worse and they eventually bankrupt and sell the team to someone else, who will later bankrupt as well.

Madrid isn't going be additional GP. They're going to replace Barcelona track. Personally for me, Barcelona is one of the most boring old school tracks, but I don't want to see it replaced by another soulless street circuit. It looks that one day we're going to reach point when in F1 calendar there will be more street circuits than old-school tracks. From business perspective it's logical, rich cities have more to offer for F1 than these tracks. But as old F1 fan, it makes me sad that such great tracks like Istanbul, Sepang, Mugello or Portimao don't get spot in calendar and getting replaced by city circuits or boring tracks in Middle East

[tokeweed]

Aesthetically I think RB19 is considered to be one of the best looking cars in the history of Formula 1.  But mostly throughout the years Ferrari and McLaren cars have had the best looking ones.  

Was Binotto really the most likely person to replace Newey at one point?  I think they're just rumors at best.  Red Bull could already have one earmarked among their ranks as a replacement...  What I could tell you tho is Ferrari wanted Horner as Binotto's replacement as team principal at Ferrari.  Horner turned them down.

I'm not surprised with Ferrari's wanting Horner in Binotto's place in the past.    Because Horner has really been one of the best team principals in Formula 1 lately. But why would Horner just leave Red Bull for Ferrari, right? It wouldn't have made sense if he did so. Because he has had really successful years with Red Bull.

They have been very dominant over the last a few years. Horner is going to earn $12m a year until 2026. I don't expect Horner to leave the team until that date. But as of 2026 season we never know what can happen in F1.    Because there are many changes to come which could upset the balances quite much.

Well it would def make sense if Horner could bring Adrian Newey, Newey's top engineers, Red Bull's race strategist and Red Bull's top driver Max Verstappen with him to build Ferrari back up and win championships again.  Lolol.  Ok that's a tough ask but something like it happened before.  That was when Schumacher went to Ferrari.  It wasn't just him who went to Ferrari, it was also the top Benetton guys behind him.  That's why they were so good at the time.

Günther Steiner released an interview and he basically said if he will come back in F1 he will be in a better team

He doesn't want to be back in a small team but he want something big.

And what team was he referring to?  Top teams are Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes.  Midtable teams which I guess could be considered somewhat big are McLaren, Aston Martin and Alpine..?  I guess Alpine is the smallest one among the midtable teams and it's a fringe big team.  And there's the rest of the bunch Williams, Alpha Tauri, Alfa Romero and Haas.

So, which team do you think will he go next?

And isn't there gonna be a couple more teams on 2026?  There's Audi and Andretti's team.  Maybe Steiner is gunning for one of them...

I think McLaren as the second best team of all time in F1 is at the bigger level although they have been struggling to win a Championship since the distant time of Lewis Hamilton in 2008 and that is why maybe now is perceived as a mid team but their budget surely fits the bigger ones.They were also the team which had the best performance in the closing stages of last season so they may be are the only chance we have to see a fight against Redbull this season that is approaching fast enough,just 2 months before the first race here.

Williams were also decent back in the day too afaik.  But yeah, as far as historical prestige goes, it's Ferrari, McLaren and Williams.

Here are the dates for when the teams show their cars.

Haas:  February 2
Sauber:  February 5
Williams:  February 5
Alpine:  February 7
Visa Cash App RB:  February 8
Aston Martin:  February 12
Ferrari:  February 13
Mercedes:  February 14
McLaren:  February 14
Red Bull:  February 15

[Distraction]

Madrid isn't going be additional GP. They're going to replace Barcelona track. Personally for me, Barcelona is one of the most boring old school tracks, but I don't want to see it replaced by another soulless street circuit. It looks that one day we're going to reach point when in F1 calendar there will be more street circuits than old-school tracks. From business perspective it's logical, rich cities have more to offer for F1 than these tracks. But as old F1 fan, it makes me sad that such great tracks like Istanbul, Sepang, Mugello or Portimao don't get spot in calendar and getting replaced by city circuits or boring tracks in Middle East

I didn't know that Catalunya track was going to be replaced by this new track in Madrid. But truthfully it wouldn't be bad to take this action. 

Because I mean the Catalunya GP is mostly boring so I think the same as you. Because there aren't many areas for the drivers to overtake themselves. The biggest opportunity is on the start straight. Other than that it is much harder. For us the spectators it is really important to watch as many overtakes as possible to be more excited about a race. This is why Monaco track isn't one of my favourites either. 

[swogerino]

Madrid isn't going be additional GP. They're going to replace Barcelona track. Personally for me, Barcelona is one of the most boring old school tracks, but I don't want to see it replaced by another soulless street circuit. It looks that one day we're going to reach point when in F1 calendar there will be more street circuits than old-school tracks. From business perspective it's logical, rich cities have more to offer for F1 than these tracks. But as old F1 fan, it makes me sad that such great tracks like Istanbul, Sepang, Mugello or Portimao don't get spot in calendar and getting replaced by city circuits or boring tracks in Middle East

I didn't know that Catalunya track was going to be replaced by this new track in Madrid. But truthfully it wouldn't be bad to take this action. 

Because I mean the Catalunya GP is mostly boring so I think the same as you. Because there aren't many areas for the drivers to overtake themselves. The biggest opportunity is on the start straight. Other than that it is much harder. For us the spectators it is really important to watch as many overtakes as possible to be more excited about a race. This is why Monaco track isn't one of my favourites either. 

I also think it is a good thing.The Catalunya track is great but only one place to overtake and that is the big straight at the beginning.From the layout Madrid track shows like a great fast track despite being a city circuit with lots of overtaking possibilities,it looks a bit like Singapore yet we are another time in Europe and it is great to be in Europe,a city circuit fast enough to be great for spectators to enjoy.I of course think that Monaco is still with us because it is one of the GP-s that had almost been there since the beginning of F1 and it has historical and sponsorship ties more than it has anything to do with F1 racing.

[tokeweed]

Madrid isn't going be additional GP. They're going to replace Barcelona track. Personally for me, Barcelona is one of the most boring old school tracks, but I don't want to see it replaced by another soulless street circuit. It looks that one day we're going to reach point when in F1 calendar there will be more street circuits than old-school tracks. From business perspective it's logical, rich cities have more to offer for F1 than these tracks. But as old F1 fan, it makes me sad that such great tracks like Istanbul, Sepang, Mugello or Portimao don't get spot in calendar and getting replaced by city circuits or boring tracks in Middle East

I didn't know that Catalunya track was going to be replaced by this new track in Madrid. But truthfully it wouldn't be bad to take this action. 

Because I mean the Catalunya GP is mostly boring so I think the same as you. Because there aren't many areas for the drivers to overtake themselves. The biggest opportunity is on the start straight. Other than that it is much harder. For us the spectators it is really important to watch as many overtakes as possible to be more excited about a race. This is why Monaco track isn't one of my favourites either. 

And the thing is it's gonna be a street circuit in Madrid, so that at least would make it somewhat interesting since it's something new.  But we'll see, I hope it isn't somewhat of a disaster like how the Las Vegas GP was.  The fans that went weren't as many as expected.  But then it's not in Europe where F1 is really popular... 

And Spain has a couple of their guys on the grid, Sainz and the legendary Alonso.    Pretty sure the fan turn put over there will be huge.

[swogerino]

Madrid isn't going be additional GP. They're going to replace Barcelona track. Personally for me, Barcelona is one of the most boring old school tracks, but I don't want to see it replaced by another soulless street circuit. It looks that one day we're going to reach point when in F1 calendar there will be more street circuits than old-school tracks. From business perspective it's logical, rich cities have more to offer for F1 than these tracks. But as old F1 fan, it makes me sad that such great tracks like Istanbul, Sepang, Mugello or Portimao don't get spot in calendar and getting replaced by city circuits or boring tracks in Middle East

I didn't know that Catalunya track was going to be replaced by this new track in Madrid. But truthfully it wouldn't be bad to take this action. 

Because I mean the Catalunya GP is mostly boring so I think the same as you. Because there aren't many areas for the drivers to overtake themselves. The biggest opportunity is on the start straight. Other than that it is much harder. For us the spectators it is really important to watch as many overtakes as possible to be more excited about a race. This is why Monaco track isn't one of my favourites either. 

And the thing is it's gonna be a street circuit in Madrid, so that at least would make it somewhat interesting since it's something new.  But we'll see, I hope it isn't somewhat of a disaster like how the Las Vegas GP was.  The fans that went weren't as many as expected.  But then it's not in Europe where F1 is really popular... 

And Spain has a couple of their guys on the grid, Sainz and the legendary Alonso.    Pretty sure the fan turn put over there will be huge.

I have no doubt about fans in any F1 race in Europe.Just go and look in statistics,last season or the season before the crowd record was in Silverstone,near 500.000 fans during all weekend and that is a huge achievement for this sport.Silverstone is a legendary circuit and British people are well known for being great sport fans but near the same we saw in Netherlands,Italy and of course Spain itself,so I have absolutely zero doubts that the F1 circus in Madrid will a huge success as an add on to the street circuits to be raced in.

I think though most Spanish persons love MotoGP more as they have quite some riders there but also F1 they will be great fans I am sure of this.

[FanEagle]

I didn't know that Catalunya track was going to be replaced by this new track in Madrid. But truthfully it wouldn't be bad to take this action. 

Because I mean the Catalunya GP is mostly boring so I think the same as you. Because there aren't many areas for the drivers to overtake themselves. The biggest opportunity is on the start straight. Other than that it is much harder. For us the spectators it is really important to watch as many overtakes as possible to be more excited about a race. This is why Monaco track isn't one of my favourites either. 

I also think it is a good thing.The Catalunya track is great but only one place to overtake and that is the big straight at the beginning.From the layout Madrid track shows like a great fast track despite being a city circuit with lots of overtaking possibilities,it looks a bit like Singapore yet we are another time in Europe and it is great to be in Europe,a city circuit fast enough to be great for spectators to enjoy.I of course think that Monaco is still with us because it is one of the GP-s that had almost been there since the beginning of F1 and it has historical and sponsorship ties more than it has anything to do with F1 racing.

I would say if we are going to talk about "hard to pass" we still have Monaco on the season, and that never made sense to me. I am not saying that it ends exact as it starts, there are problems of course, some crash, some do mistakes, some have pit issues, so it does still have different results, but it is not really that fun way, it is not overtaking, I rarely see anyone overtaking anyone there.

So basically, if Catalunya was bad for overtaking, Monaco should not be a place at all. Some places just have some historical context, and this is why they become untouchable, and when you have a Monaco place like that, Catalunya doesn't feel like they need to get better and this is why they didn't improve at all, they thought they would be considered the same.

[Davian144]

It was really fun to see many WSBK and MotoGP riders doing training at the Portimao Circuit in Portugal yesterday where there were also Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez as well as Pecco Bagnaia and Toprak from WSBK, all of whom were doing important training before having a very good season. Because at the beginning of next month there will be an official test in Sepang to see what developments each manufacturer will get from MotoGP before this season starts.

[FanEagle]

Monaco has been involved for 5+ decades, that is of course going to be some legacy track that will stay, Barcelona had to get better and it didn't. Plus, it is not about getting better or not, F1 wants to grow and Madrid market felt bigger to them I suppose, it is a city and being in the city does bring in a lot more money to be made by the teams as well, being far off is not that easy because it makes it harder to make money.

The reputation that city tracks get upsets me, it is always seen as worse, but the reality is that if you can do a proper one, I do not think that it should be this bad, the reason why it is so bad is that some city tracks are done terribly. If done well, I do not see why it should be worse, like for example Monaco is city, but so is Baku, they are not the same.

[joniboini]

The reputation that city tracks get upsets me, it is always seen as worse, but the reality is that if you can do a proper one, I do not think that it should be this bad, the reason why it is so bad is that some city tracks are done terribly. If done well, I do not see why it should be worse, like for example Monaco is city, but so is Baku, they are not the same.

I think that is the key question. What makes the city track bad in the first place? Is it because they don't offer exciting spots for takeover? Why would the organizer push it if the track is terrible? What is the standard for a good one? I'm pretty sure if those questions are not answered people will still dislike it. Any good track will be an exception and not the norm.

It was really fun to see many WSBK and MotoGP riders doing training at the Portimao Circuit in Portugal yesterday where there were also Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez as well as Pecco Bagnaia and Toprak from WSBK, all of whom were doing important training before having a very good season.

I read somewhere that Rossi rides a Yamaha gift him a superbike that he used in this practice. Not really surprising considering their relationship. I'm surprised he participated though. Isn't he a GT racer now? Sadly can't watch him race anymore since no local channel streams it in my area.

[Distraction]

Monaco has been involved for 5+ decades, that is of course going to be some legacy track that will stay, Barcelona had to get better and it didn't. Plus, it is not about getting better or not, F1 wants to grow and Madrid market felt bigger to them I suppose, it is a city and being in the city does bring in a lot more money to be made by the teams as well, being far off is not that easy because it makes it harder to make money.

The reputation that city tracks get upsets me, it is always seen as worse, but the reality is that if you can do a proper one, I do not think that it should be this bad, the reason why it is so bad is that some city tracks are done terribly. If done well, I do not see why it should be worse, like for example Monaco is city, but so is Baku, they are not the same.

When it comes to Monaco GP I think it can technically be the most boring race in the calendar every season.    However it is still maintaining its presence every time.



It looks like the current deal with the Monaco track is until 2025. The track is still loved by many people due to its being really challenging for the drivers. I must admit that it is lovely for me too but only that part is.    Other than that it is boring due to the tightness of the track and not seeing many overtakes. It gets more exciting when it is rainy.

[coinlocket$]

So Hamilton in Ferrarin in 12 months.
Will be fun to see, was better to have him this year directly tbh.

He will have 2 shoots with Ferrari I think, 2025 with this generation of cars and 2026 with the new one.

[Davian144]

I read somewhere that Rossi rides a Yamaha gift him a superbike that he used in this practice. Not really surprising considering their relationship. I'm surprised he participated though. Isn't he a GT racer now? Sadly can't watch him race anymore since no local channel streams it in my area.

Valentino Rossi has indeed become a GT racer and that is not only now, but it has started to take place and happened after he retired from MotoGP. And regarding the issue of participating in practice at Portimao Portugal, I think this is a very normal thing because Valentino Rossi in previous seasons, when he had no activities with GT racing, also often practiced there. So there's no need to be surprised by that, because apart from being a GT racer, he also still has his own team in MotoGP which is managed by Ucio even though Valentino Rossi is still the brand ambassador for the Yamaha manufacturer.

By the way, if you can't watch the MotoGP race via your local TV channel, I don't think that's a problem because everyone can still watch it via overseas TV broadcasts or via online streaming. And today I also saw the Shakedown test at Sepang which was attended by several MotoGP riders and also test riders from all MotoGP manufacturers.

[ingiltere]

Superb transfer from Ferrari, it could be from this year though. I wonder how he will perform with Mercedes this year when it's obvious he'll switch teams next season. Ferrari has built a great team, but their cars need to keep up with it. Leclerc will no longer be the first driver, how he will look at it is a question mark. If Ferrari can improve the car, they can dominate Formula 1 again like in the old days, but if the car doesn't improve enough, they can't win a championship even if they have the best drivers.

[retreat]

So Hamilton in Ferrarin in 12 months.
Will be fun to see, was better to have him this year directly tbh.

He will have 2 shoots with Ferrari I think, 2025 with this generation of cars and 2026 with the new one.

Hamilton's move to Ferrari was really surprising, I myself needed to read the headline twice because I thought it was a typing error, but it didn't turn out to be true that a Hamilton who was loyal to Mercedes finally had to give up his contract and join Ferrari. I know how Hamilton feels because he tried to be loyal to Mercedes but the top level at Mercedes tried to get rid of him to rejuvenate the team and coupled with his short contract that might be a strong reason for him to leave Mercedes.

[Koal-84]

So Hamilton in Ferrarin in 12 months.
Will be fun to see, was better to have him this year directly tbh.

He will have 2 shoots with Ferrari I think, 2025 with this generation of cars and 2026 with the new one.

Personally, I don't understand this move at all, on both sides. Ferrari is getting an ageing, albeit experienced, driver, presumably for a lot of money, but we've seen it all before at Ferrari and in very few cases has it gone well. And I don't think Hamilton can become world champion again at over 40, and Ferrari has had problems with the car or the strategy for years.

[Distraction]

So Hamilton in Ferrarin in 12 months.
Will be fun to see, was better to have him this year directly tbh.

He will have 2 shoots with Ferrari I think, 2025 with this generation of cars and 2026 with the new one.

This is really sensational news mate.    When I first saw the news on X I thought that it must be another speculation or so. But in a short time we got an official confirmation by Mercedes F1 team directly. I can't even imagine how disappointed Sainz is after learning about this deal. Because he was trying to extend his contract just as Leclerc did newly.

However Hamilton will probably need to be patient for at least one year after joining Ferrari.    This depends on how strong car Ferrari have for 2025 season though. But probably it would be another season under domination of Red Bull.