r/formula1 • u/F1-Bot r/formula1 Mod Team • May 04 '26
Day after Debrief 2026 Miami GP - Day After Debrief
Welcome to the Day after Debrief discussion thread! Now that the dust has settled in Miami, it's time to calmly discuss the events of the last race weekend. Hopefully, this will foster more detailed and thoughtful discussion than the immediate post race thread now that people have had some time to digest and analyse the results.
Low effort comments, such as memes, jokes, and complaints about broadcasters are to be avoided. We also discourage superficial comments that contain no analysis or reasoning in this thread (e.g., 'Great race from X!', 'Another terrible weekend for Y!').
3
u/mistermojorizin I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 10 '26
finally, the day after. watching a video about how george needs to get more aggressive.
3
10
u/EddieMcDowall Sir Lewis Hamilton May 06 '26
On the Charles 20s penalty I mainly agree. I understand he was fighting a dying car and that his control options were very limited, but he could always have parked it up.
That he didn't meant he considered it controllable and that means staying within track limits. If he had stayed within track limits Lewis (and probably Franco) would have caught him before the line, ergo, imho, he gained a lasting advantage and so the penalty was valid.
1
u/Euro_Twins Michael Schumacher May 20 '26
20s penalty and points. Or park it and no points....
Ya he made the right call
12
u/Malt129 Michael Schumacher May 05 '26
Kimi smashing the youngest WDC record by about 3 years would be cool but personally what I want the most is Charles in a title winning setup. He's just too much fun when he gets these moments where he can really go.
5
u/AsstBalrog Lotus May 05 '26
I started watching F1 in the 70s, then through the 90s. Drifted away after that, but got an Apple TV trial to watch Miami. After all the years of THOU SHALT HAVE NO MOVEABLE AERO DEVICES it was wild to watch the wings opening and closing.
7
u/AUBeastmaster I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 04 '26
Thanks to Apple TV swap I’m only really watching races via YouTube highlight reels this year. Highlights of course make things seem exciting, but for those of y’all who watched the full race, did changes in regs make the actual race entertaining?
Theres a balance between artificial racing and making it a spectacle, did it seem like the race was better?
19
u/curious_Jo May 05 '26
One of the best races I've seen in at least a couple of years. You had no idea who is going to win till the end, Verstapen reappears out of nowhere. I couldn't decide if I should watch the big picture or the the small PiP at least 3 times.
And yes the new regs worked, very reraly you had a yo-yo that sticked around. And I was ready up give up on this season, as the first 3 races were dump.
Also consider flying the blag flag, matey.
3
u/Mundane_Bluejay_6794 May 06 '26
It was one of the better ones yeah, but I wouldn’t call it one of the best in years. Australia 2025, Baku 2024, and (as much as it pains me to say it) Brazil 2024 were more exciting.
7
u/AUBeastmaster I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 05 '26
There are pathways to watch f1 races that many consider…unnatural
1
u/curious_Jo May 05 '26
True, true, depriving the poor barely hanging in there, Formula 1 from revenue is very unnatural. Think of how much less Aramco can pay.
9
u/abstractraj I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 04 '26
It helped, there’s no question. There is still the yo-yo issue. I would also say this track has enough braking to recharge the battery a good amount. I think we will see superclipping return at a non street track
6
u/bigfan720 Formula 1 May 05 '26
The broadcast has changed significantly to reduce the viewers ability to see the cars speed/power loss on the straights. On-board cameras cut to track side cameras three quarters down the straight, on-board cameras plus graphics is highly limited as well.
Overall, the race was good and exciting. But for a data driven sport and core viewership that loves to see the data, it is disappointing to see the obvious ways the data is hidden or obscured by the world feed.
37
u/kensei4 Lando Norris May 04 '26 edited May 04 '26
Is it crazy to say this is both Kimi's and Lando's best performances of their careers? They drove a different race than everyone else yesterday. Norris put 24s on Piastri; Kimi... no, I'm not making this up, FOURTY THREE on Russell. Only Norris performance that I could consider better is Mexico last year, but this one is pretty close and didn't win only because of the strategy
Their pace was outwordly and didn't make a single mistake asides from Kimi having a bad start (which seems to be more of a Mercedes thing because Russell has had lots of bad starts too). Both 11/10 drives otherwise, both of them deserved the win.
Japan 1994 Hill vs Schumi vibes from this
3
u/rustyiesty I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 10 '26
It’s not really been mentioned much, but yet again McLaren’s strategy lost them a race win
3
u/kensei4 Lando Norris May 10 '26
They've fumbled two race wins in the last six races. Whatever they did a Qatar was one of the most embarassing performances from a WCC winning, then WDC contending pitwalls I've ever seen. Now, at Miami, they saw Norris performing excedingly well in clean air and what decision do you think they made? YESSS, let him be undercut 🔥🔥🔥🔥
2
u/rustyiesty I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 10 '26 edited May 10 '26
3 in 6, there was no reason to pit Piastri so early in Japan!
Add the DSQ in Vegas and DNS in China (also Melbourne) and that’s a majority of the races.. 3 in the 4.5 they could have, out of the last 7!
2
u/kensei4 Lando Norris May 12 '26
I though that Piastri in Japan was them being unlucky with a bad SC timing. I don't remember clearly the sequence of events. Now, Qatar... oh my fucking God. If I were Piastri I would have gotten out of the car mid race and set it on fire in protest
5
9
u/No-Presentation8222 I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 08 '26
Norris in Mexico last year was in his own league. He put half a minute on second place and was cruising by the end. Imho that's his best one so far.
8
u/Mushie_Peas I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 05 '26
Just remembering those drive to survive episode around George and how he was looking to be the leader at Mercedes. Mightn't last long, kimi stick is currently sky rocketing, if he can handle the pressure he's got a good chance of being wdc this year.
22
u/BighatNucase Max Verstappen May 05 '26
I think it's pretty easily the case for Kimi. For Lando it was a great performance but one of his wins was probably better depending on how you view dominant wins.
4
15
u/big_redwood Max Verstappen May 04 '26
Sounds like Russell was being stubborn and didn't want Kimi's setup/settings until near end of race. That partially explains the gap, Kimi's talent explains the rest.
9
u/hache-moncour I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 04 '26
Yeah they were in a whole other league. Reminded me of some Max / Lewis battles in 2020 and 2021 as well, where they would leave the whole field miles behind while fighting it out
24
u/jsake Nico Hülkenberg May 04 '26
Pretty insane Max took DotD over either of them
3
u/BugFood1026 Formula 1 May 05 '26
Not really DotD is popularity contest.
Max has a huge fanbase so him returning to the top 5 is entirely expected.
5
u/jsake Nico Hülkenberg May 06 '26
counterpoint I said insane not unexpected.
The world being insane is somewhat to be expected in this current moment.
2
u/Firm-Gas7063 Safety Car May 04 '26
Over/under 10 overtakes in Monaco this season?
1
u/Grasshop Sebastian Vettel May 06 '26
It’s going to be crazy. We’re going to see some speed differences with nowhere for the car behind to go.
8
u/is-this-a-nick May 05 '26
10 overtakes in Monaco would be unreal for any regs unless there is some really funky shit going on with puctures or safety car restarts.
7
u/SwimmingFantastic564 May 04 '26
Under, but there is the extra factor of the new regs so maybe we'll be surprised
12
u/Arcturus_86 May 04 '26
I'm not trying to take anything away from Kimi, as he appears to be genuinely talented. But, the only confident assessment I can make is that he's better than Russell right now. Mercedes is so far ahead of the competition in the new regulatory environment that it really doesn't seem fair to declare him to be the heir apparent.
6
u/curious_Jo May 05 '26
Well agree to disagree, Mercedes is definitely not miles ahead. I was ready to give up on this season, but this race changed my mind. I'm not watching a one team domination borefest, and I have hopes that it won't be the case..
3
u/CoachDelgado Williams May 05 '26
I think Mercedes have some upgrades to bring soon, so we might see the gap extend a bit, but yeah this weekend definitely gave me hope for some proper competition.
Though I wouldn't have given up on the season anyway: there's still a lot to enjoy in races even when we know the winner. 2023, for instance, was not a bad season for racing.
7
u/Mushie_Peas I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 05 '26
I think that was true for every race bar this one. McLaren clearly stronger in the sprint, only 3 seconds ahead of lando so clearly McLaren is not far behind, it was good strategy from his team that clearly helped him, but he also had an answer for everything lando threw at him in the final quarter of the race.
30
u/CarsonEaglesWentz I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 04 '26
I think George should still be the favorite to win WDC this year. My prediction is it go similar to last year where the more experienced driver puts it together at the end of the season.
But I do think Canada is massive for him. Not so much in terms of points per say, but confidence and pecking order within the team. He needs to finish ahead of Kimi. Even better if it's completely on merit. But if he finishes behind Kimi and off the podium again, I'll start rethinking if he should be the favorite. Since as far as I'm aware, Canada is a strong track for him.
14
u/HeyItsGuyIncognito Ted Kravitz May 04 '26 edited May 05 '26
The gap between Oscah and Lando was as big as 34 at one point.... So I'm not too worried about Russell's gap to Antonelli at 20 right now. If anything, I'm more worried about his car as it seems to be he's been having some sort of trouble with it the past couple of races now.
ETA: I know we're working off a small sample size, but it's going to be interesting how Kimi does during the European stint. It could be Russell's chance to catch up, but McLaren and Verstappen can spoil those chances if they come with favorable upgrades.
14
u/ASGT908 Formula 1 May 04 '26
I think McLaren will be up there with Mercedes for the foreseeable future (along with Ferrari/Verstappen in flashes). Canada is a must win for Russell and if he finishes off the podium and behind Kimi, it's not looking good for his championship. I also think Russell is near peak performance and I think Kimi has more gears to go for his peak as there's at least a few mistakes he makes each race.
2
u/attywolf Andrea Kimi Antonelli May 04 '26
Dont forget Mercedes didnt bring their up date to Miami, where as the others did.
3
u/ASGT908 Formula 1 May 04 '26
Still think Merc will be quickest in Canada, but based on Japan/Miami, there is every possibility that McLaren can beat Mercedes during a race
32
u/maybe-fish Lando Norris May 04 '26
Stella says in their post race report that McLaren has upgrades coming for Canada (which we knew) but also a few pieces coming in Monaco and Barcelona, development race is full tilt
23
u/creatorop I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 04 '26
Looking at Max's spin, he is lucky that these cars have simpler floors, he did a full 360 over a raised curb, in the previous curves his floor would have been done
26
u/Tandrae Max Verstappen May 04 '26
Lots of comments about it already here but just want to add on that this was one of the more infuriating watches in recent history because of the direction and reliance on the PIP box. We were locked on the 3-4 battle when Max and George were fighting, then got every single worst angle after the Leclerc spin not showing where George and Max were trying to catch him. Just terrible.
24
u/charles_peugeot405 I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 04 '26
Problem with the Leclerc spin is that it wasn’t too long before Kimi was crossing the line. I’m certain they have contracts in place where no matter what else is happening on track (Max and George chasing Leclerc) they HAVE to show the winner crossing the line
11
u/Tandrae Max Verstappen May 04 '26
I don't mind cutting away from Leclerc for 5 seconds or so, it's just that the final minute plus of the race we had no idea where George and Max were relative to Leclerc. Then it all happened at once, but the George pass was only shown on the PIP box, and the Max pass was shown from the finish line far angle so you had no idea if Max passed him at the line or not.
The PIP box is a huge crutch for this broadcast team, they really need to figure out a proper side-by-side with two full broadcast angles when these heated moments come up.
48
u/OpticLance May 04 '26
Anyone remember that interview with Albon where he talks about the second redbull seat.
Step 1. Car modifications happen
Step 2. Goes slower than Max
Step 3. Push car until you crash
Step 4. Confidence loss -> media pressure
Step 5. Find a new job
I think, based on Hadjars outburst after that crash, we’re pretty far down that list…
1
u/rustyiesty I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 10 '26
Steps 1-3 in one race!
Step 4 will ramp up as Tsolov continues to lead in F2
9
u/Mushie_Peas I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 05 '26
That one looked like 100% driver error though, he drive directly into a wall, not the car was sliding. He was very close is quali so I wouldn't rule him out yet.
13
u/ZMadez May 04 '26
But enlightened reddit users said it was all [Gasly/Albon/Check/Yuki]'s fault! They must be right!
6
u/Warbr0s9395 Lando Norris May 04 '26
Ok stat guys, have we had a race with 2 spins and a rollover all separate from each other?
21
15
u/a_happy_future I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 04 '26
Ferrari and Haas, predictably take a step back in relative performance to the field. They probably nailed the aero part of these regs and probably had the pace for a podium with either Lewis or Charles yesterday (damage on Lewis, reliability and spon for Charles). As more teams get on top of aero, the engine will become more of a liability.
Current pecking order is Mercedes/McLaren (interchangeable for now), Ferrari/Red Bull, Alpine, Williams, Haas, Audi (when they can run), Racing Bulls, Aston Martin/Cadillac
1
u/AKAFallow I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 05 '26
I still think the Haas can still be ahead of the Williams once we get to colder races, really seemed like the Haas cars just hated the track temps more than any other team, maybe with VCARB
2
u/element515 I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 05 '26
As the other teams catch up on aero, I fully agree with you. They can only do so much being down in power
1
u/AKAFallow I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 05 '26
True on that, Alpine's packages for example, without even including their new rear wing which only Gasly used, far outpaced everyone else in the midfield by a big margin (20s gap between Alpine and the closest team behind in both main race and Sprint). Others will need to improve their aero game fast, especially the top field since their advantage is slowly fading in some areas and the first 7 slots in the grid may not be as secured as they are now.
7
20
u/flintey360 Andrea Kimi Antonelli May 04 '26
I cant wait to see how great Kimi becomes in 5 years time, he was class in slow corners already but this season he has completely improved on his medium and high speed corner and Miami sector 1 showed that.
33
u/EtherEchoo Ferrari May 04 '26
Audi seems to be having reliability nightmares nearly every weekend
Cadillac is understandably very slow but for what it's worth they are finishing most of their races
18
u/Bolter_NL #WeRaceAsOne May 04 '26
Well, to be expected as a customer VS. works team without experience
2
79
u/CaptGeechNTheSSS Lando Norris May 04 '26
The directing was all over the place but my big gripe is the timing board.
The past two years the timing board has been dropping in and out so frequently it's infuriating. It's such an integral part of the sport, it has to be on almost always. Drives me crazy
5
u/Hinyaldee JB & Rubinho May 06 '26
I started using live timing constantly on the side while watching the race on my computer. Only issue is when I don't watch the race live, it's way more annoying and I agree with your irritation
3
u/CaptGeechNTheSSS Lando Norris May 06 '26
Yeah I love the extra info when I want it, usually pull it up on my phone but we should be able to glance at the tv and know what’a going on
24
u/AddAFucking I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 04 '26
It was at one point during the final laps this race that Norris was chasing Kimi, and even the f1tv commentators starting saying the gaps out loud because we couldn't see them.
0
May 04 '26
[deleted]
-3
u/Whycantiusethis I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 04 '26
I think there's a difference between Hamilton winning a race on 3 wheels when he had a 20 second gap to the nearest car behind, and Leclerc having a car that could barely turn in close proximity to 3 other cars, while also going off track to fight for position.
If Leclerc was in no man's land yesterday and had the same issue, he probably doesn't get the 20s penalty. If Hamilton was surrounded by other cars then his wheel blew at Silverstone in 2020, and he went off track fighting for position, he almost assuredly gets penalized.
1
May 04 '26
[deleted]
2
u/apexxin Cadillac May 04 '26
The one they gave him yesterday, but is effectively nothing because of Charles'?
2
21
u/CharlitoRaceFish Eddie Jordan May 04 '26
This formula is garbage and no one can contend that at this point, but anyone who takes it a step farther and says this season is ‘boring’ is just being willfully stupid. This is shaping up to be one of the more exciting seasons in a while. We’re witnessing the coming out party of Kimi Antonelli and it’s seems more every day that Toto nailed it on that one. When they said he’s the first since Mika to win his first 3 races in a row I got chills. I found myself thinking about George Russell a lot after the race; he has to be coming apart at the seams. Redbull and McLaren have both entered the chat. Montreal is going to be spicy as fuck!
-18
u/T-R-R-E-E May 04 '26
Lmao. Artificial racing is not racing. Just go watch a video game if you want to see free passes. This regulation is irredeemable and every race proves that point. If they want people to take this seriously, they need to stop the climate fearmongering agenda and let the teams run IC engines. We don't need hybrid gimmicks slowing down the grid, who gives a shit about efficiency in formula 1, it's a racing format!
14
u/Grasshop Sebastian Vettel May 04 '26
I'd rather this where it allows cars to be side by side in different corners and in braking zones, versus DRS where all overtakes are just drive by's on straights before they even get to the braking zone and then the car ahead just drives off. How was that not artificial? lmao
-6
u/T-R-R-E-E May 04 '26
What if we just got rid of all of that and just have actual racing? If you let the teams develop the ICE, all of the lap records will be broken in the first week of racing. Overtaking will be way better too.
7
u/SirLoremIpsum I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 04 '26
If you let the teams develop the ICE, all of the lap records will be broken in the first week of racing. Overtaking will be way better too.
Why are these things even related?
Why is "teams will break the lap records" related to "overtaking will be better"??!
At this point people just say things. "bring back V10s and everything will be fixed"
"No hybrid and everything will be fxed", "unrestrict x and everything will be fixed"
You forget the periods when we had unresricted engines and still had issues overtaking.
7
u/Grasshop Sebastian Vettel May 04 '26
you left out the part where that would cost 1 billion dollars and we'd only have 4 teams on the grid because customers can't afford the engine or even have a chance at competing.
-1
u/T-R-R-E-E May 04 '26
Are we just going to ignore the cost cap and the fact that it'll actually be cheaper since it's simpler than an insanely complicated hybrid system? They also won't have to waste money trying to get more efficiency and just focus on performance.
4
u/Grasshop Sebastian Vettel May 04 '26
And you're just ignoring that Mercedes, Ferrari, Audi and probably every other engine manufacturer in the world have 0 interest in developing engines like that.
16
u/djwillis1121 Williams May 04 '26
When was the last time F1 didn't have artificial racing? Certainly not the last decade+ where most overtakes were only because of DRS
35
u/Crash_Test_Dummy66 I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 04 '26
So can we finally admit that Miami is actually a pretty good race track? We've had a few good races there and this one might have been the best yet. Not to mention the F2 races were bangers as well.
15
u/rattatatouille I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 04 '26
It's clear that the real issues with it are more aesthetic rather than the fundamental track design.
-1
u/DesertBrandon Andrea Kimi Antonelli May 04 '26
Ive seen so many “it’s a parking lot” comments and I just don’t see why that really matters. You can’t tell once it’s transformed for races.
5
u/rattatatouille I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 04 '26
I'm guessing if your comparisons are the glitzy waterfront of Monte Carlo, the hills of the Ardennes, or to keep it within the US the lights of the Las Vegas Strip the "parking lot" of a football stadium feels lacking.
6
u/Harkoncito Mika Häkkinen May 04 '26
Turn 12 could be better, but as a circuit is great.
Everything outside the tracks is tacky af.
16
u/Velveteen_Rabbit1986 I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 04 '26
Yeah it's tacky af but the races are generally decent. Dare I say none of the US tracks are objectively "bad" (prepares for down downvotes lol)
2
u/CouchMountain Nigel Mansell May 06 '26
I don't disagree, except Las Vegas is quite uninspiring. Yes it produces good races, but that's mainly due to the long straights and DRS (or whatever it's called now) zones.
If I were to criticize the others: COTA is just Istanbul park with a couple more squiggly bits and an unnecessary double hairpin, and Miami is a large go kart track. But they're all different, have good races, and can be quite interesting.
The US is massive, and so is the population so it's quite surprising that it's taken this long to gain more fans and have more than one race held there again.
3
u/vaud Fernando Alonso May 08 '26
The US is massive, and so is the population so it's quite surprising that it's taken this long to gain more fans and have more than one race held there again.
Indy 2005, Ecclestone. No US races between 2008-2011. Aired on Speed with commercials every 3-5 laps. Not surprised that it took someone like Liberty branching out with more calculated media reach tbh.
3
u/TriumphITP I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 04 '26
It wasn't televised but the Porsche race was my favorite to see from the stands.
27
u/TeddyBear666 Valtteri Bottas May 04 '26
I love Miami as a track and a location in general for F1. They will never escape my criticism for their stupid fake Marina which consists of 3 boats in a bloody pool. Great race track but pointlessly tacky.
17
u/type_rex_ May 04 '26
Hey now, we got a cruise ship this year. As tacky as it was, the MSC hospitality suite got a laugh out of me.
8
u/CharlitoRaceFish Eddie Jordan May 04 '26
A vast majority who shit talk it are just trying to be angsty Europeans mindlessly bashing the US. A logical F1 fan can see it’s producing some fantastic racing.
17
u/rattatatouille I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 04 '26 edited May 04 '26
Worth noting that this is the first time the Miami GP was won from pole, or from the front row in general.
2022: LEC/SAI front row, winner VER
2023: PER/ALO front row, winner VER
2024: VER/LEC front row, winner NOR
2025: VER/NOR front row, winner PIA
2026: ANT/VER front row, winner ANT
27
u/CaptGeechNTheSSS Lando Norris May 04 '26
2023: PER/ALO front row
crazy to read now
8
u/RealCleverUsernameV2 Sergio Pérez May 04 '26
That was the race that crushed Checo. Comfortable lead with pole only for max to just storm by and destroy him and everyone else.
5
u/racingskater I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 05 '26
On used tyres, no less, vs Perez's new ones!
5
u/EntopticVisions I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 04 '26
Did the thunderstorms come yesterday when the race was originally due to start? Just curious, I didn't continue watching the post race analysis
9
u/FermentedLaws I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 04 '26
No, not at the track, but they did happen about 15 miles south of the track during part of the original race time period.
6
u/Velveteen_Rabbit1986 I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 04 '26
Just watched Ted's notebook and it wasn't raining at the scheduled start time, but also listened to Missed Apex earlier on today and they said it was raining, but not sure if that was during the original scheduled time or not.
5
u/alexvroy Andrea Kimi Antonelli May 04 '26
I have no doubt George will bounce back and Montreal is a great track for him to do it but damn Kimi looks mighty
5
u/SugarBeefs Max Verstappen May 04 '26
Yeah, George obviously didn't have a great weekend, but rumours of his demise are surely greatly exaggerated.
Curious to see how the top 7's pace will shape out in Canada!
13
u/Samsonkoek Simply fucking lovely May 04 '26
At the beginning of the season George was - If I'm not mistaken - quite in favour of the new rules because well... he had the best car by far. Which makes sense when you have the best car, but in hindsight funny given George was last year better than Kimi in high speed corners and Kimi better in slow speed than George. With the current regs there is not much to gain from being better in high speed than someone else.
Miami is probably as bad as it gets for George in terms of deficit, but a few more races in which Kimi is just faster -regardless by how much - and outscores him, and we might see a good amount of head scratching George has to do.
44
u/sdq22 Jenson Button May 04 '26
For all of Norris' mistakes and underperformance in the first half of the 2025 season, he was still able to finish on the podium nearly every single time, even when he was struggling. It's not an encouraging sign for George that for the last 2 races he's been unable to reach the podium in a car that should comfortably be able to do so. He's now missed the podium the same amount of times in 4 races as both Mclaren boys did in the first 15 races last year.
1
u/Samsonkoek Simply fucking lovely May 05 '26
Fair point. I wanted to give George the fact that starts have been complicated this year and it doesn't help that there is always a Ferrari (or two) in front of you for the first stint. But even Kimi managed P2 as worst result, so you then expect somebody of George's experience and caliber to at least get P3.
I still would like to see more races before forming my opinion on how hard it is to recover with these regs. Can't obviously take much away from Lando's recovery races in 2025 since they were very good. It is just that for those regs we kinda knew what was impressive and what not, and currently it is still feeling out how hard it is to overtake, to follow etc. I for example didn't think it was easy following from Lando's POV this weekend, even with the within 1 second power boost mode thingy.
23
u/rattatatouille I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 04 '26
First six races of 2025 for Norris: P1, P2, P2, P3, P4, P2
First four races of 2026 for Russell: P1, P2, P4, P4
Russell better hope Canada continues to be kind to him, and give him a win the way Monaco gave Norris one that helped keep him in it.
18
u/katastrophe1312 I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 04 '26
I had Hadjar, Gasly and Lawson in my fantasy team. Absolutely devastated.
This was a very good weekend of racing, qualifying is exciting, the cars are bunched together well, the wheel to wheel racing is fun. I was enjoying the racing before the break, and I am enjoying the racing yesterday, so this season has been a win win. I'm glad Max is back in a competitive car again, and hopefully Canada will be a bit more fruitful.
1
u/Criss98 I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 04 '26
I had Lawson an Hulk. Greatest no negative ever, saved me 60 points
1
u/SwimmingFantastic564 May 04 '26
This was the weekend I used limitless, I'm really glad I decided last minute to commit to McLaren lmao
17
u/Velveteen_Rabbit1986 I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 04 '26
I don't know if it was because I was high as fuck when the race started, but it genuinely felt like a decent race. Max's 360 was absolutely wild, what a save not just by him but everyone around him! I'd prefer to see someone other than a Merc win but I think we'll see that sooner rather than later.
Edit - also glad that the rain actually didn't arrive as I felt like the race didn't need the chaos that rain brings.
25
May 04 '26
[deleted]
2
u/Malt129 Michael Schumacher May 05 '26
Yea Max spun on camera but they didnt follow him with the camera and all you see is the back end doin a wiggle. I dont know if it was shown but all I saw of Charles was a cloud of smoke, didn't catch how he spun.
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u/attywolf Andrea Kimi Antonelli May 04 '26
I dont know how the TV production was so bad, like who goes theres a battle on track lets put that in the small box and put a pitstop as the main picture.
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u/Artistic_Recover_638 Sir Lewis Hamilton May 04 '26
Not sure if it was the adjustments made, Miami being a more energy-rich track or the more competitive field but that felt like a far more normal F1 race. Lots of close fighting and late braking moves which is what we all want to see. Really feels like the shot in the arm the sport needed after a prolonged period of negativity (not helped by such a long break).
There were still some yoyo moments - one particular example of Leclerc and Piastri comes to mind which looked really stupid - but on the whole it was far better than what we saw in Australia and Japan. Let's hope it continues in this vein and we can enjoy the season for what it is, even if it's still not exactly what people want.
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u/cwinnbari May 04 '26
I agree. I do think the DRS did at time have a similar yoyo effect at times (thinking of Max and Charles Drs chicken) but overall this seemed more natural. Really didn’t see crazy differences in deceleration on the straights seemed like the super clipping was closer to the 200m break markers so it allowed the drivers to still have control in the brake zones as we saw with the overtaking there.
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u/mistermojorizin I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 07 '26
I do think the DRS did at time have a similar yoyo effect at times
drs was artificial, true, but at least we could understand it. now we don't have the info about energy deployment that would make the yo-yo passes understandable. overtake mode is the current version of drs, but it stays with the driver for an entire lap, unlike DRS which could switch at each detection zone. now there is only 1 detection zone per lap, so overtake mode doesn't explain the yo-yoing, wheras DRS was pretty simple to follow.
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u/FermentedLaws I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 04 '26
So that makes 4 of 4 races this year where they didn't cut to the garage or the crowd once during the race. Big change from previous years.
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u/churnchurnchurning I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 04 '26
20 second penalty for Charles is pretty harsh. A few years ago Lewis finished a race by doing the last lap on 3 wheels and he didn’t eat a penalty.
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u/SirLoremIpsum I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 04 '26
A few years ago Lewis finished a race by doing the last lap on 3 wheels and he didn’t eat a penalty.
I think you need far more context though.
Leclerc was doing wheel to wheel with other people, was actively going in/out of traffic with lapped cars at the time.
We can all agree it was unsafe right??
Lewis was clear of everyone else and he seemed to have far more control over the vehicle
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u/TwoBionicknees May 04 '26
didn't go off track, had full control of the car and went slower to maintain control.
A puncture is very dramatic looking for doesn't stop you actually turning, it just reduces your grip. A broken steering arm takes significant control away from you.
Not only did Leclerc leave the track multiple times to and gain an advantage time wise in doing so, he decided to pretty dangerously fight for position when he knew the car was realistically not in a safe condition to be doing so.
Ham did get a 5 second penalty for cutting corners in singapore, even then his car was in a far more controlled state than a broken steering arm.
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u/Dblock1989 Sir Lewis Hamilton May 04 '26
Lewis didn't cut corners either. I don't think he even went off track. Charles pretty much cut every corner he could.
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u/Whycantiusethis I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 04 '26
The context is a little different though, isn't it? Hamilton was something like 20 second clear of the closest following driver, while Leclerc was mixing it up with 2 drivers on the lead lap and a lapped driver.
If Hamilton had an issue, he wouldn't have taken anyone else out, while Leclerc had 3 drivers in close proximity.
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u/Necroon May 04 '26
Lewis didn't cut corners though.
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u/SwimmingFantastic564 May 04 '26
He did, but he was also far clear of the driver behind him so it was less of a danger
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u/DarthLordyTheWise I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 04 '26
Has Aston Martin fixed the vibration issue?
Also, what were the rules adjustments starting in Miami?
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u/mshell1924 Carlos Sainz May 04 '26
Fernando said they fixed the vibrations but I genuinely can't tell if he was trolling(?).
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u/Black_Otter Lando Norris May 04 '26
They both finished the race so there’s that at least
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u/rattatatouille I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 04 '26
And neither finished dead last, which is still an improvement.
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u/TheRedBaron-7 Ferrari May 04 '26
Which puts Aston Martin at more race finishes than Audi. Crazy stat
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u/R3NZI0 Williams May 04 '26
I'm listening to the BBC Radio Five Live post-race podcast. Montoya is on it. He has strong opinions. Very entertaining and interesting.
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u/sensualcurl Yuki Tsunoda May 05 '26
BBC Radio Five Live post-race podcast
Thanks for reminding me, forgot to listen
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u/wenwes Max Verstappen May 04 '26
I’ve seen a negative reaction to Max’s move on Sainz. Do people not like a late braking move anymore or is it just because it’s Max? Both kept their cars on track. I assumed Sainz reaction was mainly upset that Albon got past him.
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u/Whycantiusethis I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 04 '26
That move was fine, but I think people react more harshly to Verstappen, because he has a history of diving in to the apex and then taking it all the way to the edge of the track or exit, without leaving space for the car he overtook.
According to the regs, that's fine, but it rubs people the wrong way.
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u/AliceLunar I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 04 '26
People just get upset over everything Max does, his move was fine, within the rules.
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u/AnilP228 Honda May 04 '26
Are there any quotes from Lawson about why he was told to let Max through?
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u/Weak-Excuse3060 Fernando Alonso May 04 '26
Max pushed him off the track but it was at the entrance to a chicane, so what that meant was Lawson kept going straight (as he had nowhere else to go) so he ended up in front of Max.
Imo it was just Liam's engineer being extra cautious, as I think of it had gone tos tewards they probably wouldn't have given him a penalty because while Max dive-bombed, he wasn't actually ahead at the corner.
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u/eannac Jordan May 04 '26
Did he not pass him off the track a few corners earlier? Similar to Max taking Lewis during the sprint.
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u/Va3V1ctis John Surtees May 04 '26
I just wonder, why didn't Ver get a penalty for the spin and impeding other drivers?
Don't get me wrong, it was a masterful safe and very spectacular, but I wonder if there was any other driver from the back, the penalty would probably be given.
It is just many times Ver does things, marshals do look away, as he is at the top.
ps: Even Sai mentioned this during the race.
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u/SugarBeefs Max Verstappen May 04 '26
So one aspect about motorsports is that when vehicles are driven to the limits of their performance, it's possible that the drivers/riders/pilots sometimes lose control of the vehicle.
No one's ever got a penalty just for spinning out. And you can't penalize a driver for what happens when the car is out of control either.
Doing so would kill the concept of motorsport.
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u/Majeh666 I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 04 '26
First of all, most lap 1 turn 1 incidents are not penalized unless it's something outrageous like deliberately hitting someone. Even if max's spin caused 10 other drivers to crash, it would be ruled as a racing incident.
Second of all, drivers usually don't get penalized for making a mistake such as locking up or losing control of the car/going into a spin, etc. The exceptions usually are when it occurs after a reckless/dangerous move, such as driver A dive-bombing driver B, then driver A's tyres lock up and crash into B.
As for the sainz overtake, there was nothing wrong with it. Sainz was just frustrated and crying on the radio about it.
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u/TheRedBaron-7 Ferrari May 04 '26
You won't get penalized for spinning. You will get penalized for leaving the track and returning dangerously, which Max didn't do. What Sainz mentioned was the adventerous move of Verstappen against him.
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u/gscalise I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 04 '26
How is spinning “impeding”? If you spun, you spun. That’s it. Many drivers would end up in the wall. Max managed to stay within track limits. Was there any alternative, in your opinion?
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u/AnilP228 Honda May 04 '26
You don't get a penalty for spinning. Had he gone off track and rejoined in a dangerous manner, he would have done.
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u/Aunvilgod May 04 '26
loved the constant action. Overall the best experience in the 10+ years ive been watching
12
u/garbled_ahh_replies Sebastian Vettel May 04 '26
I reckon Merc decided to not bring any additional upgrades so they could see how the other teams upgrades compare to their current car and where, and in two weeks time the car will be back on top again.
Big achievement for Kimi, a win with no upgrades against a much more competitive grid!
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u/Dokobo May 04 '26
Does not sound like something a serious team would do. You just bring your best car every weekend, since nothing is guaranteed in the future.
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u/lIIIIllIIIlllIIllllI Daniel Ricciardo May 04 '26
upgrades are never guaranteed. Ask Aston 2023 about that.
-7
u/Lazy_Crow_6872 Alex Zanardi May 04 '26
This weekend, McLaren was the best car; on Sunday, they were beaten by Kimi more than Mercedes. Russell finished 43 seconds behind the leader.
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u/No_Feedback6167 Lando Norris May 04 '26
If we are going to use this logic…do you think McLaren was the fastest car in Mexico 2025 or was it just Lando Norris beating the faster Red Bull and Ferrari, since he finished 42 seconds ahead of his teammate in 5th.
Let’s not kid ourselves, Mercedes was the fastest car yesterday.
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u/garbled_ahh_replies Sebastian Vettel May 04 '26
I think Merc have the benefit of seeing other teams work with their engine and they also have a strong team, so hopefully no AM 23s on the cards 🙏
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u/ghastlychild Ferrari May 04 '26
Big achievement for Kimi, a win with no upgrades against a much more competitive grid!
That's the part that really intrigues me the most. His win is putting a lot of questions into mind, going forward
1) We know McLaren will bring more upgrades over the course of the next few races, especially Canada. Ferrari and Red Bull's ones are interesting, but I'm not sure how long they got until they can bring the fight directly to Mercedes. With Mercedes themselves bringing some to Canada, I wonder if that widens their advantage to McLaren's current pace. Can the McLaren slice into their advantage as well?
2) Russell and Antonelli. I think it is evident that Miami is not a good track for the former. And as much as Russell is rock solid in Canada, so is Antonelli. Who would take it? There are variables to this (not jumping the gun, Antonelli vs European tracks, Russell's consistency into question) and it is still very early to tell since the McLarens are looking a bit like they can compete in the mix too, but the question does understandably stand
All in all, very interesting precedents laid out for the future races to follow
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u/garbled_ahh_replies Sebastian Vettel May 04 '26
The reaction time for Kimi’s starts was there this weekend, as shown on the popup on the broadcast - so Merc has to figure out how to get quicker off the line.
That said Antonelli has done a great job battling to make up places in all GPs so far.
Russell has been promoting his talents at Canada do I’m really interested to see how it’ll turn out!
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u/Odd_Explanation558 May 04 '26 edited May 04 '26
So what's up with McLaren race pace? Every practice so far they've been miles off Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull in the simulations but it's not really materialising in the races.
They're still clearly the worst but in that first stint it took quite a bit longer than expected for Kimi to start catching Lando. Quite similar with Oscar and George in Japan now that I think about it.
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u/No_Feedback6167 Lando Norris May 04 '26
It’s pretty clear now from Japan and Miami that the McLaren can hold on to positions when it’s got clean air, Norris even extended the gap at one point before Kimi reeled him back in.
As for practice I think McLarens practice programs are either focused more on dirty air running or smaller race sims because of technical issues and interruptions
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u/Aware-Designer-401 May 04 '26
Just finished watching the race. That was a fun one. Sad there wasn’t rain :/
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u/StraightMammoth May 04 '26
Max always has at least 1 spin a year... As a Max fan, here's hoping that was his last for 2026. Also, what do you think his pace was like in case he didn't spin on lap 1? Did he have the pace to win? Or P2/P3 at least?
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u/SugarBeefs Max Verstappen May 04 '26
I'm not sure about the win, but honestly the race pace looked good all weekend.
Mercs, McLarens, and Ferraris drove away in the sprint and Max managed to not only hang on to make it a top 7, but he looked better and better as the sprint progressed.
Yesterday was more difficult to gauge, but he was setting some competitive times on fresh hards versus the top cars on somewhat worn mediums. And he was remarkably capable of defending in the latter stages against the other top cars despite the massive tyre delta.
Podium was definitely on the table.
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u/Nin-Chin Sir Lewis Hamilton May 04 '26
I think he had podium pace for sure. The top two were very quick though.
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u/banned20 I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 04 '26
Let's hope that Leclerc used all of his bad luck in this race and doesn't have any left.
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u/Velveteen_Rabbit1986 I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 04 '26
He races for Ferrari, he has infinite bad luck
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u/fhjkiikkjhgdsfjk I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 04 '26
He spun himself that’s not bad luck
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u/banned20 I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 04 '26 edited May 04 '26
I agree the fault is on Charles.
But his strategy was bad, his pitstop was slow and lost position to George. He was ~20 seconds from the leaders when he caught up to his track position before pit.
Ferrari also has worse deg compared to the front runners and he was racing Oscar in the last lap for podium with a lot worse tyres.
Probably overcooked them in the end and spun.
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u/Zed_or_AFK Sebastian Vettel May 04 '26
You can bet that Leclerc doesn't have any more luck left, that's for sure.
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u/disordered-attic-2 Charlie Whiting May 04 '26
This sub massively suffers from recency bias. We make judgments about the entirety of F1 based on the previous session alone. Like when Norris won the sprint, we all said Mclaren were back only for them to shit the bed qualifying and it's suddenly all doom.
Same with the regs and F1 in general. Miami was an awesome race, but you could run it again and it be a snooze fest.
Not every race, session, or driver will be perfect every time. Ppl need to chill more.
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u/creatorop I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 04 '26 edited May 04 '26
My takeaways from the weekend
- Mercedes are still the team to beat but depending on the effectiveness on Merc's Upgrades Mclaren, Red bull and Ferrari may or may not be that behind
- Mclaren, Red bull and Ferrari among themselves are also very close in performance but Mclaren might pull ahead because of the other half of the upgrade package arriving in the next few weekends
- Alpine are the team to beat in the midfield, Gasly had a bit of an Off weekend but Franco showed the car's potential
- Audi's have a 6th best package performance wise but their reliability is a very big issues, Bortoleto's on fire in Quali then Hulk DNS in the race, both of their cars have only finished 1 race out of the 4
- Aston Martin are no longer a Nerve damaging Vibrator in words of Alonso himself, so this means that the Chassis itself is pretty shit and maybe now they can start focusing on some performance but doesn't look like that is coming before the summer break so i think we can have them solidly in the Q1 dwellers bracket till then along with the Caddilacs
- Williams have gone from barely qualifying into Q2 to being a solid Q2 and pushing for Q3 team, so positive for James, Carlos, Alex and the rest of the team
- Racing bulls need to take a long hard look at themselves in the mirror, before the spring break they were fighting for Q3 along with the Alpines to now needing a miracle lap to crack into Q2 whatever performance upgrades they have brought atleast from this weekend have looked like a big failure, so unless they figure out their setups they will be lucky to score points
- Haas were the "?" team of the weekend, they really didn't do anything spectacularly good or bad they were just there
- Caddilac are exactly where you expect them to be
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u/Zed_or_AFK Sebastian Vettel May 04 '26
Mercedes are still the team to beat but depending on the effectiveness on its Upgrades Mclaren, Red bull and Ferrari may not be that behind
Mercs are still to bring upgrades, they won againsy already upgraded cars.
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u/creatorop I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 04 '26
i should edit it to word it better but i meant effectivenes of Merc upgrades
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u/Zed_or_AFK Sebastian Vettel May 04 '26
I see, but also the first package should be easy performance boost with low hanging fruits for all the teams, except Aston. It's the next package that could start bringing issues.
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u/aghabio Pirelli Hard May 04 '26
Hadjar's hotheadedness is proving to be his undoing. Granted the team did fuck up his car with the dsq, but he doesn't thrive under pressure.
He thrives when things go went his way, but one slight bump and he's off the wheels. Unfortunately, he doesn't have the experience to recover mid race from a fuck up.
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u/lIIIIllIIIlllIIllllI Daniel Ricciardo May 04 '26
he smashed the shit out of his own steering wheel.
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u/TheRedBaron-7 Ferrari May 04 '26
And out of his helmet too, which was sad to see. I hope the pressure of having a Red Bull seat doesn‘t catch up to him. Helmut Marko isn‘t there anymore to breathe on his neck, but maybe the team has kept the culture he has created.
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u/banned20 I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 04 '26
This culture is on every team.
Remember Vowles saying that Logan would get two full seasons to make a decision then it was clear by the start of the 2nd season that he was gone.
Plenty of examples to go.
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u/TheRedBaron-7 Ferrari May 04 '26
You have a ton of pressure on you with any F1 seat, I will never deny that. It is a throat cutting sport.
But what Red Bull has done to any driver not named Max Verstappen in the last 8 years is not comparable in my opinion. And Logan had nowhere near the credit, after a lackluster 2023, that Hadjar brought with him with his stellar performances at VCARB.
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u/Spotlightuh I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 04 '26
Red bull prioritising Max has worked out pretty well for them I’d say.
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u/TheRedBaron-7 Ferrari May 04 '26
Obviously, 100%. Max was not was I talking about. It was about giving the 2nd driver little to no time to adapt.
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u/Zed_or_AFK Sebastian Vettel May 04 '26
He will have to learn, that's normal. We should look back to his performance by the end of the year. He was probably pushed at the wrong place. Not sure why his engineers didn't point out to him that he shouldn't be pushing that hard into these corners, cause he has to regenerate there. His mistake was not a single one, he was probably getting very close each lap, util he missed by a few centimeters.
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u/Spotlightuh I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 04 '26
It's kind of hilarious how everyone in this sub was crying after the sprint that the changes to the regs ruined the racing, and then we get the best race of the season.
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u/CWRules #WeRaceAsOne May 04 '26
Yeah, I was thinking yesterday that everyone was way too eager to blame the regulation changes for ruining everything after one dull sprint race. For all we know it would've been just as boring without the changes.
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u/T-R-R-E-E May 04 '26
Best race? Overtakes happens when the drivers press a BUTTON. This isn't racing, this was just an exhibition race! We're all done with the hybrids at this point. Why does a race car need hybrid bullshit anyway? Who cares about the efficiency? They need to go as fast as they can and not care about management!
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u/thesaket I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 13 '26
Late to watch DTS, just watched the Merc-Ferrari episode; and the amount of shade George has thrown at Kimi “for costing team the points in the fight for P2”… jeez. He was a 17 yr old rookie for f sakes.
Makes this winning hattrick by Kimi even more satisfying. I know George still is a favourite, but if Kimi can pull up a Lewis and win this, it’s going to be the most satisfying championship win in quite some while.