It's F1 Academy race week in Silverstone! You can watch all of their sessions for free over on the F1 Academy YouTube channel. This is the first time that the series will be racing at Silverstone, and it's a first-time home race for McLaren Oxagon driver Ella Stevens. It's also sort of a home race for McLaren driver Ella Lloyd, who races under the Welsh flag, though she has raced here before in other series. It's hard to say if there's a favorite here coming into the weekend, but many eyes are on Red Bull driver Alisha Palmowski, who currently leads the championship after a solid performance in Montreal. Lloyd has also looked strong here during in-season testing.
Silverstone is THE OG F1 grand prix circuit, having played host to the very first Formula 1 race in 1950. Along with Monaco, Monza, and Spa, it is one of the four remaining "historical" circuits on the current F1 calendar. The circuit was formerly a RAF airfield during WW2, and parts of the modern circuit still trace the locations of the former air strip, including the perhaps obviously-named Hangar Straight.
The British Grand Prix is 305.198 km over 52 laps. The circuit is 5.891 km long with nearly 3/4 of that distance typically taken flat out. I say typically because with the current generation of cars, we're likely to see a fair amount of superclipping as well as lifting and coasting through corners, as the flowing, high-speed nature of the circuit has very few braking zones that would help recharge the battery.
Perhaps more than any other circuit on the calendar, the corners and straights are often referred to by name instead of by number. I'm including an additional circuit map in this post as a reference.
One landmark that ought to help you as you're watching on TV is the Landostand. Every time you see the giant expanse of fluoro, you'll know that the car(s) you're watching are going through Stowe.
Another series of turns you'll hear a lot about are Maggotts and Becketts, the high-speed esses that exert some of the highest G-forces of any turns on the current calendar. Drivers experience upward of 5Gs going through this section, which is more than most modern astronauts experience during a typical launch and re-entry. Astronauts flying on NASA's Crew Dragon typically experience a maximum of 4 Gs at any point, and cosmonauts on Soyuz typically experience 4-5 Gs, though this is usually experienced only for a brief period, whereas drivers are experiencing it roughly every 90 seconds for an hour and a half!
Track evolution at Silverstone is low, as it is a frequently used circuit and is pretty permanently well rubbered-in, even if it rains. This changes the strategy in qualifying a little bit, as teams are less likely to hedge their bets on a single fast lap closer to the end of a session since there's not really an advantage to doing so. This also means that track conditions in FP1 will be pretty similar to those in the race, which is particularly good in the case of this weekend since it will be the only practice session due to the sprint race.
Speaking of the sprint race, this will be the first time since F1 was testing out the format in 2021 that a sprint weekend will be held at Silverstone. Perhaps as a result, far fewer teams are bringing significant upgrades to this race than have in years' past. Since most teams have at least some of their operations based in the UK, Silverstone is frequently used for shakedowns, testing, and filming, which usually makes it a similar favorite for bringing upgrades as Barcelona. However, with only one practice session this year, teams have less time to test out major changes and make any necessary corrections. So any upgrades being rolled out will either be minor or ones that the teams are reasonably confident will work without any issues.
More about weather, tires, and other tidbits under the cut!
Weather
Overall, the weekend looks to be warm and sunny with little to no chance of rain. It won't be nearly as hot as the last two races, with highs forecast in the mid to high 20s. Winds will be out of the west all weekend, and conditions could get a bit breezy with sustained winds forecast from 15-25 kph and gusts 30-35 kph on Friday, up to 40-50 kph on Saturday, and back to 30-35 kph on Sunday. A mostly-consistent wind direction throughout the weekend also means a little more consistency with grip on track, as the areas affected by the wind in one session or on one lap are likely to remain more or less the same throughout the weekend.
While there is currently no rain forecast, there is a little bit of uncertainty with the system that's bringing the gusty conditions on Saturday, which could bring the odd shower over the circuit. Likewise, the particular microclimate of the open space of the Silverstone circuit surrounded by forest often results in unexpected rain showers not predicted or experienced by the surrounding area. This is similar to portions of Spa and the Nurburgring, which are also known for their unpredictable microclimates.
Tires
Pirelli are bringing their three hardest compounds to Silverstone this weekend, as the fast and flowing nature of the circuit puts a lot of lateral stress on the tires. The harder compounds are more hardy to this condition, and with track temperatures expected to be on the warm side combined with the already well-rubbered surface of the circuit, and things should grip up quite nicely. Silverstone is also relatively non-abrasive, so that sort of wear is basically negligible, and temperature management may largely be down to whatever the track temperature is.
With the C3 standing in as the soft tire in this race, having been the hard tire in some of the more recent races, we may see it appear as a fairly viable option as a race tire. Silverstone is usually a one-stop circuit, and provided that the C3 can structurally withstand the lateral stress across perhaps 15-20 laps and stay within a good temperature window on a hot track, we could see a number of teams opting for softs either during the race or in the sprint. Softs become even more of a likelihood in the event of a safety car.
Speaking of safety cars, those tend to come out pretty frequently at Silverstone, with at least one appearance in 4 of the last 5 races. Pit stops at this circuit are fairly expensive, costing about 20 seconds owing to Silverstone's very long pit lane, so pit stop and tire strategies do tend to wager a smidge more than usual on the appearance of a safety car or a VSC.
Other tidbits
The LEGO cars are back for the driver's parade! This time, each driver gets his own LEGO go-kart that reportedly goes up to 20 mph. They've seemingly learned from their last outing in Miami in 2025 that the drivers can and will crash into each other, and this time have added bumpers accordingly. Let's hope that the marshals won't have to sweep nearly as many LEGO pieces off the track this time.
The British Grand Prix is the home race for six drivers on the current grid: Lando Norris, George Russell, Lewis Hamilton, Arvid Lindblad, Ollie Bearman, and Alex Albon. (Though Albon races under the Thai flag, he's still British.) It is also the home race for three teams: McLaren, Williams, and Aston Martin. Several other teams also have operations in the UK, but they are incorporated in other countries.
Hamilton feels that Silverstone suits the Ferrari far better than Red Bull Ring and expects to see performance from the car more comparable to Barcelona. Though Barcelona and Silverstone have some things in common, Silverstone is a far more energy-starved circuit for this generation of cars, which so far has been a condition that most benefits Mercedes. Hamilton has the most wins at Silverstone of any driver in F1 history, though, so if he feels good about his chances here, I'm inclined to believe him.
Meanwhile, Max Verstappen sounded confident that the upgrades Red Bull brought to Austria would continue to pay dividends this weekend, though he sounded a bit more pessimistic about how enjoyable he expected driving the car around the circuit would be, noting that the energy situation made his laps on the simulator "laughable."
Speaking of Verstappen, both Mercedes and McLaren have seemed to emphatically put to rest any rumors that he might be driving for them in the near future with both teams affirming that they intend to stick with their current driver lineups at least through 2027, and McLaren in particular implying that it could be significantly longer than that. Lando has strongly implied that there are several more years remaining on his current contract, and most sources have speculated that Oscar's contract goes through at least 2027, possibly 2028. Though with the particular way Zak and Andrea have been speaking to the media about this topic, I wouldn't be surprised to hear about an extension for Oscar sometime soon. In either case, this all but guarantees that Lando and Oscar will break the all-time record for most grands prix entered with the same teammate next season. Assuming that this season remains at 22 rounds, they should break the record in round 14 of the 2027 season. On a related note, this weekend will mark the 79th grand prix Lando and Oscar have entered as teammates, placing them now one ahead of Rosberg and Hamilton, who contested 78 together.
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Looks like we're scrapbooking this week! When the car is struggling, it's important to provide your drivers with other enrichment activities.
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The 2026 Austrian Grand Prix marks the 40th grand prix held at this circuit, with the first having been held in 1970 when it was known as the Österreichring. The race is 307.018 km over 71 laps on a 4.326 km long circuit. The Red Bull Ring isn't the shortest circuit by distance on the calendar, but its layout makes for the shortest lap by time. It has the fewest turns of any circuit on the current calendar (just 10!) and at around 660 m above sea level, it is the highest elevation grand prix in Europe and the second highest on the schedule (after Mexico City).
The circuit has a combination of fast, medium, and slow corners and is characterized by its multiple long straights. Four straight mode sections are designated on this rather short track. The circuit sees a significant elevation change of around 63 m, with most of that climb happening between the start/finish line and turn 3. Turns 3 and 4 are generally considered the best for overtaking opportunities. Track limits have also historically been an issue at this circuit, though after some line repainting and addition of gravel traps ahead of last year's grand prix, the issue has decreased significantly, owing to better visual contrast for stewards and the presence of gravel instilling a bit more caution among drivers when seeking the limit through the most offending parts of the circuit.
The combination of the altitude, elevation changes, and the short length of the circuit poses a number of challenges to the drivers and puts some unique stressors on the car. Higher altitude means less downforce, less grip, and a greater difficulty cooling the engine--all a result of the lower air pressure. When air pressure is lower, there are literally fewer air molecules to contend with. While this does technically mean less head-on resistance, it also means less air pushes down on the car, and less air is moving through the car's cooling systems. Most cars are already running the largest spec rear wings possible to contend with the overall lower downforce of this generation of cars, but you may spot other aerodynamic tweaks similar to what we saw in Monaco to maximize downforce. You can also expect to see lots of louvers on the engine covers to maximize the air flow available to the engines. This is doubly important this weekend given the expected high temperatures.
Speaking of the weather, more about that, tires, and some additional technical tidbits behind the cut!
Weather
The weather across the weekend is expected to be sunny and hot with lows in the very early morning around 15°C and highs expected to be 32-33°C by early afternoon. With these temperatures, a heat hazard has been declared, according to FIA regulations. This means that teams must fit the cars with the core components of the driver cooling system, though it is still up to the individual drivers as to whether they choose to use it. Drivers who opt to go without are required to add up to 0.5 kg of ballast to make up for the components of the system (such as the cooling vest itself) that are not on board.
Some forecast models show an approximately 30% chance of rain in the afternoon on Friday and Saturday that could spit a little on the track during FP2 and Qualifying, but the amounts would likely be rather small.
Winds are predicted to be light to moderate throughout the weekend. Sustained winds are predicted to be 5-10 kph throughout the weekend, gusting to a maximum of 20-25 kph. Winds will come from the east on Friday, shifting to coming from the south-southeast on Friday and from the southwest on Sunday.
Most models do not predict rain for Sunday, but a front is expected to bring rain and cooler temperatures across Europe next week, and the shifting wind pattern in the forecast indicates that rain chances for Sunday afternoon could still be in flux. I personally wouldn't rule it out.
Tires
Red Bull Ring, owing to its elevation, is a fairly low-grip circuit. As a result, the three softest compounds have been selected for this race, with the C3 being designated as the hard tire, the C4 as the medium, and the C5 as the soft. Given the expected high temperatures, however, the track is expected to exceed 50°C for most, if not all, sessions across the weekend. Combined with the medium-high abrasiveness of the track surface, thermal wear is the biggest concern, making this race certainly a minimum two-stopper, with the possibility of some teams running a three-stop strategy, depending on how tire performance looks during practice sessions.
The stop-and-go nature of the circuit, with its long straights and interspersed slow corners, makes the rear tires the limiting factor for degradation. Other physical considerations include the downhill portion of the circuit from the exit of turn 3 onwards, which some drivers have likened to a sort of downhill roller coaster. Braking on these portions can place stress on the front axle, and the combination of the decreased grip and the power unit delivery may cause lockups, resulting in unplanned wear to the front tires.
Upgrades, upgrades, upgrades
Several teams are bringing notable upgrades to Austria, including Red Bull, Cadillac, and Ferrari. The team's second major upgrade package has been characterized as "important but not extreme," though the nature of Red Bull's upgrades have remained secret. One rumor suggests that hardly any part of the car has remained untouched. When asked about his feelings about the upgrades, Verstappen sounded optimistic about the performance boost they could provide for the team's home race.
Cadillac's major upgrades include a revised floor and sidepods, along with some other aerodynamic improvements. Meanwhile, Ferrari becomes the second team to roll out engine upgrades under ADUO. Audi rolled out its first allotted upgrade in Barcelona. Ferrari characterized their upgrade as a minor performance improvement, the "result of the work completed in recent weeks to transfer improvements from our development programme to the track." The upgrade is part of the team's stated philosophy of "deploying gains at the earlies opportunity," though they don't expect the upgrade to be significant enough to change the pecking order just yet.
Most other teams are bringing minor upgrades or will be testing components during practice sessions. One notable exception is Aston Martin. Instead of drip-feeding incremental upgrades throughout the first half of the season, as most teams have been doing, team principle Adrian Newey has stated that the team will be bringing one large upgrade package around the time of the summer break.
What's McLaren up to?
McLaren will be testing their own version of a rotating rear wing during FP1 this weekend. Oscar confirmed today that the wing will be installed on Lando's car during the first practice on Friday, and the wing will not be raced in Austria. This makes McLaren the third team to introduce such a wing, first debuted in the preseason by Ferrari and also referred to as a "macarena" or "flip-flop" wing. Red Bull introduced their own version of the wing in Miami, and both teams have been running it as part of their race package since that race.
McLaren are not bringing significant upgrades this weekend, but they have introduced some aerodynamic tweaks to the rear portion of the car and have stated that the package they plan to race with in Austria is lighter than their recent ones, suggesting that the planned weight reduction on the car is proceeding apace.
Austria has been a strong circuit for McLaren in recent years, with Lando achieving his first podium here in 2020, and the team achieving a 1-2 finish their last time out. Though the car's performance still doesn't appear to be at the level it needs to be to properly challenge Ferrari and Mercedes for a win, this is clearly a comfortable circuit for both Lando and Oscar, which may allow one or both drivers to outperform the car and challenge for a podium.
The boys are a bit preoccupied trying to field a football team from the other drivers on the grid, but we can do this without them.
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The Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, formerly the Spanish Grand Prix (which will now be held in Madrid later this summer), and henceforth referred to as the Barcelona Grand Prix because I am not typing the full name every time is 307.236 km held across 66 laps on a 4.657 km circuit that puts just about every aspect of a car and its driver to the test.
The circuit will have four straight mode zones, as indicated by the red dashed lines in the track map below, including one through turn 6, similar to one of the slightly kinked straight zones we saw in Australia.
There's a reason why teams hold testing sessions here, such as the shakedown of the new cars early this year. It combines a long straight with a variety of slow, medium, and fast corners of different types of technicality. The energy demands here are medium to medium-high, mostly owing to the very long front straight. The variable winds in the area surrounding the circuit also create a variety of conditions across the same stretches of track at different times of the day. This is great for testing but a downright pain in the butt for a team trying to nail down the right setup for quali. Many circuits have changeable winds (Baku and Zandvoort perhaps most notably), but it's worth mentioning if only because of how sensitive the aero of these cars can be to headwinds and tailwinds when it comes to maintaining control through corners.
That said, many teams conventionally bring significant upgrades to Barcelona, or at a minimum, do some testing work on things still in development. Don't be surprised to spot lots of flo-viz or maybe even an aero rake.
Since the grand prix in Bahrain, where preseason testing was held, was canceled, this will be the first time teams have raced on a circuit where they've actually had some experience driving this era of car. Granted, most teams have made moderate to significant changes to their cars since the end of January, but there is still nonetheless additional ground truth understanding about things like grip and downforce in these cars on this track that drivers will be carrying into the weekend that they haven't had the benefit of on other tracks.
Tires, weather, and more behind the cut!
Tires
The Barcalona-Catalunya circuit is a purpose-built, permanent track with high abrasiveness due to the age of the track surface. Combined with the thermal demand on the tires from the corners and the expected warm temperatures, Pirelli have selected the C2 - hard, C3 - medium, and C4 - soft tires for this weekend. This is actually a step softer than what has typically been used on this circuit, possibly due to the overall lower grip these cars have compared to the previous generation. It could also be an attempt to see the race require two stops to manage tire degradation, which will, as it often does, begin to show first on the left fronts from the loading through the circuit's several right-hand corners.
Weather
The weather is expected to be quite warm, with afternoon temperatures reaching the high 20s or low 30s Celsius. Overnight lows will dip into the mid to high teens, with things warming quickly through the mid 20s in the morning sessions on Friday and Saturday. Some models show a VERY slight chance of scattered rain on Friday, but other than that, the forecast looks hot, dry, and sunny. Wind conditions appear to be fairly consistent across all three days of the race weekend in the sense that, while they change throughout the day, they follow roughly the same pattern each day. Morning sessions on Friday and Saturday see light winds that gradually shift from coming out of the north, to coming out of the west, to then coming out of the south. By afternoon on all three days, the winds pick up slightly and become occasionally gusty, coming from the south. This means that FP2 will provide decently representative conditions for both quali and the race.
Other Notes
Seven teams will be running one of their four mandatory rookie outings during FP1. Per F1 rules, each driver must allow a rookie (defined as a superlicense holder with two or fewer F1 grand prix starts) to take their place in two FP1 sessions during the season. Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren, Red Bull, Williams, Audi, and Cadillac will each have a rookie driver (most often a reserve or development driver) participating in FP1. 2025 F2 champion, Leonardo Fornaroli, is McLaren's newest reserve driver, sharing duties with Indycar driver Pato O'Ward, and he will be driving Lando's car during the first practice. You can read the full list of the rookie outings at Barcelona here.
The right of review that Alpine requested on Pierre Gasly's Monaco penalty that cost the driver a podium has been ruled admissible by the stewards, and a hearing will go forward. Gasly was one of several drivers who received a penalty for speeding in the pit lane during last weekend's grand prix, and both the FIA and its timing partner have admitted to knowing about a fault in the system that measured pit lane speed that was not communicated to the stewards. Gasly was the only driver to receive two such penalties. He had advanced to third without serving the cumulative 10 seconds in penalties, partly because other penalized drivers surrounding him had served their penalties already. Most of the teams with impacted drivers will be in attendance for the hearing with Mercedes being the one notable absence. It's worth noting that, though it is technically possible, it's very rare for a review such as this to change the outcome of a race after the fact. In a case such as this, where several drivers served their penalties that were issued under the same malfunctioning system, however, there may simply be too many "what ifs" to determine what the finishing order "should" have been had the penalties not been issued. It's an unusual case to be sure, and it's hard to say what a satisfactory outcome would look like that would be equitable to all of the drivers impacted.
Two drivers will be celebrating milestone races this weekend. The Barcelona Grand Prix marks George Russell's 100th start with Mercedes. It also marks Alex Albon's 96th start with Williams, surpassing Nigel Mansell's record for the most starts for the team. Albon will be wearing a special helmet as a tribute to Mansell. As far as I know, Albon is not impacted by any kind of special helmet-related curse.
By the method of counting that McLaren has officially chosen to go by, the Monaco Grand Prix marks the team's 1000th grand prix. After Ferrari, they are only the second team to have achieved this milestone. Other more common methods of accounting place this weekend's race as either their 999th or their 1004th. However, following multiple unforeseen disruptions for an event that had been planned over a year in advance to happen at the Miami Grand Prix this year, I kind of look at this like the time my best friend's 30th birthday party got postponed by a snowstorm. Maybe the party didn't end up being ON her actual birthday, but the new date lined up kind of serendipitously with her getting a new job, so then we had a bigger celebration.
Anyway. That's mostly just a really tortured metaphor to say that it's cool that the celebration of the team's 1000th grand prix is now being held at the same place as McLaren contested its first grand prix in 1963, and that's a little more special than celebrating it in China (which would have been...yikes) or in Barcelona, as the team doesn't have a particularly special history with either circuit in the same way as it does with Miami and Monaco.
Now, what does the Circuit de Monaco hold in store for us in its 78 laps spanning 260.286 km? In recent years, honestly, not much excitement. Just four overtakes happened in the entire race last year. Other races have gone without any overtakes at all. Qualifying is arguably the most consequential session, as passing is very challenging on the very narrow circuit, and most cars finish in the same position they start. As a street circuit, track evolution is high, and lap times will drop across the weekend as more rubber is laid down and the surface becomes grippier. The FIA have designated no straight mode zones on the circuit, as the straight portions of the track are too short to safely accommodate for the potential closing speeds. This means that the active aero elements on the cars will not be used, and McLaren, Mercedes, and Red Bull have positioned some interestingly-shaped winglets on the rear wing where the wing actuator usually goes to provide a little more stability and downforce on a circuit where every little bit counts in that regard.
Circuit de Monaco boasts a number of superlatives on the F1 calendar, including being the shortest circuit (just 3.337 km), having the slowest corner (the Fairmont Hairpin, which is taken at around 50 kph--slower than the pitlane speed limit!), and being the slowest circuit overall. The cramped quarters of the circuit also make it one of, if not the most challenging and hazardous on the current calendar, as mistakes can be a matter of mere millimeters, and the short run from the start line to the first corner has often led to multi-car collisions that take out several cars from the race before they complete a single lap. The Swimming Pool chicane is another snare for many drivers--getting close enough to the barriers to lightly scuff the tires is not only common, it's often considered the "proper" way to take the corner. As a result, the difference between a perfect line through the chicane and disaster is harrowingly thin.
The 1996 Monaco Grand Prix was perhaps the most definitive example of how unyielding the Circuit de Monaco can be: six cars retired before completing one race lap, and only three cars took the checkered flag out of a field of 22.
If you didn't already know, this all should probably tell you that high grip and high downforce are important for maintaining control on this circuit. Teams develop purpose-built race packages just for Monaco to handle the unique conditions (though most of the same setup does get reused in Mexico City due to its high elevation). The slow corners and lack of long straights also means that energy management should be less of a concern this race.
Tires
High grip demands also call for softer tires. That means we're seeing the three softest compounds again this week with C3 as the hard tire, C4 as the medium, and C5 as the soft.
Circuit de Monaco doesn't have a very abrasive surface, so tire degradation is almost a negligible factor in terms of strategy, something that can't be said for many other races. If teams weren't required to use two different compounds during the race, you would easily see some teams completing the entire grand prix on a single set of tires. In fact, in races where the race has been neutralized by a red flag or safety car on the first lap, teams are able to comply immediately with the two-compound requirement and essentially have run the entire race on a single set. That said, the FIA experimented with a two-stop requirement last year, trying to make the race more "interesting," but that has been done away with, and this year's race will have only the one mandatory stop.
Weather
The weather throughout the weekend will be dry and mostly sunny with temperatures ranging from 15 to 22 degrees Celsius and light, variable winds. There is a very slight chance of light rain on Friday afternoon.
Track temperatures in the morning sessions are likely to be on the cool side but should warm up quickly as the sun heats the road. Track temperatures for quali and at race time, when the temperature should be around 21 degrees, ought to be in an ideal range.
Other notes
Ferrari are loosely considered favorites to win this weekend, as their car has shown superior performance in slow corners, of which Monaco has many. It is also Charles Leclerc's home race and a circuit he has historically gone well at.
Kimi Antonelli has been on a tear so far this season with four race wins in a row, all coming in countries that allow titanium dioxide as a food additive. With the calendar moving into the European stint, we watch to see if the pattern holds true that Antonelli's race performance may be tied to the presence of titanium dioxide in his diet, as the additive is banned in the EU.
(In case you were unsure, this is mostly a joke.)
Both McLaren drivers tend to do reasonably well in Monaco, with Oscar scoring points in all three of his F1 appearances at the circuit and appearing on the podium twice. Lando has scored points in five of his six F1 appearances in Monaco and has also reached the podium twice, including his win last year. Provided they qualify well, there's a decent shot of seeing some papaya on the podium if the drivers can dodge the rotten luck they keep seeming to have this season (which may or may not be exacerbated by their special helmets).
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Yarndo and Yarnscar are going on an actual adventure this weekend, and we'll be watching the race from Momocon! As a result, the session recaps will be a bit thinner since I'll be watching them in between volunteer shifts. But if you happen to be there and chance to spot a particularly frantic-looking gremlin running around in a McLaren hat or shirt with a volunteer badge, you might have just had a rare AoY&Y admin sighting!
I still wanted to get of a preview out since there are some things that may make the Canadian Grand Prix quite interesting this year, so let's jump into it!
Circuit
Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve is 4.361 km with a race distance of 305.27 km over 70 laps. It is a high-speed, low-downforce circuit that many drivers cite as one they particularly enjoy racing on. The track surface is bumpy, and the circuit is fairly narrow and hemmed in by concrete barriers along several stretches. The track is dominated by medium-speed corners with a handful of high- and low-speed turns mixed in.
Teams will be running low downforce, relatively stiff setups on this track to maximize grip and aerodynamic stability. Challenges here are literally hot and cold--May 24 is the earliest the Canadian Grand Prix has taken place, and it's still a bit chilly in Montreal, meaning that the track temperatures may be on the low side, and tire graining could be an issue, particularly in earlier sessions. With the race at 4 PM, it shouldn't be too bad, however.
On the hot side, we have brake temperatures. The long chicanes can make managing brake temps difficult, and careful attention needs to be paid so they don't overheat.
Weather
The forecast for Friday and Saturday looks to be cool and pleasant with morning temperatures between 7 and 10 degrees Celsius and afternoon temperatures between 16 and 19. It'll be a bit breezy, though, with sustained winds from 11-12 km/h gusting to 28-32 km/h. Windy conditions can impact handling on track, and we've seen many times how a tailwind can create instability. Track temperatures are expected to be in the high 30s, which is relatively ideal.
Sunday, however may be a different story with a 60% chance of rain and temperatures ranging from a low of 10 to a high of 16. Track temperatures are expected to be around 24, which is low enough to make things like graining a concern in dry conditions. (In wet conditions, intermediate and wet tires behave a little differently, even on a cold track. Grip is still obviously an issue in any case, though.)
Tires
Speaking of tires, the high-speed circuit and cool conditions call for the three softest compounds for this weekend.
Because it's a sprint weekend, teams are allocated fewer tires for the weekend overall, and certain compounds are required to be used during certain phases of Sprint Qualifying and Qualifying, which can further constrict tire strategy for the race, particularly if a set is damaged and cannot be scrubbed for reuse.
Other notes
This is the first time since the introduction of the sprint format that a sprint race has been held in Montreal. Typically, Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve is one at which teams want to get the most out of three practice sessions, but with a sprint, there is only the one practice session on Friday. With several teams bringing significant upgrades, including Mercedes' highly-anticipated first upgrade package of the season, it may be challenging for teams and drivers to get a handle on what in many ways will feel like an entirely new car in such a short amount of time.
McLaren have announced that their upgrades in Montreal will be just as significant of a package as they brought to Miami, with both packages including 7 major upgrades each. This weekend, McLaren's upgrades include changes or updates to the chassis, front and rear wings, bodywork, halo and roll hoop. The rear wing upgrade is rumored to be McLaren's take on the Ferrari "flip-flop" or "macarena" wing. If that's the case, it will be particularly interesting to see how that pans out. Ferrari and Red Bull both ran their versions of this wing in Miami.
This weekend will surely be a test of who is nailing the early development race. It is also the final race in the first ADUO assessment period that will determine which teams get an additional upgrade opportunity for their engines based on comparative performance. You can read more about that here.
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This preview is a bit late due to there being so much to cover (and because all of this is happening in the middle of my workday, and my job actually wants me to work today. Which...rude. Don't they know I have vroomposting to do?) You can read the FP1 recap here since it's already happened, and I won't be addressing it in this post.
As this is a sprint weekend, FP1 was the only practice session.
To start with, some quick hits of the important bits (hey, that rhymes!):
Circuit
The Miami International Autodrome is a 5.412km temporary street circuit that is more-or-less built in the parking lot of Hard Rock Stadium. (The paddock is inside the stadium!) It is a low-grip, high-speed circuit that evolves significantly over the race weekend as more rubber is put down. A grand prix at this circuit is 308.326km in length over 57 laps.
As a high-speed circuit, cars will be set up in a low downforce configuration, optimizing for speed on the long straights.
(Read more about the circuit on the F1 website)
Weather
Lights-out forecast for Sunday: 26 °C (feels like 28 °C), 78% chance of rain and thunderstorms, winds from the NE at 18 kph
There is a very high likelihood of rain for Sunday, though the rest of the weekend will be hot and sunny. This means that there will be no running in race-representative conditions prior to the race, and a completely new set of rules gets layered on when the FIA deems the conditions to be "low grip" (which includes when the track is wet). These rules include restrictions on the usage of the boost button and changes to the way active aero may be used. Most teams and drivers also do not have much (if any) experience driving these new cars in the wet, and those who do have that experience limited to perhaps a handful of laps in Barcelona during the shakedown or at Silverstone for a filming day (both of which would have also been under much cooler conditions than expected in Miami).
The potential for not just rain, but thunderstorms, may impact the race start time. Under local laws, sporting events cannot go forward when there is lightning within a specific distance of the venue. Additionally, under FIA regulations, races cannot take place if the medical helicopter cannot take off, and it would not be able to in the event of lightning.
The FIA have a contingency plan in place and may adjust the race start time if the forecast looks like conditions will be more favorable at a different time of day. (I'll do my best to share here if that announcement is made.)
Below the cut: Tires, upgrades, rule changes
Tires
For a low-grip, high-speed track, the three softest compounds--C3, C4, and C5--have been chosen for this race weekend. Most teams have used one of the two (per car) allocated sets of C3 hards during FP1 today, indicating that they do not expect to need more than the one set for the rest of the weekend. This could be due to the likelihood that the grand prix on Sunday will be run entirely on intermediate or wet tires, which changes the tire strategy entirely.
Upgrades
Several teams have brought significant upgrade packages to Miami. The full list that was submitted to the FIA by each team can be reviewed here. If you just want a quick overview of the major upgrades, Racer has a good article.
Teams with extensive upgrade packages include Ferrari (who have the most listed upgrades by far), Red Bull, VCARB, Williams, Cadillac, and McLaren. Teams that have not brought extensive upgrade packages to Miami have either stated that they will be rolling their upgrades out in Canada or have not mentioned a specific upgrade timeline. Some teams opt to phase in upgrades little by little instead of bringing large packages.
If you're interested in McLaren's upgrades, specifically, they've covered it to some extent in their Miami Briefing, which also includes overviews of the unique challenges of the circuit as well as some discussion of the impacts of the regulation adjustments.
During the break, I wrote a bit about upgrades in general in response to a technical question someone sent in.
Regulation changes
Over the break, drivers and teams worked with the FIA to make some adjustments to the rules regarding certain aspects of the power unit rules on track. This article provides a fairly comprehensive overview, and I'm running out of time before sprint quali to get this preview done, so I'm not going to repeat much of what's covered there.
In short, changes were made to charge limits during quali to allow for more flat-out, on-limit driving, and overall changes were made to power regulations for races that were focused on reducing the dangerous closing speeds that caused Bearman's crash in Japan as well as preventing other behavior of the power units that have caused other hazards. This includes a change to how cars behave during a start meant to prevent overly slow starts due to low RPMs that create crash hazards.
FP1 was extended to 90 minutes to allow for drivers to adjust to the changes.
Gonna try something new this week. Instead of dumping a lot of my weekend preview/overview information in the FP1 recap, I'm trying out doing a separate post for it. Maybe that'll make the other recaps a bit less unwieldy.
But first, in a bit of fun news, I've redecorated the little corner of my office where Yarndo and Yarnscar hang out most of the time and made it a little more...papaya.
Ok, so getting on with what you need to know for the weekend. First up...the circuit itself!
Suzuka Circuit is 5.807 km long with a total race distance of 307.471 km over 53 laps. It has 18 turns and is considered a medium-high difficulty due to the technical esses that make up turns 3-6 and the circuit's high-speed corners. Between this and the abrasiveness of the track surface, tire management plays a significant role in strategy and racing style on this circuit.
Suzuka is an often-cited favorite track among drivers, including Lando, who has regularly said that it's his favorite circuit on the calendar. It is also the only figure-8 circuit that F1 currently races at.
Downforce requirements for this track are high, as the high-speed corners and frequent direction changes demand good stability to go through them with the appropriate amount of speed. With many teams (including McLaren) still struggling to get the downforce equation quite right with this new era of cars, it will be interesting to see how everyone manages. That said, F1 has been racing here since long before the "ground effect" era, and those previous generations of cars had about the same amount (or less!) downforce than the present generation, so it's not an impossible or dangerous situation but rather one that needs to be managed via car setup and driving technique. Teams may be able to gather some helpful aero data on this circuit that could inform not just their setups for the weekend but also future upgrade packages, so I wouldn't be surprised to spot flowviz on some cars during the practice sessions.
Below the cut: Tires, weather, maximum recharge limit changes, and what to expect/hope for from McLaren.
Tires
Given the high lateral loads and overall demand on the tires on this circuit, the three hardest compounds have been selected for the weekend.
As you might recall from the tire primer I wrote in the preseason, the harder the tire, the more durability it has. So for a track well-known for tire wear, it makes sense to select the hardest compounds available.
You can read more about the tire selections and allocation here, including details on type and extent of expected wear.
Weather
The weather during the weekend will be mostly cool, with air temperatures not forecast to exceed 20°C. Track temperatures for the morning sessions of FP1 and FP3 are likely to be on the low side, but they ought to warm up to the high 20s or low 30s (depending on cloud cover) for qualifying and the race. The forecast for rain on Sunday has gone back and forth, and depending on the model, there is a slight chance for rain (up to 30%), though the system expected to bring precipitation is increasingly looking like it will arrive Sunday night or Monday instead. Winds will be light to moderate and variable throughout the weekend, but for qualifying and the race specifically are forecast to be out of the southeast at 10-15 kph. This could make for challenges with tailwinds through the esses, Degner (T8), T9, and entering Spoon at T13.
Maximum Recharge Limits
A lot of people are probably confused about the FIA's change to the energy management parameters for qualifying.
The FIA, all 11 Formula 1 teams and the Power Unit manufacturers held talks regarding energy deployment following feedback from the drivers after the first two Grand Prix weekends of the season.
The power unit manufacturers – Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull Ford, Audi and Honda – unanimously agreed to a reduction of the maximum permitted energy recharge for Qualifying at Suzuka from 9 megajoules to 8 megajoules.
The governing body said this would "ensure the intended balance between energy deployment and driver performance is maintained".
The change means drivers will harvest less energy to charge the battery on the straights in Qualifying, which in turn means they will spend less time on part throttle and perform less lifting and coasting.
Adjustments like this are a normal part of refining the regulations as they make contact with real-world conditions. We may see maximum recharge limits vary based on track layout throughout the season at least for qualifying, though I wouldn't be surprised to see this practice expanded to apply to entire race weekends eventually.
Because of the layout of the Suzuka Circuit, there are limited places where battery recharge can occur and several places where deployment is necessary or advantageous. At first glance, it would seem that lowering the upper limit for recharge would be the opposite of what you'd want to do if you generally are going to want to deploy more with few harvesting opportunities. However, what that would mean is that on all of the corners where harvesting can occur, drivers will be sacrificing time in favor of charging the battery so they will have it available to go faster on the straights.
In qualifying, where setting the fastest single-lap time is the goal, this means that drivers would basically have to hold back and do a lot of weird driving on half of the circuit in order to have the battery necessary to go fast on the straights that make up the other half. This defeats the purpose of demonstrating performance across all phases of the circuit, which is what setting the fastest time is meant to show.
So by lowering that upper limit, no one is going as fast on the straights, sure, but it also means that drivers can race properly through the corners, demonstrating both skill and performance in that area as well as in a straight line.
To make a bad and horribly oversimplified metaphor to try to make this make more sense, imagine if I told you that you needed to pay a toll of $9 to go as fast as you can on the straights. And in order to collect the money for that toll, you need to stop and pick up coins on the other parts of the track. If you get to the tollbooth, and you haven't collected $9, you can still drive on, but how fast you can drive is based on how much you can pay. You obviously want to be able to go as fast as you can, so you're going to stop and pick up as many coins as you can to make that $9. But there are really only a few places on the track where there are coins to pick up, and if you go too fast on some other parts of the track, you might lose some of the coins before you get to the tollbooth. This means you're not going as fast as you can on the rest of the track because you want to make sure you have that $9.
Now imagine that the toll is lowered to $8. You don't need as many coins now to go as fast as you can on the straight. This means that you may not need to stop to pick up coins as often and you spend less time picking them up when you do because you don't need as many. Also, you might not worry so much about losing a few coins by going too fast in between places where you can get coins because you don't need as many to top back up.
Now, the place where this metaphor falls apart is that "as fast as you can" is still slower at $8 (or 8 MJ) than it is at $9 (or 9 MJ). But sacrificing top speed to make it so drivers can demonstrate performance through the full track and not just energy management and speed in a straight line is almost certainly the right call.
There are a lot of different rabbit holes to chase down about this topic, so if you have more questions about it, drop them in the comments, and I'll do my best to answer/explain. This article from Motorsport.com also gets into some details I didn't fully discuss and may answer some of your lingering questions.
Will both McLarens finally start a race?
God, I hope so. And if they're feeling particularly ambitious, maybe they'll both finish the race, too.
McLaren, in cooperation with their power unit provider, Mercedes HPP, traced the cause of the double DNS in Shanghai to two separate issues involving the battery.
For Lando, a software problem functionally bricked the battery in the car, rendering it completely unusable. It has been removed from the pool of components that can be used on Lando's car and leaves him with just two batteries available in his allotment of three for this season. (Under normal circumstances, cars are allotted two batteries in a season, but a third was added to this year's allotment to allow for adjustments to the new regulations.)
For Oscar, the issue was traced to a component connecting to the battery. That component has been replaced, and the battery remains usable.
Hopefully, this marks an end to major gremlins for McLaren and they're able to race successfully from here on out. In a media day press conference, Lando expressed confidence in McLaren's ability to mount a comeback and still field a competitive car that can fight at the top this season.
“I can’t remember how many points we were behind in 2024 from Mercedes, Red Bull, Ferrari, but I think we were over 150 points behind and we still managed to come back and win the Constructors’.
“I don’t know how far behind we are now....But I think we’re not necessarily thinking of that just yet – what we are thinking of is getting on the podium first of all and then returning to winning races.
“The points then take care of themselves and we’ll see what we can claw back, and we’re confident in that. We’re confident as a team and we believe in ourselves, that we won the last two championships and we won the Drivers’ last year because we could build the best car on the grid, and I’m confident we can get back to doing that this year.
“It just takes time – you have to be patient, but I have good belief in the team and I think we can have the best car this year.”
You can also read the McLaren Japanese Grand Prix Preview, which has some remarks from the team's technical director for performance on what to expect this weekend.
This weekend we have some big sports events starting, or coming to their conclusion.
The Netball World Cup starts today in Liverpool, South Africa are ranked 5th and will hope to reach the semi-finals at least after a good showing in the Quad series over the last two years. They start their campaign tonight at 6pm against Trinidad and Tobago.
All the fixtures and TV schedule are on our website here!
Wimbledon is looking fairly predictable for our Superbru players with Williams (8 titles) and Halep (0 titles) in the ladies final tomorrow. The men’s semi-finals are today could see Federer (8 titles) and Djokovic (4 titles) meet again. Federer has to overcome Nadal (2 titles) while Djokovic has to overcome Bautista.
Federer and Novak Djokovic have played 47 times, with Federer trailing 22–25. They are tied 4–4 on clay while Federer trails 17–19 on hard-courts and 1–2 on grass. The Federer–Djokovic rivalry is the largest rivalry in men’s Grand Slam tournament history with a record 15 matches played against each other. Djokovic is the only player besides Nadal to defeat Federer in consecutive Grand Slam tournaments (2010 US Open and 2011 Australian Open, also 2015 Wimbledon, US Open and 2016 Australian Open), and the only player besides Nadal and Murray who has double-figure career wins over Federer. Djokovic is one of two players (the other again being Nadal) on tour to have defeated Federer in straight sets at a Grand Slam event multiple times (2008 Australian Open, 2011 Australian Open, 2012 French Open) and the only player to do so three times. Of their 47 meetings, 18 have reached a deciding set.
On Sunday hosts England will face New Zealand in the Cricket World Cup. Whoever wins will be a first time winner!
Our Currie Cup Premier Division starts today with Sharks hosting Griquas. Saturday sees WP hosting the Bulls and the Lions play the Pumas at Ellis Park. The Lions and WP line-ups are on the site. Last chance to join our Superbru group before we lock it.
Leaving the best to last perhaps? The Premier League starts again in 28 days! Liverpool host newly promoted Norwich on a Friday night kick-off at Anfield. Sign up the the Superbru pool, winner gets a R 100 (t’s & c’s in league)
That’s all for now but be sure to check out our new gear section and new gear reviews on Youtube!
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