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

[retreat]

-snip-
Anyway, hearing things that the Honda and the Ford engines really suck.

Yeah, Ford isn't that impressive. Even Max himself said that "any good team with a Mercedes engine" is in for a pleasing F1 2026. That only shows that Ford is still unreliable for Red Bull under these new regulations. Their only advantage is having Max as their driver - at least they have one driver they can rely on.

As for Aston Martin, Honda is really making Adrian Newey and Lawrence's heads explode with constant problems. After all the money and effort they've poured into it, they haven't achieved a single impressive result in the pre-test or pre-season testing sessions. While people still hold out hope that Aston Martin can overcome these issues, these are already bad signs that Aston Martin may have problems and will remain at the bottom of the table under these new regulations.

[retreat]

Aston Martin received criticism again after they started 2026 with such poor results. They had so many problems, even compared to a new team like Cadillac, their problems were more complex. Honda doesn't seem to be very ready for this new regulation, so when they moved from Red Bull, they didn't get enough engineering support to be able to develop a very competitive engine even when Lawrance had poured in massive funds and brought in Newey to be able to make their engine perform better. Alonso also seemed very disappointed, after he hoped that at least before he retired he would get a competitive car, instead he got the deja vu deja vu of having endured similar issues with his Honda-McLaren in 2015.

Aston Martin had a very tough start to the season, even before the race had started.

[tokeweed]

^  It's the other way around...  Honda is supposed to be the engineering support that a team needs.  Red Bull needed them to assist in Red Bull's development of their power trains.  Now they're getting that support from Ford and Aston Martin is getting support from Honda. 

-snip-
Anyway, hearing things that the Honda and the Ford engines really suck.

Yeah, Ford isn't that impressive. Even Max himself said that "any good team with a Mercedes engine" is in for a pleasing F1 2026. That only shows that Ford is still unreliable for Red Bull under these new regulations. Their only advantage is having Max as their driver - at least they have one driver they can rely on.

As for Aston Martin, Honda is really making Adrian Newey and Lawrence's heads explode with constant problems. After all the money and effort they've poured into it, they haven't achieved a single impressive result in the pre-test or pre-season testing sessions. While people still hold out hope that Aston Martin can overcome these issues, these are already bad signs that Aston Martin may have problems and will remain at the bottom of the table under these new regulations.

The good news is Red Bull's possible lack of performance could activate Verstappen's contract clause that could make him leave before the contract's expiry.  I think he'll be at Mercedes after this season. 

[retreat]

-snip-
The good news is Red Bull's possible lack of performance could activate Verstappen's contract clause that could make him leave before the contract's expiry.  I think he'll be at Mercedes after this season. 

That could very well happen though. Max has said that if Red Bull can't provide him with a competitive car under these regulations, he could simply move to another team that can provide him with a better car - in this case, Mercedes seems likely to be a competitive team under these regulations after their impressive testing results. Another reason is the stability within the team, as Red Bull has often been in conflict internally, and if Toto is able to offer a more attractive deal, Max might consider that. Especially since Russell's contract is only for this season with an extension clause if certain conditions are met. So anything is possible for Max.

[Republikcoin.com]

Today I missed the qualifying and sprint race of the MotoGP Thailand, even though it was a very good opener for the start of this season. And after I looked at the qualifying data, it turns out that the riders riding Aprilia bikes looked more stable in terms of race pace so they could be quite a match for the Ducati riders. Because in today's sprint race I saw a replay where Marquez got a tough fight from Acosta who was riding a KTM bike until finally the sprint was won by Acosta and Marquez managed to save Ducati's face in that session because several other Ducati riders did not look strong enough in this sprint session.

[LTU_btc]

It's less than week remaining until start of new season. As usual, race in Australia and Asia will be very early for us in Europe, so, prepare your alarm clocks .
But I'm wondering what F1 is planning to do with races in Middle East, considering whole this mess there. There is a bit more than month until race in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, it's possible that within month it will safe to race there. But that's not that much time, I hope they have some plan B.

[retreat]

But I'm wondering what F1 is planning to do with races in Middle East, considering whole this mess there. There is a bit more than month until race in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, it's possible that within month it will safe to race there. But that's not that much time, I hope they have some plan B.

F1 is currently monitoring the situation in the Middle East, and the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian GPs could be canceled if the situation does not improve. Instead, circuits that struggled to get onto the F1 calendar last season could be substituted, such as the Portuguese GP, Imola, and the Turkish GP. However, these are just rumors, the FIA ​​has not confirmed whether the races there will be canceled, as these two circuits generate significant revenue for the FIA ​​and Formula 1.

[tokeweed]

-snip-
The good news is Red Bull's possible lack of performance could activate Verstappen's contract clause that could make him leave before the contract's expiry.  I think he'll be at Mercedes after this season. 

That could very well happen though. Max has said that if Red Bull can't provide him with a competitive car under these regulations, he could simply move to another team that can provide him with a better car - in this case, Mercedes seems likely to be a competitive team under these regulations after their impressive testing results. Another reason is the stability within the team, as Red Bull has often been in conflict internally, and if Toto is able to offer a more attractive deal, Max might consider that. Especially since Russell's contract is only for this season with an extension clause if certain conditions are met. So anything is possible for Max.

I think the more likely scenario is if Verstappen goes to Mercedes, Toto Wolff would keep Russell and get rid of Antonelli.  I think for us F1 fans who are getting bored of this 'sport', that would be the best result.  Two senior drivers going at it in one team just like Hamilton and Rosberg. 

And if you wanna go back to way waaay back in the say, Senna and Prost at McLaren.  I didn't really watch F1 as a kid but reading about it online makes it look like it was one of the most intense rivalries.

[Volgastallion]

But I'm wondering what F1 is planning to do with races in Middle East, considering whole this mess there. There is a bit more than month until race in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, it's possible that within month it will safe to race there. But that's not that much time, I hope they have some plan B.

F1 is currently monitoring the situation in the Middle East, and the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian GPs could be canceled if the situation does not improve. Instead, circuits that struggled to get onto the F1 calendar last season could be substituted, such as the Portuguese GP, Imola, and the Turkish GP. However, these are just rumors, the FIA ​​has not confirmed whether the races there will be canceled, as these two circuits generate significant revenue for the FIA ​​and Formula 1.

So we are gonna get rid of the arabian circuits but no in the way we all thinked?

I think this is gonna stabilize in a few days so for me i dont think they are gonna be canceled, aside of that now that you mention portuguese and Imola GP, they were bad for the past cars but now they are much more smaller so..... maybe they are gonna be mcuh better circuits for the actual cars.

[panjul07]

Today I missed the qualifying and sprint race of the MotoGP Thailand, even though it was a very good opener for the start of this season. And after I looked at the qualifying data, it turns out that the riders riding Aprilia bikes looked more stable in terms of race pace so they could be quite a match for the Ducati riders. Because in today's sprint race I saw a replay where Marquez got a tough fight from Acosta who was riding a KTM bike until finally the sprint was won by Acosta and Marquez managed to save Ducati's face in that session because several other Ducati riders did not look strong enough in this sprint session.

I missed the first race (both sprint and main race) but I watched the moto3 race due to there is rider from Indonesia Veda Pratama who make Indonesian so proud with his achievement in his debut as a rookie.
I watched the highlight only for the MotoGP, seems that Marco Bezzecchi was unstoppable in the main race although he crashed in the Sprint Race.
What surprised me is the fact that Acosta and Raul Fernandes managed to take the podium in both Sprint and Main race.
Apprilia seems to be improved a lot this season, Jorge Martin also got good result in the first race.

[Velvet78]

Formula 1 is really back with its new season this weekend! I'm excited after all this wait so far. However the tests had some worrying results about the new era of Formula 1 as well.

I hope we don't watch the cars having big problems on overtaking others while the goal of these changes is actually to make overtakes easier... 

I still don't understand why they decided to use electric more in this sport while there is already Formula E for that.