2026 - Race 2 [China]

[F1nKS]

Is Formula 1 just an updated version of Mario Kart?

Will China provide a more compelling race?

Will Toto be allowed to purchase the 24% stake in Alpine to keep Horner out of F1?

How many laps will Aston Martin do in China before retiring their car so that their drivers don't get permanent nerve damage?

[Nitrodaze]

Racing nowadays is a battle of Machine Learning code, configuration, and the ability to train it properly. This is one of the reasons why Mercedes customer teams are half a second slower than Mercedes and Ferrari. These cars need to learn the China circuit. Hence, running the cars in various simulations becomes necessary to train the car to work out the characteristics of the track and driving patterns at various points on the track.
Teams that are not on top of configuring and training these Machine learning engines would also suffer in China. When Stella accused Mercedes of keeping something back from them, that made me laugh. Why should Mercedes help you
configure and train your car when you are a direct competitor for the title?

McLaren is paying the price of not running the new engine in preseason testing. They missed out on understanding the machine learning software of the Mercedes engine. All of this is partly because of the development time they sacrificed from the 2026 programme to sort out Norris' car to get him to win the driver's title. We should not forget that they also get a shorter wind tunnel time as constructor world champions.

[F1nKS]

In the sprint race, there was a little excitement due to Ferrari's impressive starting performance. But once Mercedes had final clean air and little separation, it was all Mercedes.

The question now with Antonelli on Pole - he will be passed by the Ferraris, the only question will be whether he will be able to keep Russell behind him, and then be able to go on the attack against Ferrari.

Red Bull is a midfield team.

At this point, I would like Mercedes and Verstappen to announce a deal for 2027, and the Mercedes driver who finishes lower in the standings will give up his seat to Verstappen [We are going to need some kind of drama to keep this season intersting]

[Nitrodaze]

What a great Chinese Grand Prix! Huge congratulations to Kimi Antonelli on his first grand prix win. This race highlights how super dominant Mercedes is this season. Like Verstappen's Redbull of 2022, the Mercedes is in a different category altogether to the rest of the field.
It was a special Mercedes moment as Hamilton shares this special moment with the youngster who slotted into his seat after he departed for Ferrari. And having Bono pose for pictures standing between the driver he won six world titles with and one that he is moulding into a world champion was something very special too.
You could argue that if Russell had had a better start, he might have won the race. Winning is about taking full advantage of the situation to get ahead and win the race. And Antonelli did that, although with a brief moment of lock-up that almost gave it all away. Second Youngest driver to ever win a race and first Italian in over three decades to win a grand prix. Italians have reason to celebrate as they have a new race winner, and a Ferrari was also on the podium.

Well it is now clear, Mercedes is also dominant on the twisty tracks as they are on the fast long straight tracks. The 2026 regulation has failed woefully at preventing one team from running away with the championship. They have managed to simulate close racing with the boost button passes. But once the faster ones get ahead, they pull away, leaving the pack behind to race among themselves. There was plenty of action to entertain the crowd in the midfield, especially, but the race splits up into sub-groups racing among themselves. You have Mercedes clear ahead with 25 seconds gap to the fastest chasing Ferraris. Ferrari a further 29 seconds ahead of the nearest challenger, the Haas of Bearman. Even the midfield was fragmented into smaller groups of two or three racing each other, and not the group ahead.
Hence, the beginning of the race is great fun to watch, and then it descends into pocket racing of flip-flop overtaking. The 2026 regulation that seemed great in principle has turned out to be not so great in reality. The very things we complained about in the Verstappen era is repeating themselves in this 2026 era. Mercedes is untouchable. They are never punished when they make a mistake, as they easily recover to the front and win the race. It should not be so easy.

The Ferrari pair made the race very interesting at the front with LeClerc taking the fight to seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton. This battle was interesting as it was not battery power dependent but pure racecraft. LeClerc is reminded who he is racing with, and Hamilton is given notice that he aims to dominate. While l enjoyed the duel between the two Ferraris, I wondered if it was the right strategic thing to do with Russell right behind them. While l was watching the battle, l was asking myself if LeClerc realised that they still have Russell behind them.

LeClerc is not the most strategic thinker in the thick of racing like Sainz was, and he did not realise that having both Ferraris on the podium was a high likelihood if they stayed in formation and let Hamilton pull them both towards Antonelli. The battle allowed Russell to close in on both of them and pass them for second. And they both lost 5 seconds to Antonelli as a consequence. It was a battle that cost Ferrari a potential double podium of 2nd and 3rd. It potentially may have cost LeClerc a podium position. That said, Russell may have passed one or both of them in the long run anyway.
I felt the fight for position should have only taken place after Russell had passed them. Until then, the double podium was a possibility. Hence, it was fun and stupid at the same time.

Shock!!! Both McLarens did not complete the race!

The realities of building your own engine have hit Redbull. Surprisingly, the racing bull cars are faster while using the same Ford engine. Verstappen is getting a taste of what life was like for Hamilton in 2025.