Motorsports

[glacial pine]

It's a very distinct livery, I'd have been surprised if it was something new

Like red bull, why bother changing anything

[pale tinsel]

https://www.youtube.com/live/RMn7VeLqQeg

AMR launch upcoming

[pale tinsel]

looks like they forgot about their own stream

https://www.youtube.com/live/OE9QaC7-XoE?si=4xdacr3NMcpen_uU

aaand they just killed this stream too lmao

https://www.youtube.com/live/P0Q-siGJdd4?si=cEJEBLnHpjjf4FtJ

and this is fooked too

AMR can't even launch a car properly lmao

LMAO THIS ASTON STREAMS ARE SO FOOKED

AHAHAHAHA STREAMS BEEN TAKEN DOWN LMAO

THE LANCE STROLL EFFECT

it's back and the audios fucked

it's like the aston stream got copyrighted

streams gone again LMFAO

[glacial pine]

Why can't the teams just post some nice pictures of the cars and the team and call it done

[pale tinsel]

and miss out on this comedy stream?

back again btw

Oh here we go liveries getting dropped

finally

[glacial pine]

My guess is... Similar to last season

[pale tinsel]

its pretty much the same

with a bit of fluro green on the side pod

https://www.vxinstagram.com/p/DUjJ27ZjLXA/

https://www.vxinstagram.com/p/DUjJ27ZjLXA/?img_index=3

https://www.vxinstagram.com/p/DUjJ27ZjLXA/?img_index=4

[glacial pine]

Ooh it's more different than McLaren or red bull went. It looks good

[pale tinsel]

https://www.vxinstagram.com/p/DUjJ27ZjLXA/?img_index=2

https://www.vxinstagram.com/p/DUjJ27ZjLXA/?img_index=1

oh streams fucked again

doesn't matter now

I don't think there's enough ref to honda tbh

like they could have done the shark fin in white

[glacial pine]

Maybe honda is less needy than HP

[severe spindle]

I don't see any difference from 2025..

I don't see any Honda influence in its design and color either

[severe spindle]

Honda isn't some sponsor, but Aston is just allergic to making special liveries

They made one livery since 2023, and they've stuck with it

Even their eddie jordan tribute livery was an embaressment

Just stuck an emblem on the side of the spoiler

Much as I like Aston Martin and hope to see them do good this season

This livery is getting the 2nd worst livery of the season, only above Audi

It's absolutely uncreative, and not nuanced whatsoever, and it managed to make one of the biggest deals in F1 history in modern times look boring

Welp, here's my ranking now that they're all revealed if anyone cares:

• 1: TGR Haas F1 Team
• 2: Scuderia Ferrari HP
• 3: Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team
• 4: BWT Alpine F1 Team
• 5: Cadillac F1 Team
• 6: Atlassian Williams Racing
• 7: McLaren Mastercard F1 Team
• 8: Visa CashApp Racing Bulls F1 Team
• 9: Oracle Red Bull Racing
• 10: Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team
• 11: Revolut Audi F1 Team

I will say, the general quality of the liveries this season is pretty high, and trhe variety is good

Whilst the ranking may be like this, I'd say all of these cars are of a higher standard of liveries than 2025

[pale tinsel]

this is my current copium

[granite tangle]

well he wasnt dating a kardashian then

[pale tinsel]

but he was dating some pussy(cat doll)

[granite tangle]

nothing comes close to the kardashian curse

them women are demons

[glacial pine]

Good list! I will make my own when I'm home and have a colour screen. Especially now we've seen everything

Is Lewis dating Kim or whoever it was, or were they sat next to each other.

[pale tinsel]

allegedly dating

[severe spindle]

That'd be rather funny

[severe spindle]

Thank you Tweetman
Glad you like the list
And yeah make your own now that we've seen everything. Hopefully it'll give some further perspective to me

[severe spindle]

I never even understood what the Kardashians do

Like are they models, porn stars, what

[glacial pine]

They are "famous women from LA"

There job is "Celebrity"

[severe spindle]

Seriously? They don't even have any defined career?

[glacial pine]

Kim went viral when a sex tape she'd filmed with a partner went VIRAL, and they've built everything off the back of that.
Oh I think the parents have big money from more down to earth jobs back when that was possible in the states.

[severe spindle]

Seriously?!

Most people's careers usually get ruined when a sex tape gets released

And these people make an empire off of it

That makes me respect them all the less

[glacial pine]

Well, it changed her career. She was a professional stylist, organising the closets of Rich Celebs before that happened.
So she had connections with media savvy people

[severe spindle]

Certainly had rhe right cards play in her favor

[glacial pine]

Honestly, bravo to making a career beyond something awful like that happening

[severe spindle]

She definitely knows her way around the business and reputation

Gotta hand her that

But alas, the fact that they are just famous for no particular reason, just makes me annoyed

[glacial pine]

There was an Olympic medal winning uncle or cousin too or something

[severe spindle]

That's definitely one way to exploit popularity

[granite tangle]

https://x.com/skysportsf1/status/2021186633337295161?s=46

Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1)

Mercedes have released a statement confirming that Kimi Antonelli was involved in a traffic accident on Saturday night close to his home in San Marino. The police attended the scene, after being called by Kimi. His was the only car involved and while his vehicle was damaged, Kimi

X · Feb 10, 2026, 11:36 AM

[granite tangle]

Bruce Jenner, later known as Caitlyn Jenner

[pale tinsel]

since he is ok, i can make the joke

kimi talibantonelli strikes again

looks like he got rear ended

https://www.sanmarinortv.sm/news/cronaca-c3/schianto-in-superstrada-l-autovettura-era-legata-alla-societa-di-kimi-antonelli-a286282

[severe spindle]

Pffft

[severe spindle]

He had this car for like 1 day

It was given to him by Mercedes

And now it's like this

[pale tinsel]

he's gonna be getting a Mercedes A180 base model

[severe spindle]

Hahaha

Imagine the scolding hell get from toto and his parents

It's never not funny

Crashing in real life has alot mor responsibility put on one's shoulders than in F1 xd

[pale tinsel]

costs him a lot more too to crash a mercedes road car rather than the f1 car

[granite tangle]

depends on his contract, a lot of the times the second drivers pay the money out their pockets if they dont got any sponsors to bail them out

crashing this is like

150k?

a crash in F1 could send someone's family a bill of 300k 😭

[glacial pine]

Caitlyn! I forgot her name!!! Shocked she didn't pick a K name to join The Others

Didn't she also kill someone by running them over?

But that's an Off Topic chat

[severe spindle]

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1202114643741376573/1470752260874047488/instagram_DT4zt89CLkh.mp4?ex=698c7048&is=698b1ec8&hm=b1fe89ffb7004e1465e3fafb9b96fe1265494bbc9a2ebe645ead356eeb9ad438&

I love just how strangely accurate the Russel and Kimi voices are

[glacial pine]

Tweetmans Twenty Tweety Six livery ranking:
1 Haas
2 Williams
3 McLaren
4 Mercedes
5 Aston Martin
6 Audi
7 Ferrari
8 Red Bull
9 Alpine
10 Revolut Toro Rosso or whatever the fuck that mess is called this year

Top 2 I Like a Lot
3 - 6 I think are Good
7 - 9 yawn worthily unoriginal but Fine I Guess
10 Ew

[granite tangle]

i think so yeah

[glacial pine]

The Kardashian extended family girls really are women who can do it all...

[severe spindle]

Tweety six lol

Yeah we share Haaand Mercedes around the same ranking

But the rest are very different

I can't say I agree with it, but I understand where you're coming from

[glacial pine]

I like the Audi because the silver paint is a fabulous finish

[severe spindle]

It's just not enough for me frankly

We've had silver before

And it was never this plain

https://youtu.be/PAdVNUN6_EU?si=s-0F6Y4iLkCDX4gQ

It's interesting watching these videos. Webber really was one of those drivers that whilst was seemingly headed for greatness, was always that one step short and had immensely bad luck

It's honestly hilarious looking back on Williams themselves as well

A team that for a while compared themselves to the status of Ferrari and McLaren, in that anything less than a win was often considered a failure

Yet looking at them now, there's not a single sign of the team that once had that level of ego

[severe spindle]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/Jacques_Villeneuve_(Sauber)_qualifying_at_US_Grand_Prix_2005.jpg

I feel such an odd fondness for this period of Sauber designs. The color combination feels oddly cool

[strong kite]

Hopeilton

From the ones who brought you LeDelusions and Verslight Chance

[glacial pine]

I only want Lewis and Charles to be happy

[pale tinsel]

https://www.vxinstagram.com/p/DUlWEiJCIIQ/

[glacial pine]

Oh god not the fucking Oxagon logo 🙃

[severe spindle]

Hmm

[severe spindle]

I saw the Cadillac post for their livery on YouTube and every top comment said "welcome back BAR"

Im so glad to get the references

[granite tangle]

i think at this point you might be able to get more references than the average f1 fan

[severe spindle]

I'd be glad if that's the case. I came into the sport right on the 2025 season, and thankfully I've been able to pick up info quite quickly

I couldn't even tell you who was who for a time

But now I am looking at older F1 videos and able to draw my own conclusion of what makes for a successful F1 team and driver

Guess I have matured, I am happy

[severe spindle]

You know, the more that I learn, the more I realize just how many ways there are to make for a F1 team
You could exist for the sake of promotion for a cooperation, you could exist to represent a country in the sport, you could exist as a former F1 racer's new career as a team owner or manager, or a combination of them all

I mean when wanting to look at the success of some teams, you can't just take what happens at surface value and say "Yeah Williams 2005 campagin with BMW didn't go well"

because more often than not, there's far more depth to every success and more importantly, every failure

You can't look at a team like Ligier/Prost and think its idealogy was any similar to a team like Minardi or benetton

One thing I've realized quite well in the world of F1, at least before the modern era of hyper-engineering, the winning cars often just the ones that were reliable and or had consistent pace

Many failing teams had one good component, be it the engine, the aero, the chassis, the driver, and most other components failed

This is probably why teams like Sauber or Minardi survived being in the sport for so long

Whilst never being contenders for a title, their existence was never an entire failure either
Usually able to achieve some form of reliable way for the drivers to prove themselves, and get picked up into better teams

even if being dead last, they typically finished at least

They never had the engineering marvels that allowed them to get into contention, but they never had massive drop off and failures either

[pale tinsel]

https://www.vxinstagram.com/p/DUT0aW7EZXn/

PIRELLI PC

[severe spindle]

Ngl, that is a really cool PC case design

[glacial pine]

https://youtube.com/shorts/cBRYLPg38pQ?si=geLs1O_b9UbiqeDr

It is Race Week

It is also a second race week

The weird little Jeddah layout with all the chicanes

And the Friday race has a charging stop

[severe spindle]

This is very different to the F1 jeddah design

I want to get F1 2018, I've heard it handles easier than 2020

[pale tinsel]

https://www.vxinstagram.com/p/DUnWVuujMTG/

alright it looks fuckin brilliant on track

[granite tangle]

the livery goes perfectly with newey's design, the FIA standard one with that livery looked like shit

[glacial pine]

Such a fascinating engine cover... Honda definitely not following the crowd

[severe spindle]

The color was always good

So I ain't surprised oit looks good on track

[severe spindle]

Yeah not sure what they're planning with that cover

[granite tangle]

ill be dming @glacial pine and @severe spindle my research findings on sites that stream f1 or f1+other stuff like WEC Indy NASCAR etc..

anyone else want gimme a ping

ill be home tomorrow for the next day of testing so we'll see which of these seems to work better

https://x.com/FerranWest/status/2021586010690207899?s=20

Ferran West (@FerranWest)

🚨| AMuS reports that shortly before the lunch break Aston Martin opened the engine cover and from the outside it looked as if the engine had suffered from overheating. After the first few runs, a panel with cooling slots was installed.

However, this didn’t change the concerned

X · Feb 11, 2026, 2:03 PM

https://x.com/wearetherace/status/2021586169624924267?s=20

The Race (@wearetherace)

🗣️ "I think we're slower than GP2 right now, right? It does feel like that."

After a positive impression at Barcelona, Lewis Hamilton is now less impressed with the 2026 cars (though they are quicker than F2 cars).

Here's why: https://t.co/WJh6DJ563D
https://t.co/WJh6DJ563D

X · Feb 11, 2026, 2:04 PM

I think lessons for today are

Aston might be fucked

Ferrari do not look fucked at all so far

Redbull looks quite good

Audi is probably fucked

Mercedes is lying

Also onboards look good this year

https://vxtwitter.com/mattamys/status/2021628820974182745?s=46

Matt (@mattamys)

NEW F1 ONBOARDS!🏁
Last year F1 began the switch to new Sony cameras, similar to those used in MotoGP with in-camera stabilisation - which has now been rolled out to all teams!
We're now getting a 13% screen increase for a wider field of view, and less of the fish eye effect!

vxTwitter / fixvx • GIF · Feb 11, 2026, 4:54 PM

[glacial pine]

Ooh theyre doing the formula e wide angle lens to make it look faster

[granite tangle]

It’s good

Onboards the last 2 years were kinda iffy for me

[granite tangle]

https://vxtwitter.com/cxmeroncc/status/2021641302455026042?s=46

Cameron (@CxmeronCc)

🗣️Scott Mitchell-Malm: "Verstappen has been an early proponent of using an unorthodox downshifting technique that offered us the first real sign of potential tricks to use high-revving engines to help charge the batteries [...] Throughout Wednesday’s running Verstappen was consistently using first gear where it would never normally be needed and where (initially) everyone else was using second gear [...] It feels like something that Red Bull is deploying as a deliberate tactic the most, and to the best effect, and Verstappen already seems relatively at ease in terms of mastering." [The Race] #F1 #F1Testing

vxTwitter / fixvx · Feb 11, 2026, 5:43 PM

[severe spindle]

Does make me wonder what we should expect honestly

[severe spindle]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M532UHeOcV4

Can I just say

I know Lance's skill isn't that good

but the fact that his best lap in the Aston Martin was a whole second behind Sergio in the Cadillac, is a bit embaressing

The Aston martin really is looking less and less hopeful the closer we get to this season's opening

Also, 4th fastest time by Esetban, damn

[sick meadow]

https://tenor.com/view/clash-royale-chevaucheur-hog-rider-question-mark-thinking-gif-17679823

[severe spindle]

I think this says less about Lance

And more about just how much struggle Aston is gonna undergo

Crazy how hopeful we used to be for a possible 3rd WDC for Alonso

But it seems like Honda didn't get the regulations right, and all their talent left for Red Bull

[sick meadow]

i was never on the hype train

people treat him like he's the marc marquez of f1

when in reality he's just a george russell with 2 championships

[severe spindle]

Nah Alonso is definitely good

His two championship seasons didn't come easy

Being ran by a competitive Mclaren in 2005 and a competitive Ferrari in 2006

Alonso's skills are way above average, but his luck is absolutely down the drain

I was never expecting 2026 to be a WDC season for him, but I did hope that it'd be competitive at least

And it seems like it won't be even that

Slower than Cadillac, that is just embaressing

Regardless, he's kind of just there because he's popular

[sick meadow]

say it with me, testing time don't mean anything

[severe spindle]

Gives a reason for people to support Aston

[sick meadow]

testing time don't mean anything

[severe spindle]

When otherwise they wouldn't have any real reason

[sick meadow]

more indicative way of looking at how fucked they are is laps ran

[severe spindle]

Hence they keep getting old WDCs which are popular to race for them

I assure you that if Michael Schumacher was still around

They'd pay him billions to drive for them

[severe spindle]

That is very hopeless as well

[sick meadow]

yes

[severe spindle]

Aston ran the least amount of laps in both Barcelona and Bahrain

And are among the slowest on the time sheet

They are having constant overheating issues

[granite tangle]

aston martin did about 30 laps today, every other team were close to 100. Williams was late to testing as you know, and they have managed to overtake aston in total laps within a few sessions

[severe spindle]

Alonso will adapt no problem, but the other side of the garage will be even more useless than usual

[sick meadow]

adapt no problem idk

his years at mclaren

[severe spindle]

alonso is one of the most versatile drivers in the F1 paddock

[sick meadow]

shows

otherwise

[severe spindle]

I meant he'll adapt as a driver

Not that he'll be competitive

[granite tangle]

i dont think alonso is gonna drag the car down when its looking like it will be blowing up week in week out so

[severe spindle]

Yeah Alonso will do the best that can possibly be done with the car

[granite tangle]

itll be shit regardless tho

[severe spindle]

He's not my worry, my worry is that it'll be a repeat of the GP2 days

Like seriously, we memed, and it came true

Why does Alonso have such bad luck

Poor guy

[sick meadow]

i assure you he's crying with his billion

[granite tangle]

lawrence decided to take the bag from honda than to trust mercedes to make a good hybrid v6

[severe spindle]

The thing is, I see why Aston did that

[sick meadow]

well to be fair

honda with redbull has been stella

[granite tangle]

idk about luck, if the aston sucks alonso has an official invitation from Zak for the Indy 500

[severe spindle]

For one, Honda PUs in the Red Bulls were dominant
Plus, being a works team means better support and development for engines

We've rarely had customr teams be world champions

So it was the right move for them to get with Honda

However, when all the smoke went away, it became clear that this Honda is more akin to the 2015 McLaren Honda than the 2023 Red Buill Honda

[granite tangle]

i mean the last 2 years we did, and essentially mclaren has a lot of WCCs and theyve always been customers

[sick meadow]

every champions in the modern era except mercedes and ferrari

[severe spindle]

Nah they were Mercedes' works team for the longest time

Up until Mercedes themselves entered F1

[severe spindle]

Red Bull was Honda's works team

[sick meadow]

they're still a customer

[severe spindle]

Mercedes is Works team

[severe spindle]

No they're a works team

because they don't supply Honda PUs to any other team

[sick meadow]

alpha tauri

has a word

[severe spindle]

Aston is Honda's works team this season

Doesn't count really

[sick meadow]

?

[severe spindle]

VCARB is RB's 2nd hand as always

So they're just an extension of RB

than another team

Hence why they always have the same PUs

[sick meadow]

not really

[severe spindle]

Since being acquired by Red Bull

[sick meadow]

they're with the same owner sure

[severe spindle]

bark why are you arguing

[sick meadow]

they have different factories

[severe spindle]

These are facts

VCARB doesn't count

They're Red Bull B-team

They're red bull's customer if anything

Red Bull was Honda's works team

[severe spindle]

Always has been 2nd hand Red Bull designs at VCABR

Like how the 2025 VCARB is a copy of the 2024 Red Bull

Regardless, the only Driver championship of recent times to not be a works team was McLaren in 2025

But constructors have been with McLaren since 2023

[severe spindle]

I don't know if it's really a good enough substitute

Still is a surprise to hear anyway

[granite tangle]

id argue its better than f1 for him now

[severe spindle]

Given Alonso burned all bridges with McLaren post 2018

[granite tangle]

mclaren has probably the best car in indy

[severe spindle]

But I guess he didn't burn them all

[granite tangle]

or one of the best

and then theres the fact that if he does it hes a triple crown holder

[severe spindle]

All depends on whether if their engine hates him again like it did back then

[severe spindle]

Not sure if it'll be a good enough substitute for always being butt fucked by his teams, but I guess we'll see

I just hope AM figure it out before Australia

I don't wanna see an Alonso retirement on the opening round

[granite tangle]

https://x.com/F1/status/2021839467234095348?s=20

Formula 1 (@F1)

Who’s on track today? 👀

Thursday’s driver line-up in Bahrain 👇

#F1 #F1Testing

X · Feb 12, 2026, 6:51 AM

full day for hadjar alonso norris and charles

[pale tinsel]

bearman and gasly too

[granite tangle]

yeah but they are in an alpine and haas so

results are expected 😭

[pale tinsel]

give bearman and haas some benefit

not alpine

although i do like their straight line mode wing

everyones gone with old drs style but they put the back of their wing down to flatten it out

[granite tangle]

Which means it’ll probably just be broken

[pale tinsel]

probably

[severe spindle]

Kind of incredible that Lando set the fastest lap despitre mclaren intentionally taking it easy for 2026

[severe spindle]

In fairness, Ocon drove into 4th fastest on Bahrain

[granite tangle]

https://x.com/F1BigData/status/2021937701889679692?s=20

Holiness (@F1BigData)

Lance Stroll about the Aston Martin:

“We have engine problems and not just engine problems. We’re not in a position to fight for wins. Right now, we’re missing 4 SECONDS”

📰 @ASJesusBalseiro

X · Feb 12, 2026, 1:21 PM

https://x.com/AstonMartin_FI/status/2021940309043876240?s=20

Aston Martin F1 News (@AstonMartin_FI)

Matteo Bobbi (ex driver, technical commentator for Sky Italy) said he talked to someone from AM and they described the Honda PU as "really bad", with Honda already working on the next engine project.
They apparently also expect to get some help from ADUO

X · Feb 12, 2026, 1:31 PM

https://x.com/FerranWest/status/2021948887746142383?s=20

Ferran West (@FerranWest)

🚨| Antonio Lobato reports that Fernando Alonso threw his gloves after getting out of the car:

"They're nowhere near where they wanted to be."

X · Feb 12, 2026, 2:05 PM

[severe spindle]

This is just embaressing

[severe spindle]

It really is gonna be a repeat of GP2 era isn't it

[severe spindle]

The man is just done with it all at this point

[glacial pine]

What's the secret sauce to making shit work

[granite tangle]

he's not the only one. Lewis came out to say he hates the cars, and then today we had max come out and say the same

[glacial pine]

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DUpaxDEjNg4/?igsh=YWZ1OW5jaW43MGl6

fiaformulae

Night mode 🔛

#TokyoEPrix #FormulaE #Racing #Motorsports

Likes

3438

Instagram

[granite tangle]

and those two presumably have decent cars on top of that right

so imagine how bad it is for fernando

[pale tinsel]

apparently verstappen isn't a fan either

https://www.sportskeeda.com/f1/news-for-me-just-f1-max-verstappen-blasts-2026-f1-regulations-brutal-verdict

[severe spindle]

What? Really? Lewis seemed positive about the SF-26

I know Lewis and Max hated their 2025 cars

[severe spindle]

all that money to be Honda's works team and also have Adrian newey
Only to realize that all of the decent engineers at Honda left for Red Bull Ford

[granite tangle]

the sf26 isnt the issue nor is the RB22

they have it for the regulations in general

[severe spindle]

Really?

I thought Lewis was in support of the 2026 regulations

Given how much he struggled with Ground effect cars

[granite tangle]

lewis said the cars are slower than GP2, overexaggeration but alas

and max said winning or not means nothing to him if the cars arent fun, and they arent so he is looking forward to participating elsewhere throughout the year more than F1

[severe spindle]

isn't being slower better? Means they'll be easier to drive

[granite tangle]

if f1 was about being slow stroll would be an 8 time champion

[severe spindle]

I don't mean one or two drivers being slow

But rather all the grid being slow

Similar to how cars from 1997 to 1998 got alot slower

In order to increase reliability, decrease costs, increase safety

[pale tinsel]

In theory, slower would be better but by the sounds of it because the battery is a much bigger component of the overall power they're having to basically do the opposite of racing just to have all the power available to them

like shifting down on long straights

[severe spindle]

Ah, so it's become too much power management and not enough racing

To be honest, we all feared this might be the case

[pale tinsel]

teams have been raising this ever since the engine regs were confirmed a couple years ago

[severe spindle]

The thing whcih confuses me was that FIA made this change specifically to allow newer teams like Audi and Cadillac to join the grid

Have a bit of a tech reset to give them more of a chance to enter the grid in a competitive format

But if this is the issue we're gonna have to contend with, then it's gonna make for some problems

[granite tangle]

they are adding a chicane in the middle of jeddah straight because the battery doesnt last long enough

now imagine what its gonna be like in monza where they cant do that

[pale tinsel]

oh is that confirmed?

[severe spindle]

Yeah that's even more confusing

[granite tangle]

people already have pictures of it being "built" or what you say

[severe spindle]

@glacial pine I know you're all for battery power and such, but this definitely does seem like a downgrade

if the power management is gonna become this much of an issue

[pale tinsel]

so they're formula e'ing it

[severe spindle]

and the new thing is basically DRS 2.0

[pale tinsel]

the fe track has chicanes on the start finish straight

[severe spindle]

Then this really makes for less wheel to wheel racing

[granite tangle]

it currently is set up like that for FE, i guess it depends on if its true on if it stays like that or not

[granite tangle]

drs was made for overtaking, the new thing actually makes overtaking harder if two cars are on the same strategy/energy

[severe spindle]

So why is it even there then

[granite tangle]

one more gimmick to satisfy audi and honda

cadillac are indifferent to hybrid power, they wanted in regardless

[severe spindle]

Cadillac is coming in purely for the vibes

I respect that

[granite tangle]

btw sergio just had an interview

one more to the toll of comparing it to formula e

and saying the regs are shite

so no matter if you are top of the field, midfield, or dead last like alonso

[severe spindle]

Makes me feel less hopeful

[granite tangle]

they all hate it equally

[pale tinsel]

You know whats most worrying? If they're saying this about the regs now, imagine in a couple years time when they start converging

[severe spindle]

I know that this isn't new specifically, I think every new regulation without question has had very unpopular opinions around it

It was the case for 2007, for 2009, for 2014, for 2022, etc

it takes time to re-adapt to something so different

[granite tangle]

i mean if it tells you anything in 2014 everyone but mercedes complained

and in 2026 the same is happening

[severe spindle]

mercedes, masters of being cheap

[granite tangle]

while also every driver of a mercedes powered car

is painting redbull as the favorite

in order to get the FIA to allow their compression trick

why would sainz of all people come out and praise redbull like come on

[pale tinsel]

https://youtu.be/T3nrpj38zSk

just gonna be watching this for the christian horner drama

[granite tangle]

its all games, and i bet those mercedes engines are sandbagging so hard its going to feel like a different year come australia

[pale tinsel]

do you remember how much mercedes dominated 2014 Australia?

[severe spindle]

This should be interesting

[severe spindle]

From what we saw, the mercedes may lose its advantage

I saw siomethings about FIA outlawing them

[granite tangle]

you mean 2014 where they never turned up the engine to full not once for the whole season

[pale tinsel]

Mercedes are sandbag experts

[pale tinsel]

exactly

they were coasting and slapped everyone

[severe spindle]

Honestly how does someone get regulations so good on their first try

[pale tinsel]

ricciardo's 3 wins that year were cause of mercedes rare fuck ups

iirc

[granite tangle]

thats exactly what they want you to believe, also do note, the mercedes power unit in the mercedes, and the one in its clients? different engine

mercedes has been known to lock the full potential of the engines away to ensure a definite advantage

[severe spindle]

Yeah I remember, that's why Ron Dennis pushed to make a deal with Honda

[pale tinsel]

I think they're not allowed to do that anymore

[severe spindle]

believing that being a customer meant they were disadvantaged

[pale tinsel]

like legit fia rule that the engines have to have parity

[granite tangle]

party mode is banned, the rest is not

[pale tinsel]

fair point

[severe spindle]

I mean in fairness, you'd be stupid to give your opponents the same PU you want to dominate with

[granite tangle]

no the top batch goes to mercedes its allowed, mercedes just has to carefully "define" what top batch and not top batch is

[severe spindle]

So some differences are exepcted

[pale tinsel]

besides, mercedes will know how best to unlock the full potential

[severe spindle]

Ngl, hearing all this makes me happy that they struggled so badly from 2022 onwards

That they finally understood that cheating is cheap

Makes me happy that they got stolen the title in 2021 as well

[granite tangle]

thats why people were happy with 22 redbull ferrari battle

[pale tinsel]

before you know. ferrari remembered they were modern ferrari

and absolutely fucked it

[granite tangle]

then in 23 people kinda forgot how bad we used to have it

cause i mean yeah 23 was a fuck you season from redbull

and boring

but 2014 to like 2020 pretty much was this year in year out almost

[severe spindle]

In fairness, 2023 Red Bull was the same as Mercedes dominance years

So I guess everyone egts their due

[granite tangle]

yeah but it was 1 year

is my point

[severe spindle]

Exactly

This is what is questionable

[granite tangle]

1 year of dominance is fine, maybe even 2

[pale tinsel]

that rb19/verstappen combo 2023 was something else

[granite tangle]

but mercedes had like

7 in a row?

[severe spindle]

Were Mercedes bribing FIA under the table from 2014 to 2020? Like how did they manage to nail those regulations so precisely

[pale tinsel]

they started work very early with the engines

[granite tangle]

massive head start in 2014 that snowballed

and other teams fucking up

and renault powering redbull

[severe spindle]

How did the other teams fuck up that badly

it is amazing

[granite tangle]

and ferrari trying to cheat but failing

but yeah esp 2020 that year was full bullshit

[pale tinsel]

plus red bull kept developing in 2013 cause they thought mercedes was catching, but mercedes had stopped developing after like hungary that year

[granite tangle]

they got away with so many fucking loopholes

and then the engines in 21 that was also disgusting

[severe spindle]

Yeah it could be reflected in the F1 2020 game as well
The Mercedes duo were just always at the forefront, with Max and occasionally albon occasionally getting a 3rd or 2nd

[pale tinsel]

🙏 please FIA let Ferrari have the cheating engines again 🙏

[severe spindle]

The funny thing is, I hear people still suspect Ferrari is still cheating

But if they are

They ure are cheating pretty poorly

[granite tangle]

if ferrari hid it just a tiny bit better we would live in a different timeline

but no fuckass charles had to be going 20kmh over everyone else in the spa straight

[pale tinsel]

ikr

even with drs the mercs couldn't catch him

even in monza

if you listen to the onboards, you can hear the engines turning up so to speak

[granite tangle]

but like crucify me if you will

[severe spindle]

The thing which angers me alot, is that most teams cheat in order to gain an advantage
But even when they get caught cheating, they still usually have some semblance of performance
But Ferrari? What happened? How hard were thet cheating that after being found out, they became slower than Williams

[granite tangle]

but if party mode and the fuckass DAS and the mysteriously overpowered engines were allowed

ferrari should have gotten away with it

[severe spindle]

That's what confuses me too

Actually, here's a question

How would Mercedes realistically get away with the 2026 cheat

it's clearly cheating

[granite tangle]

they would if FIA decides to allow it

[severe spindle]

No matter what the rule book says, FIA should be like "You think you're funny don't you? Fuck off"

[pale tinsel]

Ferrari got clever. their engine had 2 batteries, but the sensor to measure the battery power was only installed on one of them. then ferrari worked out when the sensor was taking a reading, then pushed the battery power over the limit when it wasn't taking a reading

[severe spindle]

Yeah I saw how they got away with FIA's sensors' timing

It's a clever cheat

But why it was overruled makes no sense to me

[granite tangle]

its not cheating if its not something found under measurement found within the rulebook

[severe spindle]

If that's illegal, surely so is the party mode

[granite tangle]

but that got banned

i hope the compression thing gets banned the same way

or the season is kinda fucked

[severe spindle]

The worst part?

Mercedes would be the only one gaining the Advantage

the Alpine broke down lol

[granite tangle]

all the mercedes cars that are doing laps in bahrain are currently fitted with legal engines

thats why they kinda "suck" esp the customer teams

[severe spindle]

Bruh mate

[granite tangle]

now as for the main team, they should have better engines, and should be faster, but they are sandbagging just to let redbull PU seem the fastest

[severe spindle]

This is why it's sometimes difficult to take F1 seriously
You have teams like Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes doing everything in their power to cheat, and then teams like Sauber sticking to regulations and being fucked over

[granite tangle]

they chose the one they think is the closest to them, and they turn the whole grid against them

distracting the attention from their PU's strength

[severe spindle]

Poor Sauber has been getting fucked over since 2010

[granite tangle]

and hence increasing the likelihood of their compression trick being allowed for the season, and banned next year

[severe spindle]

like the flexing wing of McLaren of 2025

[granite tangle]

the flexing wing was allowed for 2024 when it shouldnt have been, and abruptly banned in 2025 when it should have been banned before season start

it just shows the FIA is just terrible nowadays

[pale tinsel]

https://tenor.com/view/formula-1-crash-bin-sulayem-mbs-mohammed-ben-sulayem-renault-f1-gif-16264014385896163928

[granite tangle]

they cant decide, and then they decide last minute

[pale tinsel]

and thats the man responsible

[granite tangle]

thats the worst of both worlds

[granite tangle]

well that was a nice recreation in honour of his friend nelson jr

[severe spindle]

Makes me wonder what I am even supposed to think

[severe spindle]

Nah FIA has been useless even before MBS

argubaly MBS only improved FIA

Because it was already rock bottom

[granite tangle]

he absolutely DID NOT

[severe spindle]

I know, I'm memeing

[granite tangle]

it was shite

but yeah now

way way worse

[severe spindle]

But honestly, looking throughout the history of F1

It's hard to take this story seriously

Everytone views Michael Schumacher era with rose tinted glasses

When the year 2000 was literally more one sided than any Red Bull or Mercedes season

F1 was always awful

It's never been about being coimpetitive

because every single winning car was cheating

or had a driver which was unrealistically better than others

[severe spindle]

Man reading the stuff on Honda is just depressing

Why did I get even slightly hopeful

[glacial pine]

I haven't been watching testing particularly closely. All I know is Aston Martin might have dropped the ball and everyone keeps spinning

It's also just F1 testing, who KNOWS what the races will be like

Attack mode might be good for F1. Might suck. We don't really know yet

There's a Formula E double this weekend, so I'm not about to start paying attention to Bahrain testing week 1 tbh

[severe spindle]

I understand then

But we'll see If FE ideas work in F1

[granite tangle]

https://vxtwitter.com/WhoisSkid/status/2022069476930486446?s=20

Skid (@WhoisSkid)

https://t.co/cZcoD0jH7m

QRT: baileykicksass
@WhoisSkid PLEASE TELL ME YOU CLIPPED THE FOX BROADCAST KICKING OFF PRACTICE WITH LINKIN PARK

▶ Play video

vxTwitter / fixvx · Feb 12, 2026, 10:05 PM

i gotta admit NASCAR this year are cooking

now to see if they can make the cars more interesting like they used to be..

[granite tangle]

https://x.com/verstappenews/status/2022278715724435921?s=46

Verstappen News (@verstappenews)

Jeff Dodds (Formula E CEO):

"I've invited Max; in fact, I messaged him last night, because Jeddah isn't far from Bahrain."

"If he shows up, we'll give him a ride in our car and see what he thinks."

(via @SoyMotor)

X · Feb 13, 2026, 11:56 AM

It’s never going to happen

But if he actually rocked up

It would be so funny

[glacial pine]

It would be quite cool

The 3Evo is faster off the line than anything else, he might even have fun

But quali is being pretty wild right nown

Rowland and Cassidy nowhere again.

Kiro vanishing after looking good

Jev has shaved and I don't like it

Mahindra in the duel finale maybe this could be Mortara's Year (delusion) finally

Oh my god mortara hit the Verstappen wall

Still got pole position

The dream is still alive

[granite tangle]

https://x.com/racepluscom/status/2022355389140902309?s=20 @pale tinsel

Race+ (@racepluscom)

🚨 | BREAKING!

Ferrari rules out protesting Mercedes’ engine amid the compression-ratio debate.

📰 @wearetherace

X · Feb 13, 2026, 5:01 PM

[glacial pine]

Mahindra delusion somehow nearly survived

Pascale Wehrlein somehow found some pit stop magic what a ride

[severe spindle]

huh?

[glacial pine]

Mahindra got FE pole, Mortara some how started the race in burnout mode and ended up 6th by turn one. And he STILL clawed back to 2nd.

And then Pascale and Porsche somehow embarrassed the whole grid at the pit stop charging phase, with a strategy that gave them a ten seconds lead.

[severe spindle]

Soprry about that

I didn't know what to say

[glacial pine]

Formula E race day

What will happen today

De Vries car seems to still be broken, after missing the start yesterday

[glacial pine]

Why is Arvid Lindblad at the Formula E FP3. Doesn't he have testing this weekend?

Oh he used to be mentored by Oliver Rowland (world champion) and is there learning about energy management

[severe spindle]

I am just feeling confused honestly

[severe spindle]

Indeeed I am, also that vine, memories

[glacial pine]

Well to add to the confusion, there's another race in 30 minutes

[severe spindle]

These races happen quickly. Also, thanks for the heart

[glacial pine]

They do get through em

[granite tangle]

https://vxtwitter.com/lecvsn/status/2022759286980366506?s=20 @pale tinsel i almost spit my fucking water

¹⁶ (@lecvsn)

this looks like a clip from the office 😭😭😭

▶ Play video

vxTwitter / fixvx · Feb 14, 2026, 7:46 PM

[severe spindle]

Pffft

Office indeed

[severe spindle]

Here's a question and theory, how likely do you think Stellantis is to enter F1 now that GM has done the same and so has Ford?
It's an expensive venture, but given their connections and slew of brand and history they have under their wings, they wouldn't be short for the sponsor money it could bring in
It could be possible for them to start a whole new team, but it seems more logical to purchase a currently failing F1 team

My theory is, they'll buy Christian Horner and make him CEO of the team, then buy Alpine F1 team from Renault and use that moving forward
They could name it many diferent brands which exist under Stellantis, but I think Peugeot seems most likely given they're established in Motorsport, both in former F1 and even current motorsports like TCR and WEC

So a possible Peugeot F1 team doesn't seem very unlikely

[glacial pine]

Maserati F1, if they want the heritage.

Dodge would be logical, but dodge cares not for logic

And nor does Stellantis, they'd probably brand it Leapmotor or Jeep or something

[severe spindle]

Pfft! imagine jeep F1 team xd

[severe spindle]

Dodge hasn't really had much history in European racing outside of the success of the Viper GTS-R

So there really isn't much to attach themselves to

[severe spindle]

Whilst it makes sense given as Maserati are another old F1 team brand, famous in racing, has heritage and weight to it, it's a brand that just doesn't produce anything worth buying

I considered Maserati adn Alfa romeo

But they're just dead brands in everything but the name

Peugeot on the other hand has both been in F1 and is currently engaged in other Motorsport series

I kind of doubt thye'll do that, make a F1 team I mean
But it's never entirely unlikely either

[glacial pine]

The thing is, as car companies go, the ones who want to be in F1, already are.

[severe spindle]

I guess you're right, but managements and directions do change as they go along

[glacial pine]

Can't wait to see who might be next

[severe spindle]

Neither could I

And with more rules coming in every season

It could create chance for some better competition off the get go

Modern F1 teams operate considerably better than F1 teams of old

Where there could be a mass disconnect between major parts of the organization

Honestly one thing I've learned from watching the various F1 teams' documentaries on YouTube was how most unsuccessful teams were unsuccessful due to internal issues than actual performance struggle

Some teams like Toyota and Jaguar had mass disconnect between the heads of the ownership and the people who ran the team
Some teams had internal struggles between the supplier and the team like Prost
Some teams cannot secure enough funding and get stuck in a loop of not being able to develop their cars enough like Minardi or Sauber in later years

Very rarely it seems a F1 team's failure comes from just not being able to develop their car due to their own short coming of competence and knowledge

Goes to show how signifianct the saying of "F1 is a team sport" is
Because it really is a team sport with how all pieces need to work together for any success to materialize

It's why Red Bull is successful in spite of having been filled with internal struggle for so long

They built such a good basis since 2010, hired talented people and kept their heads where they should have been, had the best structure they could possibly ever have that it would be difficult for the balance to be off-set by recent in-team struggles

[granite tangle]

2 things have come out of this year's bathurst 12 hours

https://www.v8sleuth.com.au/mies-details-gruesome-aftermath-of-250km-h-kangaroo-strike/

https://vxtwitter.com/autosport/status/2022957353642164439?s=20

Autosport (@autosport)

One of the scariest racing moments we've seen in a while at Bathurst 😳

Grateful that everyone walked away 🙏

(via @IntercontGTC)

▶ Play video

vxTwitter / fixvx · Feb 15, 2026, 8:53 AM

its crazy that you can have 2 cars stopped in the middle of the road and you dont immediately wave double yellows

and well, about the kangaroo thing, i dont know if that was even worse

rip tofu amg, you were great to look at for 8 hours

[severe spindle]

Yeah rhat was a stupid move

[severe spindle]

Hehe, that I didn't know about

[strong kite]

GT7 ahh yellow flag

[granite tangle]

https://x.com/speedcafe/status/2023319535873310863?s=20

Speedcafe.com (@speedcafe)

Mercedes-AMG driver Ralf Aron has revealed he broke his back in the crash that red-flagged the Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour.

https://t.co/zdn5rloYR8

X · Feb 16, 2026, 8:52 AM

https://vxtwitter.com/JaroslavHonzik/status/2023339884115579356?s=20

Jardier (@JaroslavHonzik)

Broken back 🤯😳

It took nearly 30 seconds from the time that Zelger spun to being hit by Aron.
Aron said he did not want to lay blame with anyone, but wanted to understand how the crash happened.

“I have a lot of experience in these environments, and I understand the risks that come with this type of racing,” he added.

“The situation in Bathurst was a serious one, and for that reason I would like to have a meeting and open discussion with race control to share my experience and perspective.

“This is not about pointing fingers. It is about understanding what happened and making sure we can prevent situations like this in the future, so that racing at this beautiful track can be as safe as possible for everyone.”

QRT: speedcafe
Mercedes-AMG driver Ralf Aron has revealed he broke his back in the crash that red-flagged the Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour.

https://speedcafe.com/?p=1020560

vxTwitter / fixvx · Feb 16, 2026, 10:13 AM

[severe spindle]

I have honestly no idea why this happened

It could have so easily been avoided with a yellow flag

What were the retarde at race control doing

Poor man, broken his back
That's likely damaged his future in motorsports as well

[granite tangle]

they have a dumbass rule where the yellow is only waved at the marshall post closest to the incident, and well, this is where they decided to wave yellows

previous corner is blind btw, so from the moment you exit the corner and youre going 200kmh and you notice that flag its only like 30 meters to make a complete stop

and thats not counting that the amg was battling 2 cars behind it, so the fear of you braking hard only to be crashed into from behind

look at the gaps between these cars and tell me how to avoid an incident with such a late yellow

just burn FIA and its rules, also burn race control alive

maybe we'll get better racing then

at one of the world's best tracks nonetheless

[severe spindle]

Oh my god that's so stupid

That's incredibly stupid espiecally on a circuit with so many inclines and declines and blind corners

[severe spindle]

Fia usually can implement a yellow flag in decent times, but not here it would seem

It's just pure nonsense frankly

Such an easily avoidable incident

[glacial pine]

They have got to start giving marshalls, in places like this, more authority to slam a full course yellow or safety car if they see stuff like this happening.

[granite tangle]

yes thats what the whole discource is about

i think everyone (bar some people siding with the FIA for some reason) think marshalls should have the authority to wave a yellow earlier when theres literally 2 parked cars round a blind corner

[glacial pine]

It's probably unprecedented, but like... There's numerous tracks across the world where this sort of thing can happen and they need to do SOMETHING

[severe spindle]

indeed, it is only logical

[severe spindle]

They always strive for safety, this is a step they need to take then

[severe spindle]

Gotta say, setting up cars in content manager in AC is quite fun

[severe spindle]

Does anyone here know whether if the F1 cars back in 1997 were insanely unstable or if it's just this AC mod that's so hard to drive

I am trying this 1997 Sauber C16 mod off of Assettto world and it is very unstable. I can barely give it any steering input whilst my foot is on the gas

[severe spindle]

I read online a while ago, and saw in a video, about Jean Alesi and what could have been
One thing which struck out to me was that Jean potentially had a chance to score a seat with Ferrari for the 2000 season given Ferrari were considering sacking Michael due to lack of results since his hiring and the money they spent getting both him and all his other side pieces

Maybe what the videos meant were rather the 2nd seat which was now vacant due to irvine leaving

Eitherway, it is funny to consider that Alesi could potentially have been driving those champion winning cars, and makes you wonder where Michael would have gone if he got sacked

McLaren wouldn't accept him due to their driver line up being pretty set in stone by that point

Williams and Jordan would likely be the other option but neither were the champion material teams he'd want

And every other team wouldn't be able to pay for his fees or give him a competitive car

He'd be kind of stuffed if that did happen

[granite tangle]

https://x.com/motorsportivehq/status/2023779394565927076?s=46

Motorsportive (@MotorsportiveHQ)

🚨 MADRING IN DANGER?

👀This is the ACTUAL STATE of the circuit.

‼️We tried to talk to workers and they DIDN'T WANTED TO ANSWER to our questions.

ONLY 7 MONTHS TO GO.

X · Feb 17, 2026, 3:19 PM

Tear it down

Before it’s even built just do it

[glacial pine]

Seven months is enough time.
I hope they fail

[severe spindle]

Christ, how the hell do theyy hope to host a race here in 7 months

it takes longer to prep an existing circuit for F1

Why did constructions begin so late

This is just embaressing

This circuit is supposed to replace Cataluniya?

[pale tinsel]

ahem

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202602129878960

[severe spindle]

HAH!

I wasn'\t expecting it to be literaly on sale

[granite tangle]

No it’s replacing Barcelona one year, and spa the next. Those two are going on an alternating basis for this dogshit to exist

People hate Barcelona as it is

You can have your opinion on it

But spa not being on the calendar is absolutely egregious

[severe spindle]

No matter how anyone felt about Barcelona this replacement will not be an improvement
Espiecally not on spa

[glacial pine]

Barcelona has been alright now they removed the chicanes, I think. And the number of ultra high speed corners is very very cool

[granite tangle]

i personally like it ^ twitter people hate it though

so i went safe and said

even if you hate it, its prolly better than madrid

[glacial pine]

Twitter loved Mugello, a race where nothing happened, so if Madring 2026 has a multi car pile up it'll be tweeted about like the second coming of Christ

[granite tangle]

pileups are fun

but they dont make a track good or bad

twitter has less collective intelligence than an amoeba though so

[severe spindle]

I have no idea why anyone would hate barcelona

It's a very good circuit by all means

It has everything you'd want

nothing about tha Madring makes it better

[severe spindle]

People love their rose tinted glasses

[severe spindle]

For sure man xd

[glacial pine]

Oh they raved about how good it was for weeks after. "we need this to be permanent"

Terrible track for F1 racing. Probably fun the do qualifying on but the race was a snoozefest with some silly crashes

[severe spindle]

Hahaha, yeah that's so typical

[severe spindle]

It's a fun circuit I find, but I have never driven a F1 car around it, so I'll take your word for it

[glacial pine]

When F1 visited, every overtake was done with drs into turn 1. Even Monaco gets more variety than that

[granite tangle]

things only happened in that race because it was an one-off and like barely any drivers if any have raced there before

so it got chaotic from the first turn of the first lap

yes that is fun in itself, but is it because of the circuit or was it because it was an one-off?

people with a brain will tell you its the latter

btw testing is live if anyone cares about checking it a bit

[granite tangle]

its not looking too good

[glacial pine]

Poor Fernando

Do we think he'll actually retire this time, or try and move to Cadillac

Not poor Lance, daddy owns the team and Lance is there because he has fun

[severe spindle]

I think Lance will retire for 2026 or 2027 as well

But holy shit man

Aston is just having such a bad time

[severe spindle]

Leclerc having fun

Hopefully won't be a miss when the actual season starts

[glacial pine]

I wanna see a competitive Ferrari FINALLY

Charles deserves compensation

[severe spindle]

For sure

7 years at Ferrari, wasted away his chances

he deserves at least one title

otherwise, he'll just be added to the very big pile of Ferrari champions that never were

Sebastian Vettel, Felipe Massa, Fernando Alonso, Eddie Irvine, Jean Alesi, Nigel Mansell, etc

Folks often don't realize, it takes a very big ask to make Ferrari into champions

[granite tangle]

It usually takes what makes a team champions an then some

[granite tangle]

Well might not be all that bad if they let him do this:

https://x.com/formularacers_/status/2024109856920125733?s=46

formularacers (@formularacers_)

🚨 | Max Verstappen says he is open to competing in the 24 hours of Le Mans with Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso.

X · Feb 18, 2026, 1:12 PM

Vettel said yesterday that he is in contact with max about competing together that’s why they asked max today about it

I don’t know what gets them to win if they even can, just to see them competing would be absolutely insane

[glacial pine]

That would be fun for them

[pale tinsel]

3 man team of Seb, Fernando and Max? the BoP they're gonna need ooft

if they run with toyota

[granite tangle]

https://x.com/FerranWest/status/2024117500334510583?s=20

Ferran West (@FerranWest)

It seems like Stroll's engine just completely shut off when braking into turn 11

Image via @Fred__18

X · Feb 18, 2026, 1:43 PM

[pale tinsel]

What team would they drive for realistically?

[granite tangle]

they could run in a shit valkyrie and id still watch it

[pale tinsel]

I've heard enough, put them in that wingless Peugeot

[granite tangle]

ford 2027

[pale tinsel]

or the Lamborghini that was so shit that they pulled out

Independent Porsche 963 entry?

[granite tangle]

thats a big ask

[pale tinsel]

would be fun

[severe spindle]

Indeed. You can't rely on the team as it is
You have to bring in your own changes

[severe spindle]

That's actually rather cool
Though I do remember something about Fernando and Lando competing in Endurmave racing together as well

Lando and Fernando were close when Fernando was at McLaren

[severe spindle]

I don't know if it's confirmation bias
But man things are looking terrible for Aston

[granite tangle]

If Lando does other discipline racing he won’t do HY

He’ll prolly want to do GT3 in the 46 BMW with Rossi

Cause Rossi is his idol afaik

[severe spindle]

I don't see that happening

You don't go from Open wheel to anything lower than Hypercar

Only reason Max went to GT3 is because he needs GT3 license before he can get Hypercar license

[granite tangle]

verstappen is doing the N24 mate, hypercars dont go there

its possible, and Norris just doesnt seem interested in Hypercar

[granite tangle]

also F1 drivers are automatically platinum, they dont need any license to drive in Lemans, only the nurburgring has its own license

[severe spindle]

I retract my statement then, I was incorrect

[strong kite]

Wasn't Psy in the intro for the 2013 Korean GP

[severe spindle]

I can't see that working out honestly

[pale tinsel]

LADS FERRARI ARE DOING THINGS AND I'M SCARED

[granite tangle]

driving today morning

[pale tinsel]

BALD LITTLE FRENCH MAN IS GIVING ME THE HOPIUM

[granite tangle]

okay this is actually smart

that plus the penis theyve added on their diffuser

though im not too sure about that one

[pale tinsel]

the scuderia are actually using their brains

this is uncharted territory for them

couple that with the fact they intentionally went for a smaller turbo cause they warned everyone about the start procedure being difficult with the loss of the mgu h

https://tenor.com/view/cars-disney-pixar-guido-dance-gif-9833787871569125939

we are so back

lets come back to this end of 2026 when I'm circling in Ferrari depression as both lewis and charles tell them to fuck off and leave

[severe spindle]

yeah i remember them arguing about it

[severe spindle]

it'd be such a nice breath of fresh air to see Ferrari competitive from the get go

even in 2024 Ferrari only began being compeitive later on

Ferrari are putting alot into 2026, probably the biggest money spend out of any team
Given the car we see won't even be the one in the actual race, as that'll be a different variant based on testing results

[glacial pine]

Ferrari spinny wing is hilarious

But I don't understand how turning it upside down reduces drag? Obviously you get lift over downforce. But lifting wings also generate drag for the same reasons as downforce

[pale tinsel]

I assume whats happened is ferrari have found a sweet spot where the lift is enough to gain like 10-12 kph without causing too much drag and designing the 180° mechanism was worth it

[glacial pine]

Oh by reducing tire friction, perhaps? That could make sense

[pale tinsel]

possibly yeah

[severe spindle]

That's what F1 is about afterall

Stretching engineering limits to the line of regulation violation

[pale tinsel]

before the FIA inevitably bans it cause they're the fun police

guys

the hopium is building

[severe spindle]

That is a funky looking system

[severe spindle]

Man that gives me hope

Also what's this

They're testing grid starts too?

[granite tangle]

8kph is what they said on the broadcast

I think the one I’m ripping right now is F1TV

[granite tangle]

They are testing every day now, Ferrari and Redbull are coping with the starts, the rest of the teams are struggling to different extents

Also, the Aston broke down in the middle of the track again

With Alonso this time, after almost 70 laps

[severe spindle]

Yeah I think we'll have a way worse opinion of Aston.by the first half of 2026

[granite tangle]

Aston is running huge amounts of cooling

[severe spindle]

Ferrari seems to be on the rise, as does Red Bull
Feels like 2022 all over again

[granite tangle]

And the Honda engine still shits on itself

I think legit there’s nothing newey can do

The car is already in Mexico-spec

[severe spindle]

Yeah that's kind of amazing
Makes me sympathise with Ron Dennis and the 2015 McLaren

[granite tangle]

It has so much drag from all the cooling bits and still breaks down

[severe spindle]

It wasn't McLaren's fault that Honda can't design an engine

[granite tangle]

The McLaren chassis back then was good too

[severe spindle]

Indeed

It was as good as a Newey design

Very aerodynamic

But had no power

[granite tangle]

Probably, I’ve heard stories about it being one of the best

[severe spindle]

And no cooling

[granite tangle]

But ofc you can’t prove that

[granite tangle]

No cooling is subjective to the engine sadly, the Alpine this year for example is running the least cooling of all the grid and they are somehow fine

Clearly the Mercedes engine demands way less cooling

@pale tinsel AHAHAHHAH

https://x.com/wearetherace/status/2024458112497856539?s=46

The Race (@wearetherace)

Mercedes F1 team boss Toto Wolff in Bahrain today ⬇️

X · Feb 19, 2026, 12:16 PM

[severe spindle]

I meant no cooling fot rhe 2015 McLaren

That one also had cooling issues

What's funny is that AM didn't even go for a super tight body

Unlike McLaren

And Honda is still struggling

[severe spindle]

Pfft

[granite tangle]

https://vxtwitter.com/f1bigdata/status/2024469036478681269?s=46

Holiness (@F1BigData)

Sounds bad

▶ Play video

vxTwitter / fixvx • Media 1/2 · Feb 19, 2026, 1:00 PM

[pale tinsel]

oh dear lord

Fernando is gonna nuke Japan himself

[severe spindle]

Jesus it sounds broken

[severe spindle]

Fernando is among the few WDCs to have never had any good come his way from Honda

https://youtube.com/shorts/t4HFUm-wf8c?si=1SxJE-y5Di5f3pKW

This doenst inspire confidence

I feel like all this energy conservation should only be a thing in Formula E or something

But alas, it's been like this as far back as 2014

It ain't my place to judge an every evolving sport

[glacial pine]

Nah, conservation of Something has always been part of F1

[severe spindle]

Not to this degree I Don't think

[glacial pine]

And the batteries struggling with (what used to be) normal deployment adds a whole new avenue for one driver to out-drive another.
It just sounds like they've fucked up when picking a battery capacity

[glacial pine]

Race engines used to be around 60-70% as powerful as qualifying, to conserve them

[severe spindle]

Audi had to lift off all of last corner at Bahrain to have enough power to make it through the straight

And they still ran out of battery

[severe spindle]

And it seems just as difficult as back then

[severe spindle]

It's gonna be a teething issue of a season for 2026

Similar issue to the overweight cars of 2022

[glacial pine]

Yeah, I do think they needed far higher capacity batteries this season

Maybe they should make that a development avenue... Batteries must be an X size, and the motor must be of Y power, but the capacity of the battery is unlimited

[severe spindle]

That's a good way to remedy this

Perhaps they could apply this regulation revision mid season for 2026 too

[glacial pine]

Oh it's slightly more complex.
The batteries are not a shared component, but their capacity is limited. It is bigger than last year, but the amount of energy regenerated per lap is also regulated (insane decision), and up to 9, from 4, megajoules.
I think first to get chopped should be a limit to how much energy can be harvested per lap.

You could follow FE and allow regeneration at a higher rate than deployment, but F1 won't want to risk time penalties for the relatively invisible crimes of overpower, that FE has suffered from

[strong kite]

Lmao the Guido gif

[severe spindle]

Hmm, that is a good point. Could make for its own set of difficulties to regulate if they were to change the current rules
But I suppose that's what 2026 is for, for them to test the waters with the new regs and see what comes up

[granite tangle]

https://x.com/formularacers_/status/2024477508339388765?s=46

formularacers (@formularacers_)

It must be emphasised that Aston Martin's problems go far beyond the Honda engine.

Aston's gearbox, which is suspected to have caused the most recent AMR26 failure, is arguably an even bigger problem.

X · Feb 19, 2026, 1:33 PM

[granite tangle]

https://vxtwitter.com/AntonioPadron17/status/2024408754167369880?s=20

Antonio Padrón 🌶️ (@AntonioPadron17)

Ferrari: “hace un alerón trasero giratorio”

Mercedes: “hacen un motor más comprimido que el GTA San Andreas”

la subtrama de Aston Martin:

▶ Play video

vxTwitter / fixvx · Feb 19, 2026, 9:00 AM

[granite tangle]

https://x.com/f1trollofficial/status/2024527414567522376?s=46

F1 TROLL (@f1trollofficial)

X · Feb 19, 2026, 4:52 PM

[strong kite]

Fernando Alonso

[granite tangle]

https://x.com/ScrewderiaF1/status/2024534445034733662?s=20

Mahir 🇹🇷🇬🇧 (@ScrewderiaF1)

Apparently, a Turkish man invented spining rear before Ferrari but he only used it to spin döner kebabs

X · Feb 19, 2026, 5:20 PM

[severe spindle]

https://x.com/F1BigData/status/2024191662692384842

Holiness (@F1BigData)

According to telemetry, during Stroll's accident, the gearbox reached 60th gear

X · Feb 18, 2026, 6:37 PM

I have honestly no idea how this even happened

The gearbox found a gear that not even lorries can find

Like let's genuinely be honest here, how the hell did Aston fall this far down the order?

Engine problems aside, and the compromised aero, and now a faulty gearbox for some unspeakable reason

Aston even at their worst in 2024 or 2025 were bottom of mid-field

How the hell did their new budget lead them so astray

If this is what 2026 is gonna be like, I genuinely can't see the Newey nor the Honda deal staying for long

Cause this is a level of failure even beyond the 2015 McLaren

The 2015 McLaren at least didn't have compromised aero

[granite tangle]

i dont know if its just as big

its way easier to fix a completely shit gearbox than a completely trash engine

this new engine is bad but its not 2015 bad

[severe spindle]

We genuinely don't know that

Something tells me that neither Stroll nor Fernando were overstating their off the pace time

So they have a poor engine, have compromised Newey's design to cool it and it still is having issues

And a gearbox which is not cooperating

Something is telling me the most bought and sold team on the F1 paddock is up for another rebrand in 2027

[pale tinsel]

https://www.vxinstagram.com/p/DU-NnstDb5T/

Honda is royally fucked

[severe spindle]

Not as fucked as me

[granite tangle]

https://x.com/HondaRacingF1/status/2024754488616100052?s=20

Honda Racing F1 (@HondaRacingF1)

A statement from Honda.

X · Feb 20, 2026, 7:54 AM

oh alr posted

yeah its utterly fucked

https://x.com/AeroTechVH/status/2024777883290353812?s=20

Vanja H (@AeroTechVH)

HUUUUGE from Red Bull!

They've played the rulebook front and back and ripped it up! Setting up a barge board surface as a fake floor inlet, while ensuring only the inside surface allows clean air to go under the floor!

1st seen by @Reel_SonoDas and @organicmeasure

@dr_obbs 👀

X · Feb 20, 2026, 9:27 AM

they are running a ground-effect like floor lmao

https://x.com/FIAsteward/status/2024761421393785311?s=20

Parody FIA (@FIAsteward)

Aston Martin are unimpressed by Ferrari’s 180 degree rear wing, with Lance Stroll having tested his own interpretation of a reverse rear wing last season.

X · Feb 20, 2026, 8:21 AM

https://x.com/MotorsportiveHQ/status/2024760494897119578?s=20

Motorsportive (@MotorsportiveHQ)

🚨107% DANGER FOR ASTON MARTIN

👀 The SLOWEST PACE in BAHRAIN

❌ LONG RUN FRUSTRATED by the POWER UNIT

⚙️ GEARBOX GENERATING FOAM

🏎️ HONDA NOT MEETING ENGINE GOALS

X · Feb 20, 2026, 8:18 AM

[pale tinsel]

https://www.vxinstagram.com/p/DU-lSoMF27i/

https://tenor.com/view/pudgypenguin-hopium-penguin-gif-26360923

[granite tangle]

i wonder if hadjar is doing the afternoon too

redbull have given him a lot of testing time

thats good

[pale tinsel]

apparently it's verstappen this afternoon

[severe spindle]

technically nothing stopped the others from doing it too

[severe spindle]

When was the last time the 107% rule came into effect

[severe spindle]

Some gremlin keeps telling me that Hadjar will fuck up badly and leave RB too

[granite tangle]

Back when they were still privateer entries and really broke teams, so over 25 years ago

[granite tangle]

My only worry is that from what we’ve seen Mercedes has lap times very close to RB and Ferrari every day, but they always have third fastest top speed by quite a margin

I don’t want to jinx it or be miserable but I think it’s calculated sandbagging from Mercedes

[pale tinsel]

hrt 2012

[granite tangle]

It already got the FIA to allow their engine trick until August

[pale tinsel]

they are professional sandbaggers

[severe spindle]

So AM will probbaly not be that bad

THey'll probably be as bad as Super Aguri however

[granite tangle]

Sometimes I forget this team and how bad they were

[pale tinsel]

Nice looking liveries though

[severe spindle]

Why do fast teams have bad liveries more often than not
And backmarkers have cool liveries

[pale tinsel]

also, 107% got flagged in 2023 too but those guys were allowed to race

[severe spindle]

Jaguar, Toyota, Super Aguri, Spyker, HRT, Lotus/Caterham, Haas, Alpine

[pale tinsel]

2010 HRT

2011 HRT

[severe spindle]

2010 HRT was a nice look

[pale tinsel]

and finally 2012

[severe spindle]

never was a fan of their 2011 and 2012 look however

[pale tinsel]

i loved the 2011 just cause they were that sponsorless and broke they put "your name here" on the side of the car to try and get some

[severe spindle]

Indeed

It was innocent enough to be cute

Plus them being white and red made them look like Super aguri

[severe spindle]

probably the most stylish F1 team

[pale tinsel]

"cool spot"

[severe spindle]

Poor HRT

They got really ass fucked by the circumstances

[pale tinsel]

imagine that being Daniel ricciardo's debut car

[severe spindle]

Indeed, nobody would have ever thought

As does nobody ever think Esetban Ocon came from a Manor

[glacial pine]

This was such a goood look

[severe spindle]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kR8GDVQo5zg

Everyone seems generally calm and positive

Even Fernando

I don't think 2026 will have a perennial backmarker team as such like we did in 2024 or 2025

But Aston and Williams and Audi seem to be the ones most struggling with teething issues

I don't count Cadillac cause being their first season, even if they are backmarkers, we kind of expect it anyhow

[severe spindle]

Man this looks so cool. I love that you actually gave each unique parts to better match the look of the real car. It feels super cool. And they'e reall so pain stakingly accurate
Seeing all of these teams and how evolved with time, it's a good feeling

Also you putting that Minardi places its never been lol

Must be said, this GT300 Mother chassis BRZ was shockingly difficult to drive. But man was it fun once I got a hang of it. Around imola, almost anything feels trecherous to drive

[granite tangle]

i dont know how it is in this particular AC mod

but its one of my favorite cars to drive in GT7

its insane in low speed tracks

[severe spindle]

It was fast, but it was also set up wrong by default. With way too much brake bias towards the front, it wanted to killl me around nearly every corner. OF course, not as much as the Prost later tried to

[severe spindle]

I'd say it's a bit of a bad mod. It came with wrongly setup gearbox, brake bias all the way to the front and the model itself, while detailed, has some questionable details like the overly scratched up window

But once I did fix the tuning myself, it drove really nicely. it still tried to kill me any chance it got, but it was the good kind of aggressive. With a bit of paitence, I managaed to find my balance with it. it handles almost nothing like any previous GT car I've driven that's for sure

[granite tangle]

i wonder where they ripped the model from

[severe spindle]

it's a car that feels more akin to a LMP than a GT car

[granite tangle]

cause the GT7 model is flawless id

[granite tangle]

its quite LMP2 like yeah, i get that comparison

like slower power wise but insanely light and nimble

[severe spindle]

For sure, it's definitely that
it has alot of downforce too but only if you get up to speed, otherwise it's either spinning or understeering

Around Imola, I found it quite challenging

it'd probably be easier around somewhere like Silverstone

AC doesn't have any Japanese circuits by default, and kind of am glad for it

I wouldn't wanna take this to Suzuka for my first experience with it

Ended up taking it to where Senna died instead lol

[severe spindle]

The model looks really good with detail, and as far as I know the car isn't in any other game

So it's most likely a model rip from GT7, and given that it is the only BRZ GT300, the new one I mean, I assume it's a model rip

I think the model itself is fine, it's just that the reflections are working a bit odd

I make it work with my photos anyway

[severe spindle]

Honestly this car makes me amazed at Super GT as a whole
it's a really impressive racing series, making mostly silhouette race cars with still the main body being an unmodified version of a road car, and making sure they're faster than any other existing GT class, and only slightly behind LMPs
I think a LMP2 Oreca 07 would go around a circuit with shorrter straights at a similar time to the GT500 cars

[granite tangle]

its what DTM used to be before they changed to standard GT3

actually in GT7 the GT500 cars and the DTM cars are under the same class

as well as some old prototypes

Gr.2 is a very weird class in that sense

[severe spindle]

Yeah the Class 1 regulations

DTM and Super GT, in order to reduce costs and keep the racing series going, and also have a chance for an equal dream racr crossover scenario

Decided to collaborate and make a new regulation set by the name of Class 1

DTM got disbanded of that eventually but Super GT has kept it going and doesn't seem to show any signs of stopping

[severe spindle]

It's a complete hodge podge honestly

This a corner GT developers brought themselves into

it was never gonna work

GR.4 and GR.3 are copycats of GT4 and GT3, so it can be managed especially when majority of the cars in the classes are cars in those classes

But then GR.1 and GR.2 have no logic behind them

Just whatever fits the performance bracket, which may i add is completely pointless because none of the cars are equal, they need a BoP applied

[strong kite]

I like it on Autopolis particularly

[strong kite]

I'm glad you enjoy this Mini

I figured you would given how much you've talked about these blue Ligiers lately

I already can't wait to see what you think of the 2003 grid I'm creating because I'm one car away from completing it

(it's the minardi again)

[severe spindle]

Auutopolis is pretty fast actually

[severe spindle]

Eyyy, that'll be sick

2003 would be
Toyota, Renault, Jaguar, BAR, Ferrari, McLaren, Minardi, Sauber, Williams, Jordan

[severe spindle]

Hehe, yeah I really like Ligier/prost

[strong kite]

See I do this thing where every season I create, I join the slowest team and pick the teammate I want most

I'll go through every season I create at least once and then see what I can do with faster cars

You saw I joined Jordan in the 1993 season and picked Rubens Barrichello as my teammate

For 1996 it's Minardi with Giancarlo Fisichella

For 2003 it's Minardi again with Jos Verstappen

For 2009 it's Toro Rosso with Sebastian Bourdais (still don't know if I'm spelling it right)

And finally for 2012 it's Caterham with Heikki Kovalainen

[severe spindle]

Damn 1993 Jordan were that bad?

[severe spindle]

yeah that's what I do too

Every F1 mod pack I get

First car I drive? A backmarker lol

With 2000 pack it was the Prost

With 2006 pack it was the midlands and Super aguri

With 2008 pack it was force india

[strong kite]

Jordan scored zero points

[severe spindle]

Wow, pink Jordan was not a success

[strong kite]

Tied with a few other teams that didn't make it into the grid because GT7 custom races only allow for 20 cars

[severe spindle]

Damn, a shame cause the car looked good

[severe spindle]

It's fine anyway, most of those times DNQ'ed and DNF'ed anyway

I just realized something

Does rhe cureent upcoming 2026 onwards regulation of cars actually have a name to go by?

I mean we had Hybrid era, Hybrid wide era, Ground effect era, what's now?

[strong kite]

Not a single race has started yet so highly unlikely

I'll keep my hopes up and call it the "finally we can race at Monaco again" era

[robust sundial]

wow i didnt know this forum existed damn

[severe spindle]

Hehehe

I love this forum

Probably the most active part of this server for me

[severe spindle]

Yeah it'll definitely be interesting to see if the downsize will actually help

[glacial pine]

Let's all hope so

[robust sundial]

https://youtu.be/Tyl6_ahT9uQ?si=3_YoK3989cIr5_2B

@severe spindle you might like this

[severe spindle]

Might watch it
But it'll just never amaze me how fast Sabine went around the circuit

She really was the Queen of the Nordschleife

[granite tangle]

She was a really important person and properly fast too

To have a corner and especially the first corner of a track named after you is a huge achievement in the nordsleife

[severe spindle]

It's not just that her name was on it

But rather just how well she understood that circuit

Almost every driver understands a circuit once they go around it enough

But the Nordschleife is worth 10 racing circuits glued together, even remembering corners is a heavy ask

[granite tangle]

I think she drove it for 40 years almost every single day

[severe spindle]

Yet she did it, she made it look completely trivially easy

[granite tangle]

From 16-17 years old she would

[severe spindle]

She never even had that big of a career in motorsport

It never worked out

[granite tangle]

May she rest in peace truly no one knew the track like her

[severe spindle]

But she made her name around that circuit like no one else

Absolutely, nobody could

[granite tangle]

And every person that has met her only has the most beautiful words for her demeanor

[severe spindle]

I wouldn't even dare the circuit anymore, I feel too old and withered for a circuit like the A1 Ring let alone that

[granite tangle]

She was incredibly loved

[severe spindle]

Yeah she's gotta be among the least dramatic people in racing paddock

Whereas others are either playboys, written in controversy or show up in Epstien files

She was just that, a Queen of a circuit

She was just something else

I do wish she was still around

She went away way too early

[pale tinsel]

ok so

yuki was doing a demo run in a red bull

in san francisco
usual pr shit

car caught fire

[lofty mirage]

Whys he aura farming

[pale tinsel]

https://tenor.com/view/thats-what-i-said-wil-dasovich-wil-dasovich-superhuman-thats-what-i-told-thats-what-im-talking-about-gif-10502346389653612392

[severe spindle]

I swear to god, God hates Yuki

That is some crazy fire

[robust sundial]

God does not like the pookie

[severe spindle]

Indeed, what a shame

[severe spindle]

Apparently lando norris broke up with his girlfriend

[pale tinsel]

https://tenor.com/view/oh-no-oh-no-anyway-gif-18887547

hopefully the depression makes him slow

[severe spindle]

hehehe

It's especially funny because Lando's girlfriend was probably the most used girlfriend of the paddock for when they focused on them instead of the race

Now they will need to direct it to someone else's girlfriend

[pale tinsel]

kim k is now an option so

allegedly