Tag: new-cars

F1 Australian Grand Prix 2025 Review Part 1

We are finally back! After testing in Barcelona and two weeks of testing in Bahrain we are back racing and what a weekend it was. Heartbreak, excitement, disappointment and so much discussion about those new cars.

The Heartbreak of a nation As 137,000 F1 fans were getting drinks and food 20 minutes before the start of the grand prix, Australia’s own Oscar Piastri lost control of his car and crashed it into the wall. He was driving it to the grid. All the hope and excitement of the nation down under was over before the race had begun. From the footage Piastri had hit the curve and then lost control of the car. Piastri spoke to the F1 media about the incident after the race and difficulties of these new cars.

”Unfortunately a combination of factors, including cold tyres, being up on that curb, and then having more power than in Quali [qualifying]”.

There were positives to come out of the weekend with Piastri qualifying ahead of his teammate Lando Norris. Piastri was also at the top of the second practice session.

Brilliant weekend of the Silver Arrow. At the last race of the 2025 season Abu Dubai as Lando Norris celebrated his first world championship all the talk in the paddock was Mercedes would be hard to beat in 2026. After two weeks of testing in Bahrain it appeared that prediction could be wrong as Red Bull, McClaren, Ferrari were all in the mix to compete with the Mercedes.

Halfway through qualifying everyone in F1 knew those predictions were exactly right. Mercedes would be the one to beat at the beginning of the season. Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolf looked at the camera with the biggest smirk on his face, he knew he had a fast car. His drivers George Russell and Kimi Antonelli qualified in one and two respectively and this is where they would finish the race. They didn’t have it all their own way with Russell battling with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc for the lead over the first twelve laps. The two drivers continued to overtake each other before the first safety vertical safety car. Mercedes decided to pit Russell with Ferrari keeping Leclerc out. After the vertical safety car Russell wasn’t challenged for the win. After the race Russell spoke about the race win with the F1 media.

”This wasn’t a straight forward afternoon, but this win feels very sweet! Congratulations to the whole team; they’ve done an incredible job and this victory is for them.”

Kimi Antonelli’s Saturday started in despair with crashing during the final practice session. The only reason Antonelli made it into qualifying was because Red Bull’s Max Verstappen crashed and the qualifying session was red flagged. This gave the Mercedes mechanics enough time to finish fixing the car and getting him out in Q1.

Antonelli started the race in second but was down to seventh after the first lap. He worked his way through the cars ahead and finished the race in second.

”Coming to the grid, I had a lower battery level so the start was very stressful! We obviously made a slow launch but from there our recovery was good and our pace was strong” he said.

The new regualtions for the 2026 F1 Season

With new configurations comes the unknown and excitement. There is a revolution happening in Formula 1 with new regulations for the 2026 season. Let’s start with the basics, the cars will be shorter, narrower, lighter and they will sound different.

Underneath the car the floor will be flatter, the diffusers will be extended and have a wider opening. The diffuser is at the back of the car and is underneath the rear wing and in-between the two back tyres. In doing this there will be less downforce on the car. In having these new configurations on the car, drivers with different driving styles will have more confidence in driving these cars. At Red Bull Max Verstappen has been a master at driving the Red Bull but Sergio Perez, Liam Lawson, Alex Albon and Yuki Tsunoda have all struggled. These new rules will assist that.

The front and rear wings will be different for 2026 too. There will no longer be rear beam wing. The rear beam wing was a small wing underneath the main wing at the back of the car. It was designed to push the dirty air over the car behind them and make it easier for the car behind to follow and pass. There will also be fewer elements on the front wing too.

The wings will stay shut during the corner which will give extra grip but the designated straights around the track the drivers will be able to open the flaps and flatten the the wings. This will add speed to the cars. This is called Active Aero.

There is also Overtake Mode. When the car is within a second of the car in front, they deploy extra power in assisting to overtake.

On each steering wheel there will be a boost button. When the button is pushed, combined power from the engine and the battery will give them maximum power. It can be deployed around the track and used in attacking and defending cars from behind. The battery it will need to be charged and this is completed through breaking and the driver lifting their foot off the accelerator. This is known as the Energy Recovery System.