2026 - Offseason

[F1nKS]

Red Bull announces Marko is gone. Publicly, they are saying he chose to retire.

a. But privately, he embarrassed RB management with a statement to the press that "Antonelli had pulled over to let Lando pass," which helped generate a lot of hate towards Kimi.

b. He is also reported to have signed Lindblad and Dunne without any internal approval, which did not make management happy.

c. The team wanted to continue the corporate restructuring that started with the removal of Horner.


F1 is preparing for changes to shorten weekends and add sprint races. Their plan will be presented soon.

[N. Jones]

Good.

I am really at a loss as to who is the front runner for either championship. Does anyone know if there is an article detailing the rules changes for next year?

[Used to be Starter]

Good.

I am really at a loss as to who is the front runner for either championship. Does anyone know if there is an article detailing the rules changes for next year?

There is one on BBC's American page at the bottom under sports.

[RangeRover1123]

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[airshifter]

I'm shocked that nobody has mentioned Adrian Newey becoming team principal. Will being TP reduce his abilities as the aero guru he is known to be? Or could it become a deadly brew of having enough power to push aero to limits that the power units can't tolerate?

[N. Jones]

Maybe he always wanted to be TP and is looking forward to it? I don't know how much it will affect his aero duties but we will see.

[Used to be Starter]

I'm shocked that nobody has mentioned Adrian Newey becoming team principal. Will being TP reduce his abilities as the aero guru he is known to be? Or could it become a deadly brew of having enough power to push aero to limits that the power units can't tolerate?

That is a question we have to wait to see. When someone moves from their area of expertise it can go well or it can be a disaster.

[airshifter]

That is a question we have to wait to see. When someone moves from their area of expertise it can go well or it can be a disaster.

And that is my primary concern. It seems like a roll of the dice, possibly taking away from his area of his best skills and making his life more complicated with running the team. He seems like a logical kind of guy that could balance both, and no doubt his aero changes take time to test, so maybe it will be for the better.

But for his first year taking the helm with the new rules, which even for a person such as Adrian might make things tricky, it just seems a risk that would be better pushed back until they have a more solid handle on the new aero regs.

[Steve Boyd]

I'm shocked that nobody has mentioned Adrian Newey becoming team principal. Will being TP reduce his abilities as the aero guru he is known to be? Or could it become a deadly brew of having enough power to push aero to limits that the power units can't tolerate?
I think in some ways it will depend on how much confidence he has in his aero team. If he can leave them to it and only lightly supervise then he can focus on the other aspects. If he can't let go and starts to micro-manage the aero side then it could very well get messy and ineffective.

[F1nKS]

I have the feeling that Zach Brown will take over for Horner as most hated in the paddock


“We took big risks on both of you, and don’t pretend you had better options,” Brown started by saying.

Pointing at Piastri, Brown continued: “You had f***ing Alpine,” and then pointed at Norris, saying: “And you had to be faster than Stoffel Vandoorne.”

[Bagwan]

I don't know ,guys . I think Newey has it in him to run the team .

At Red Bull , him complaining about not getting credit didn't sound to me like something he'd be upset about if he didn't actually believe it .
Max is amazing , but he's more amazing because he's been driving a Newey car .

Now he's at Aston , where he's got all the toys he wants , and drivers who fully respect who he is .
He looks confident in his team .
His position should allow him to be closer to the drivers feedback than he's been before .

He'll be OK .

[Nitrodaze]

Good.

I am really at a loss as to who is the front runner for either championship. Does anyone know if there is an article detailing the rules changes for next year?

There is a post on here that discusses some of it. But the rules have been refined since then. There are a few good YouTube videos on this topic as well. The recent ones are likely to be more accurate. Also, visit the F1 TV website, where it has been covered in detail.

[Nitrodaze]

Red Bull announces Marko is gone. Publicly, they are saying he chose to retire.

a. But privately, he embarrassed RB management with a statement to the press that "Antonelli had pulled over to let Lando pass," which helped generate a lot of hate towards Kimi.

b. He is also reported to have signed Lindblad and Dunne without any internal approval, which did not make management happy.

c. The team wanted to continue the corporate restructuring that started with the removal of Horner.


F1 is preparing for changes to shorten weekends and add sprint races. Their plan will be presented soon.

I doubt he has been sacked for those reasons. Marko has always made controversial statements about drivers in other teams for as long as I can remember. Lindblad was already signed some time ago; nothing new there. I doubt him signing Dunne would piss anyone off in Redbull either.

Due to the close relationship between Verstappen and Marko, I doubt Redbull would be sacking him for fear of upsetting the Verstappens. If he were ushered out, there may be other reasons for it such as health etc.

[F1nKS]

nm

[weird as I correct posts, it just duplicates them]

[F1nKS]

nm - another duplicate

[F1nKS]

I doubt he has been sacked for those reasons. Marko has always made controversial statements about drivers in other teams for as long as I can remember. Lindblad was already signed some time ago; nothing new there. I doubt him signing Dunne would piss anyone off in Redbull either.

Due to the close relationship between Verstappen and Marko, I doubt Redbull would be sacking him for fear of upsetting the Verstappens. If he were ushered out, there may be other reasons for it such as health etc.

Marko, when asked about the RB press release that said his leaving was a "mutual, voluntary departure - his response was:

"Nonsense"


A lot has changed in the team in a short time. You think you know people well, but then you discover that this is not the case... I won't say more.

I have not seen anything about Max's response to it.

[F1nKS]

nm

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[Steve Boyd]

nm

[weird as I correct posts, it just duplicates them]
It does that for me too!

[airshifter]

Good.

I am really at a loss as to who is the front runner for either championship. Does anyone know if there is an article detailing the rules changes for next year?

This is where it gets tricky. ALL of us would be at best guessing to say we know who will get it right next year. The changes are enough that anyone could end up on top again, but the usual suspects are more likely to get it right from the start better than the others.



There is a decent article below:

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-new-f1-rules-for-2026.48bv0VTxhIlhrQXmxercXk


In a nutshell:

Smaller and lighter cars, with overall size much closer to specs from a decade ago or so. Almost a wheel shorter than 2025 cars.

Less downforce and much less complicated floors. It is expected that some high speed corners will be slower than in recent years.

Actitve aero and no more DRS. Both front and rear wings can flatten on designated straights, regardless of distance to the car in front. BUT there is an overtake mode within one second, which will be increased electrical energy.



The significant changes and 50/50 ICE/Electrical power split will mount some strong challenges to energy management. Drivers will have more opportunity to get crafty and deploy where it benefits them. The output of the electrical side has almost tripled and the battery is larger, and charge rates per lap have increased. But with limited time to harvest energy, it's going to be tough. Quite a few people are expecting longer braking zones to harvest, and more than a few seem to think that extended lift and coast along with possible early downshifts will be the norm on some tracks.

From a driver and race engineer standpoint it will require finding a balance that works for each car, and learning where to recover and deploy the energy in the best ways.



Even if the teams have accurate predictions of the recovery and such, I think it's going to be a new challenge for the drivers to get in the groove with. I think the season start will give us a lot of mixed results as teams and drivers come to grips with the new challenges.

[Bagwan]

I knew I could rely on you for a "nutshell" appraisal .
Thanks for that .

[airshifter]

We won't know for sure until we know for sure Bagwan, but I'm expecting the cars to be decent overall, with some obvious changes to the way they produce lap times. At this point many are expecting lap times a second to second and a half slower on average, and I doubt that will be very far off.

Acceleration on straights should be quicker all around with the active aero, and for that reason the overtake mode (within a second similar to DRS) might not be deployed as often on straights resulting in the DRS fly by passes we have seen. With the new regs once within a second that extra energy can be used over the lap, not just on a straight. If they blow it all to get a DRS style fly by pass on the straight, it might leave them more vulnerable due to energy stores being depleted. I'm somewhat expecting that the use of the overtake mode will take more driver savvy and racecraft as compared to DRS, at least I hope so.

Some are expecting a lot less dirty air than the previous regs, but TBH they will find a way. At the start of the season it might be lesser, but I don't see it being much better than the start of the outgoing regs.... which really was much better than regs prior to that.



There are some really crappy videos of the Audi on track at Barcelona already, it's not long before we start finding out who got it right.

[F1nKS]

Marko says he expects the racing field to diverge this next year with significant gaps. He expects the winner to be a team with a Mercedes engine.

Red Bull is talking down expectations. Mekies said:


“Bear with us in the first few months, and I think these initial difficulties will be good reminders of how much we went through to eventually get on top.”

Meanwhile Albon got engaged.

Ferrari is giving Hamilton a new race engineer. Adami had been the race engineer for Vettel and Carlo Sainz, but seemed to have chemistry problems with Hamilton.



Adami That’s a P8. Was a pretty good job out there. Well done and pick up please. Very good comeback and charge button on. Okay, you are in it.

Hamilton Been a long season, guys. Grazie a tutti. Thank you for your kindness. I’m grateful for all your hard work. I’ll always fight for you guys, always. Grazie.

Hamilton Did you get that message? The one time you don’t reply…

F1 has a "closed door" test for the teams on January 26 through the 30th at Barcelona.

It is being reported that Red Bull will not be attending. If that is true, it may point to why Mekies is talking down expectations.

[Steve Boyd]

Adami had been the race engineer for Vettel and Carlo Sainz, but seemed to have chemistry problems with Hamilton.The BBC seem to think that Adami's relationships with Sainz & Vettel weren't always smooth:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/articles/c62r72p2v1do

[F1nKS]

The BBC seem to think that Adami's relationships with Sainz & Vettel weren't always smooth:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/articles/c62r72p2v1do

I read that differently - Vettel and Sainz had issues with Ferrari's strategy, not with Adami. Vettel had known Adami for a long time before Ferrari, was very complimentary of him, called him a friend, and recommended him to Hamilton.

Sainz also had a good relationship with him, and Adami praised Sainz for his vision while in the race. In contrast to Hamilton, Sainz and Adami had numerous humorous exchanges during their time together. Adami gave Sainz a heartfelt farewell when he left.

[airshifter]

Not really a shock that Ferrari would replace someone that has been around quite a while.

And really, even less of a shock that they don't know who will take his place. It's the Ferrari way for over a decade now. Chop the head off, then wonder why they are lacking direction.