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

[Distraction]

We are in another F1 week... I can't say I'm so hyped about this season. These battery regulations are just killing the sport slowly. Just why did they want to mess with that?

I don't want to watch drivers losing at least 50 km/h and being overtaken in a boring way. I just want the old F1 back!

I wanted to post about Verstappen win in Nurburgring with Mercedes GT3 car, but looks that he was disqualified for using 28 tyres when only 24 were allowed:
https://www.motorsport.com/NLS/news/max-verstappen-disqualified-from-nls2-win-over-tyre-rule-breach/10807132/
Anyway, it was fun to see him watching there, it's very likely that he will return to this series in April when there will be long break in F1. But it would be interesting to see him racing in more competetive series.

Max doesn't enjoy F1 anymore after this new battery system. He even had a statement related to this. He said something like you can at least use your full speed in NLS2 as you don't have battery management.  

[retreat]

We are in another F1 week... I can't say I'm so hyped about this season. These battery regulations are just killing the sport slowly. Just why did they want to mess with that?

I don't want to watch drivers losing at least 50 km/h and being overtaken in a boring way. I just want the old F1 back!

-snip-

Yeah, I feel the same way, but what can we say? It's like protesting here can change everything. So I think let's move on and enjoy whatever the regulations are, and let's hope that this season brings improvements from other teams, so it's not just Mercedes that we can see, like what happened when Red Bull dominated the 2023 season... that was really boring.

[ILuckyGuyI]

And Mercedes is under investigation by FIA. I was wondering when it was going to happen.  

Ferrari requested clarification on Mercedes' front wing. The movement of the wing is limited to 400 milliseconds according to rules. But it's said Mercedes' lasts for 800 milliseconds.

If they are really breaking the rules then maybe this could close the gap between Mercedes and Ferrari by a little.



Source: https://x.com/F1BigData/status/2036398878165979633

[retreat]

And Mercedes is under investigation by FIA. I was wondering when it was going to happen.  

Ferrari requested clarification on Mercedes' front wing. The movement of the wing is limited to 400 milliseconds according to rules. But it's said Mercedes' lasts for 800 milliseconds.

If they are really breaking the rules then maybe this could close the gap between Mercedes and Ferrari by a little.

I'm amazed at how clever Mercedes' engineering is at getting around these regulations and coming up with ideas to maximize their car's performance. But even if Mercedes is ultimately proven to have done this, I suspect the FIA ​​will likely ban it next season. But that will certainly give Ferrari some room to catch up with Mercedes, as Mercedes is said to gain high stability from this trick with their front wing.

[tokeweed]

And Mercedes is under investigation by FIA. I was wondering when it was going to happen.  

Ferrari requested clarification on Mercedes' front wing. The movement of the wing is limited to 400 milliseconds according to rules. But it's said Mercedes' lasts for 800 milliseconds.

If they are really breaking the rules then maybe this could close the gap between Mercedes and Ferrari by a little.



Source: https://x.com/F1BigData/status/2036398878165979633

Yeah, it's just one of those things because keep in mind that there was a huge spec change in the sport.  So of course these teams will push for whatever advantage they could find and it's fair play for the other teams to call each other out for pushing those advantages that could be in the gray area.

Anyway, here's the weekend warm up.  Enjoy...

2026 Japanese Grand Prix:  Weekend Warm-Up
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXfK30F7Edw

[retreat]

McLaren surprisingly achieved good results in this practice session. Piastri finished P1 and Lando finished P4. They seemed to be working on their cars.

Mercedes only finished P2 and P3. But their pace wasn't much different from McLaren's.

Ferrari again struggled, finishing P5 and P6.

Red Bull was once again a no-show.

2026 F1 Japanese GP - Practice Results (2)
Pos   Driver   Nat.   Team   Time   Laps
1   Oscar Piastri   AUS   McLaren Mastercard F1 Team   1m30.133s   29
2   Kimi Antonelli   ITA   Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team   1m30.225s   27
3   George Russell   GBR   Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team   1m30.338s   29
4   Lando Norris   GBR   McLaren Mastercard F1 Team   1m30.649s   17
5   Charles Leclerc   MON   Scuderia Ferrari HP   1m30.846s   28
6   Lewis Hamilton   GBR   Scuderia Ferrari HP   1m30.980s   27
7   Nico Hulkenberg   GER   Audi Revolut F1 Team   1m31.441s   27
8   Alex Albon   THA   Atlassian Williams F1 Team   1m31.496s   30
9   Oliver Bearman   GBR   TGR Haas F1 Team   1m31.498s   27
10   Max Verstappen   NED   Oracle Red Bull Racing   1m31.509s   29
11   Esteban Ocon   FRA   TGR Haas F1 Team   1m31.532s   29
12   Liam Lawson   NWZ   Visa Cash App Racing Bulls F1 Team   1m31.590s   31
13   Carlos Sainz   SPA   Atlassian Williams F1 Team   1m31.608s   30
14   Pierre Gasly   FRA   BWT Alpine F1 Team   1m31.734s   29
15   Isack Hadjar   FRA   Oracle Red Bull Racing   1m31.759s   29
16   Gabriel Bortoleto   BRA   Audi Revolut F1 Team   1m31.933s   11
17   Franco Colapinto   ARG   BWT Alpine F1 Team   1m32.438s   28
18   Valtteri Bottas   FIN   Cadillac F1 Team   1m32.615s   28
19   Fernando Alonso   SPA   Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team   1m33.596s   24
20   Sergio Perez   MEX   Cadillac F1 Team   1m33.689s   14
21   Lance Stroll   CAN   Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team   1m33.951s   21
22   Arvid Lindblad   GBR   Visa Cash App Racing Bulls F1 Team   No time set   1

[tokeweed]

What is going on guys..?  Is Antonelli really the fastest driver out there?    How does that make Russell?  Are we really gonna see him getting the sack with Toto Wolff going for a Verstappen - Antonelli team up?

This is getting exciting...

Here are the qualifying results.  The McLaren boys are fighting back.  This is gonna be an interesting race.

2026 F1 Chinese Grand Prix Qualifying Results

Pos   Driver   Nat.   Team   Q1   Q2   Q3
1   Kimi Antonelli   ITA   Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team   1m30.035s   1m29.048s   1m28.778s
2   George Russell   GBR   Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team   1m29.967s   1m29.686s   1m29.076s
3   Oscar Piastri   AUS   McLaren Mastercard F1 Team   1m30.200s   1m29.451s   1m29.132s
4   Charles Leclerc   MON   Scuderia Ferrari HP   1m29.915s   1m29.303s   1m29.405s
5   Lando Norris   GBR   McLaren Mastercard F1 Team   1m30.401s   1m29.795s   1m29.409s
6   Lewis Hamilton   GBR   Scuderia Ferrari HP   1m30.309s   1m.29.589s   1m29.567s
7   Pierre Gasly   FRA   BWT Alpine F1 Team   1m30.584s   1m29.874s   1m29.691s
8   Isack Hadjar   FRA   Oracle Red Bull Racing   1m30.662s   1m30.104s   1m29.978s
9   Gabriel Bortoleto   BRA   Audi Revolut F1 Team   1m30.359s   1m29.990s   1m30.274s
10   Arvid Lindblad   GBR   Visa Cash App Racing Bulls F1 Team   1m30.781s   1m30.109s   1m30.319s
11   Max Verstappen   NED   Oracle Red Bull Racing   1m30.519s   1m30.262s   
12   Esteban Ocon   FRA   TGR Haas F1 Team   1m30.915s   1m30.309s   
13   Nico Hulkenberg   GER   Audi Revolut F1 Team   1m30.358s   1m30.387s   
14   Liam Lawson   NZL   Visa Cash App Racing Bulls F1 Team   1m30.657s   1m30.495s   
15   Franco Colapinto   ARG   BWT Alpine F1 Team   1m30.931s   1m30.627s   
16   Carlos Sainz   ESP   Atlassian Williams Racing   1m30.927s   1m31.033s   
17   Alex Albon   THA   Atlassian Williams F1 Team   1m31.088s       
18   Oliver Bearman   GBR   TGR Haas F1 Team   1m31.090s       
19   Sergio Perez   MEX   Cadillac F1 Team   1m32.206s       
20   Valtteri Bottas   FIN   Cadillac F1 Team   1m32.330s       
21   Fernando Alonso   ESP   Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team   1m32.646s       
22   Lance Stroll   CAN   Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team   1m32.920s   

2026 Japanese Grand Prix:  Qualifying Highlights
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZH_7pYJPTE

[retreat]

What is going on guys..?  Is Antonelli really the fastest driver out there?    How does that make Russell?  Are we really gonna see him getting the sack with Toto Wolff going for a Verstappen - Antonelli team up?

This is getting exciting...

Yeah, it was quite amusing to see how fast Mercedes was, allowing Kimi to take pole position again in this race. He even outperformed Russell, who seemed to be having pace issues due to a faulty car setup. We don't know what this is, but it seems Russell isn't a priority for Toto, Maybe (?). But at this point, Red Bull is just speedrunning Max's career at Red Bull.

2026 F1 Chinese Grand Prix Qualifying Results
-snip-

Let me fix that for you 2026 F1 Japanese GP - Grand Prix Qualifying Results 

[Unsoldier]

What is going on guys..?  Is Antonelli really the fastest driver out there?    How does that make Russell?  Are we really gonna see him getting the sack with Toto Wolff going for a Verstappen - Antonelli team up?

This is getting exciting...

Here are the qualifying results.  The McLaren boys are fighting back.  This is gonna be an interesting race.

2026 F1 Chinese Grand Prix Qualifying Results

Pos   Driver   Nat.   Team   Q1   Q2   Q3
1   Kimi Antonelli   ITA   Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team   1m30.035s   1m29.048s   1m28.778s
2   George Russell   GBR   Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team   1m29.967s   1m29.686s   1m29.076s
3   Oscar Piastri   AUS   McLaren Mastercard F1 Team   1m30.200s   1m29.451s   1m29.132s
4   Charles Leclerc   MON   Scuderia Ferrari HP   1m29.915s   1m29.303s   1m29.405s
5   Lando Norris   GBR   McLaren Mastercard F1 Team   1m30.401s   1m29.795s   1m29.409s
6   Lewis Hamilton   GBR   Scuderia Ferrari HP   1m30.309s   1m.29.589s   1m29.567s
7   Pierre Gasly   FRA   BWT Alpine F1 Team   1m30.584s   1m29.874s   1m29.691s
8   Isack Hadjar   FRA   Oracle Red Bull Racing   1m30.662s   1m30.104s   1m29.978s
9   Gabriel Bortoleto   BRA   Audi Revolut F1 Team   1m30.359s   1m29.990s   1m30.274s
10   Arvid Lindblad   GBR   Visa Cash App Racing Bulls F1 Team   1m30.781s   1m30.109s   1m30.319s
11   Max Verstappen   NED   Oracle Red Bull Racing   1m30.519s   1m30.262s   
12   Esteban Ocon   FRA   TGR Haas F1 Team   1m30.915s   1m30.309s   
13   Nico Hulkenberg   GER   Audi Revolut F1 Team   1m30.358s   1m30.387s   
14   Liam Lawson   NZL   Visa Cash App Racing Bulls F1 Team   1m30.657s   1m30.495s   
15   Franco Colapinto   ARG   BWT Alpine F1 Team   1m30.931s   1m30.627s   
16   Carlos Sainz   ESP   Atlassian Williams Racing   1m30.927s   1m31.033s   
17   Alex Albon   THA   Atlassian Williams F1 Team   1m31.088s       
18   Oliver Bearman   GBR   TGR Haas F1 Team   1m31.090s       
19   Sergio Perez   MEX   Cadillac F1 Team   1m32.206s       
20   Valtteri Bottas   FIN   Cadillac F1 Team   1m32.330s       
21   Fernando Alonso   ESP   Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team   1m32.646s       
22   Lance Stroll   CAN   Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team   1m32.920s   

2026 Japanese Grand Prix:  Qualifying Highlights
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZH_7pYJPTE

I've never heard that Russell could be fired. What for? He is currently in first place in the drivers' standings, and the fact that he was second in today's qualifying doesn't mean anything.

By the way, it's great that you sent the qualifying results, but the entire table is written in the same font and it's hard to make sense of the list. It would be better if you could somehow highlight specific positions with different fonts, because everything blends together and it's difficult to understand these records.

[tokeweed]

^  Just saying.  If Antonelli gets the best of Russell then Toto Wolff could get Verstappen and partner him up with Antonelli.  And it's the safer option as getting Verstappen and Russell in the same team would get them to butt each other's heads.  Lol.  

Toto Wolff has his sights on Verstappen who looks like he's going to activate the performance clause in his contract.  The next destination for him that makes sense is Mercedes.

Here are the race results.

2026 F1 Japanese Grand Prix Results

Pos   Driver   Nat.   Team   Laps
1   Andrea Kimi Antonelli   ITA   Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team   53
2   Oscar Piastri   AUS   McLaren Mastercard F1 Team   13.722s
3   Charles Leclerc   MON   Scuderia Ferrari HP   15.270s
4   George Russell   GBR   Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team   15.754s
5   Lando Norris   GBR   McLaren Mastercard F1 Team   23.479s
6   Lewis Hamilton   GBR   Scuderia Ferrari HP   25.037s
7   Pierre Gasly   FRA   BWT Alpine F1 Team   32.340s
8   Max Verstappen   NED   Oracle Red Bull Racing   32.677s
9   Liam Lawson   NZD   Racing Bulls   50.180s
10   Esteban Ocon   FRA   TGR Haas F1 Team   51.216s
11   Nico Hulkenberg   GER   Audi Revolut F1 Team   52.280s
12   Isack Hadjar   FRA   Oracle Red Bull Racing   56.154s
13   Gabriel Bortoleto   BRA   Audi Revolut F1 Team   59.078s
14   Arvid Lindblad   GBR   Racing Bulls   59.848s
15   Carlos Sainz   ESP   Atlassian Williams F1 Team   65.008s
16   Franco Colapinto   ARG   BWT Alpine F1 Team   65.773s
17   Sergio Perez   MEX   Cadillac F1 Team   92.453s
18   Fernando Alonso   ESP   Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team   1 lap
19   Valtteri Bottas   FIN   Cadillac F1 Team   1 lap
20   Alex Albon   THA   Atlassian Williams F1 Team   2 laps
DNF   Lance Stroll   CAN   Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team   23 laps
DNF   Ollie Bearman   GBR   TGR Haas F1 Team   33 laps

2026 Japanese Grand Prix:  Race Highlights
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAtYfF0_4-I

[Koal-84]

Russell isn't in as good a form as Antonelli right now, but why should Russell be replaced and by who, Verstappen?


As for MotoGP, it doesn’t look like the expected dominance from the factory Ducatis and Marc Marquez. I hope the Aprilias can maintain their current performance throughout the season, then we’d have a very exciting season.

Aprilia versus VR46 Ducati and Marc Marquez. By the way, the crash he caused with o Giannantonio in the sprint race earned Marc Marquez a long-lap penalty.

[Distraction]

^  Just saying.  If Antonelli gets the best of Russell then Toto Wolff could get Verstappen and partner him up with Antonelli.  And it's the safer option as getting Verstappen and Russell in the same team would get them to butt each other's heads.  Lol.  

Toto Wolff has his sights on Verstappen who looks like he's going to activate the performance clause in his contract.  The next destination for him that makes sense is Mercedes.

It's really interesting to see Antonelli being able to beat Russell for the win for 2 races! What's going on with Russell lately? He is a much more experienced and better driver here.

Red Bull isn't the right place for Max anymore. Some say he is even thinking of retiring by the end of the season. By the way have you guys seen Bearman's crash? It was all because of FIA's terrible battery regulation... 

[Koal-84]

Aprilia has put in a very strong performance so far this yea, who would have ever expected that? But overall, it was a very good and exciting race for both the riders and the spectators.

The team with the smallest budget has been the best team so far this year, congratulations. As expected, Yamaha was very weak and finished in the bottom positions; I hope they can climb out of this slump.

[tokeweed]

Russell isn't in as good a form as Antonelli right now, but why should Russell be replaced and by who, Verstappen?

Looks like you haven't really been following the news and reading between the lines.    Toto Wolff is all over Verstappen and after this season will be his best chance in finally signing him in Mercedes with Verstappen able to activate the performance clause in his contract.

You really think Verstappen is gonna stay at Red Bull?    Lmao.

And there's no other team to go into except Mercedes.

[Koal-84]

Looks like you haven't really been following the news and reading between the lines.    Toto Wolff is all over Verstappen and after this season will be his best chance in finally signing him in Mercedes with Verstappen able to activate the performance clause in his contract.

You really think Verstappen is gonna stay at Red Bull?    Lmao.

And there's no other team to go into except Mercedes.

I’ve also heard these rumors (I’m from Austria, so basically Red Bull’s home country), but why would Mercedes pay for such an expensive world champion? At the moment they have a really good driver couple, and I also think Verstappen won’t switch team for a cheap price.


I’m so happy for Aprilia. This year, as a team, they’re finally not only competitive on certain tracks, and it looks like the team with the smallest budget can finally fight for the world championship and not just win individual races. GREAT

I’m really happy for them, and congratulations to Aprilia.

[panjul07]

Aprilia has put in a very strong performance so far this yea, who would have ever expected that? But overall, it was a very good and exciting race for both the riders and the spectators.

The team with the smallest budget has been the best team so far this year, congratulations. As expected, Yamaha was very weak and finished in the bottom positions; I hope they can climb out of this slump.

Great improvement by Aprilia this year, dominating the first 3 races is a proof that they worked really hard to improve their bike.
Not only the factory team but seems that the satellite team is also improved which make the competition better than last season when Ducati dominated the whole season.
About 4 weeks to the next race in Spain, perhaps Ducati will try to evaluate and improve so they can compete with Aprilia in Spain which is the home of Marquez.
While the other factory Honda and Yamaha seems to be still struggling a lot this year to find their best.

[retreat]

Kimi once again emerged victorious, winning the Japanese GP and cementing his place as the youngest-ever Formula 1 championship leader. This was a highly impressive achievement, as he achieved such a positive result at such a young age. Toto seemed delighted to have secured another diamond.

As for Russell, he was left frustrated. He should have secured a podium finish in this race, but he failed due to a lack of pace. He had a poor weekend.

McLaren also appeared to be starting to catch up with Ferrari and Mercedes - Lando and Piastri earned points after finishing second and fifth, respectively.

Ferrari again struggled with straight-line performance. Charles and Hamilton should have achieved better results in this race, but due to these issues, they were unable to perform at their best. They still have a month to prepare for the next race (since the Bahrain and Arabian GPs were canceled), and they need to improve to catch up with Mercedes.

Red Bull is nowhere to be seen. It seems Max has lost his mind on this team, lol.

[ILuckyGuyI]

Kimi once again emerged victorious, winning the Japanese GP and cementing his place as the youngest-ever Formula 1 championship leader. This was a highly impressive achievement, as he achieved such a positive result at such a young age. Toto seemed delighted to have secured another diamond.

As for Russell, he was left frustrated. He should have secured a podium finish in this race, but he failed due to a lack of pace. He had a poor weekend.

It's really an insane start by Antonelli! Who'd have thought he'd win 2 out of 3 races already? I wonder how Russell is struggling against him now.

We are still at the very beginning but Antonelli is getting a serious title contender at his young age. 2.00 for Russell and 2.10 for Antonelli in odds currently. 

McLaren also appeared to be starting to catch up with Ferrari and Mercedes - Lando and Piastri earned points after finishing second and fifth, respectively.

McLaren started the season horribly first but the Suzuka circuit was a big help for them to show some solid reaction. Piastri's finishing as 2nd was a big surprise.

Ferrari again struggled with straight-line performance. Charles and Hamilton should have achieved better results in this race, but due to these issues, they were unable to perform at their best. They still have a month to prepare for the next race (since the Bahrain and Arabian GPs were canceled), and they need to improve to catch up with Mercedes.

It looks like this season will also go sad for them. They are giving more hope this time but still can't compete well for the top. If Mercedes lose pace then they might have a chance for it.

Red Bull is nowhere to be seen. It seems Max has lost his mind on this team, lol.

Red Bull has chosen to build their own engine which seems to be a huge mistake!    Max even thinks of retirement at the end of the year.

[karabiber]

Let the drivers race with 500–600 horsepower, but let them race for real. No more nonsense like deliberately slowing down in corners to recharge the battery, or artificial overtaking when someone’s battery runs out. Engine power matters only to a point; what really counts is the pilots ability to consistently push their machines to the limit under equal conditions, to battle it out one on one, and to attack corners by pushing the cars grip limits but it’s already too late to stop the antics done to recharge the battery.

[tokeweed]

Looks like you haven't really been following the news and reading between the lines.    Toto Wolff is all over Verstappen and after this season will be his best chance in finally signing him in Mercedes with Verstappen able to activate the performance clause in his contract.

You really think Verstappen is gonna stay at Red Bull?    Lmao.

And there's no other team to go into except Mercedes.

I’ve also heard these rumors (I’m from Austria, so basically Red Bull’s home country), but why would Mercedes pay for such an expensive world champion? At the moment they have a really good driver couple, and I also think Verstappen won’t switch team for a cheap price.

Bro...  They got Hamilton before so it's nothing new that they want to acquire the generation's greatest driver ever.  He could set a record for Mercedes and do what Hamilton couldn't...  That's to break Schumacher's record.  

And it's not a question of 'why' they want to do it.  It's a question of when.  Toto Wolff has been talking with Verstappen's camp for around a couple of years now.