F1 2026 Pre-season Wibble

Hey, kids. To avoid cramming all of this in a pre-qualifying spiel for Australia, here’s a scattergun of my thoughts post-testing, which is subject to dramatic and immediate change once the sandbags are dropped for the first race of the season.

Engine Reference Info

Mercedes: Mercedes, McLaren, Williams, and Alpine

Ferrari: Ferrari, Haas, and Cadillac

Red Bull-Ford: Red Bull and Racing Bulls

Honda: Aston Martin

Audi: Audi

Fuel

I think it very likely this will get sorted, but last I heard (a few days ago), not every team had their fuel ready. This matters because failure to do so means using a stopgap fuel which is dramatically inferior (this will affect lap time if it happens). Shell (Ferrari, Haas, Cadillac), BP (Audi), and Red Bull Ford all have their affairs in order. I’d be very surprised if the others don’t, but it’s being cut rather fine.

Future Changes

There’s chatter of moving to 12 sprints in the future due to ‘fan demand’. This is obvious nonsense and is probably claimed on the basis more people watch sprints than FP3.

Turkey is a serious possible calendar entry for 2027, and may even be a stand-in this year if Madrid’s Sochi tribute act isn’t ready in time. On that note, I have a feeling Bottas might be good there (Madrid, that is).

And, of course, it’s possible the Mercedes engine could be forced to change halfway through the season (August).

Team Performance

Haas and Alpine seem close in the midfield contest at the sharp end.

The top four seem set to remain as they were , but with a bigger gap to the midfield. At the moment, opinion’s split between Mercedes and Ferrari as top dog. They (all four) could be close enough that the order chops and changes from one track to another. But it remains to be seen just how much Mercedes have been sandbagging with their engine.

Perhaps one of the most important nuggets of information (well, suggestion from multiple sources) is that both following and overtaking will be very difficult into corners. On the straights may be a different matter.


Also, I may be shifting my long term approach of always offering a bet on each race. If I really can’t see anything then I might just offer no tip whatsoever. As before, any tip I offer will be something I’ve backed myself (in the unlikely event this is not the case I will highlight that).

Try and get up to see the 4am Aussie start (UK time). It could be mayhem off the line. And the track could be tougher for harvesting electrical energy than Bahrain, which may mean the ball is in Red Bull’s court.


Morris

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