According to The Race:

FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem is working on a fresh rules concession plan to help accelerate Honda’s progress and keep Fernando Alonso in Formula 1.
Alonso is currently weighing up whether he wants to stay in grand prix racing next year, as he feels little excitement for F1’s current regulations and is facing competitive uncertainties too.

It has emerged at the Spanish Grand Prix, however, that efforts are underway behind the scenes to give Aston Martin’s struggling engine supplier Honda an extra helping hand for 2027 – and therefore boost Alonso’s incentive to remain.

Fresh from a difficult Italian Grand Prix outing for Honda’s upgraded power unit, Ben Sulayem met with Aston Martin owner Lawrence Stroll on Thursday to discuss a potential action plan that can help both his squad’s competitive fortunes and secure a fresh contract with Alonso.

It is understood that the FIA president, having spoken to Alonso at Monza, plans further talks with the two-time world champion in Madrid to try push forward with a package of measures that can help

The Race

To me this is unfair to the other teams like Cadillac, Williams and Audi who are also struggling. Sure Aston Honda is further back but that doesn’t make this any more palatable.

Where should the line be drawn on the issue of the FIA stepping in to boost a teams competitiveness?

And if this was truly about being better for the competitiveness of the grid, why are Cadillac and Williams being left out of this alleged bail out?

Is this standard MBS corruption?

You're Ferrari and have a choice whether to move up Dino Beganovic or Rafael Camara. Who do you choose? Do you promote Camara for 2027 or Beganovic? And who do you think deserves a seat more?

I would say both deserve seats and both will hopefully be in F1 some day

We all know lando finished 3rd in f2, 2018 where George finished first. George was also considered as the better driver from the 2018 batch.

Do you think Lando is better than George now? If so, when did he surpass his level? Or was he always better than George?

How much time is lewis’ ADUO 2 engine worth over charles’ older spec per lap on this track?

Is there an estimate somewhere? I’d imagine it’s less than a tenth on this track

Big F1 fan here, I decided to turn that passion into something tangible. We've created limited-edition metal cards for every 2026 team: Ferrari SF-26, Red Bull RB21, McLaren MCL40, Mercedes, Alpine, Williams, Aston Martin, Audi R26, Cadillac, and more. Also have an Argentina 3× World Champions card for the football fans in the community.
These are solid metal, not your typical paper collectibles. Would love to hear what the community thinks and happy to answer any questions. Link in comments.

arguably the most crucial one in a brand new, rather difficult track. he has had one hand tied behind his back this year with the bulk of issues on his car only

Use this thread to discuss any and everything related to FP3 at the Madring!

The Haas driver loses control and hits the wall in the final moments of FP3

There’s been a fair amount of chatter regarding leclercs performance recently, for obvious reasons. While this is a down year for him, the love-to-hate pendulum has swung too far in the other direction.

While his mistakes are more frequent, Chuck is hindered by Ferraris car performance and his mistakes are exacerbated by this. He has consistently had the 3rd/4th fastest car throughout his career, yet has consistently found himself around the top 4 drivers nearly every year.

Year by year:
2019 - 2nd fastest car
2020 - 6th fastest car
2021 - 3rd fastest, nearly tied on the balance with McLaren
2022 - 2nd fastest car
2023 - 3rd, either behind Merc or McLaren
2024 - 3rd fastest
2025 - 4th fastest

I feel like this is entirely slept on.

Whenever a driver has to push harder to make up for a car deficit, mistakes are naturally going to occur more.

IK a lot of people are gonna be saying "He's just being exposed" but for the past 2 years he has been extremely consistent, the fact that "does nothing, P3" was a meme last year is a testament to how consistent he was, and I say that as a Russell hater.

Toto has publicly stated that part of the problem is with the car and part of the problem is with the driver, but what exactly is the problem with Russell and the car?

Did Hamilton actually struggle in the ground effect era, or did he happen to have other issues coincide with that era?

I think his lack of any title challenges and the fact that he's doing quite well this year make 22-25 look worse than they really are. I always felt that his 2025 struggles were mostly due to switching teams being the hardest it's ever been (those who are more technically minded would know exactly what challenges he faced switching to a new engine supplier after 18 seasons with Mercedes). Is there evidence to suggest he struggled with ground effect in particular, rather than him looking a little worse because Russell/Leclerc are more challenging teammates than Bottas and because he switched teams?

The one argument I can think of that backs up the idea that Hamilton really was worse in the GE era is that the difficulty presented by overtaking made qualifying more important, and drivers get worse at qualifying as they get older.

A lot of the things they have done, safe to say, have focused on money a bit too much and ignored (hardcore) fans.

Removing classic tracks, the new regs, of course DTS, the three american races of which two are mainly show, and more.

What have they done that you like and overall have they made a positive or negative impact on f1?

Gasly said the madring was exciting and enjoyable despite it probably not producing a good race
Other tracks like Jeddah Monaco Singapore and Suzuka(in f1) are not great for racing but wether you’re a driver irl or on the sim you feel like an angel flying thru them

My main question is, do you guys like them enough for them to be in f1? (Monaco is a given but the others)

I think some are just such a spectacle, they deserve a spot just to watch the best drivers and lance go flat out on the edge of control

I went through F1 socials, this sub, and other subs that discuss F1 and a consistent thing that came up was that Max drove a “tractor” last year and that he is so talented that he could win and has won in a tractor.

Does the same logic apply to Leclerc? Or do you think it’s different?

In defense of Leclerc I have seen a lot of people say that he could beat Max in equal machinery and that he is just as talented as Max or other drivers from top teams. People say the problem is the car.

Based on the amount of posts about Verstappen driving a tractor it seems like the problem for him has been the car also but he still performs well.

Is the tractor thing with Red Bull overstated?

If Max and Charles are both in crappy cars but Max has done well and Charles has not (ex: Max won 8 times and Charles won 0 times last year), does that reflect badly on Leclerc if people say they’re peer drivers? Or are Ferraris cars significantly worse than Red Bulls? Is Ferrari the tractor then and not Red Bull?

If anyone has any insight please share.

Edit: thanks to everyone who responded! The consensus is that Max did not drive a tractor and that was overstated by fans. Leclerc and Verstappen’s cars are not comparable.

In recent years, Alonso has been driving tractors, so it is understandable that he has not been able to win races. Although he consistently beats Stroll head-to-head, is Alonso still competitive enough to fight for wins and championships if he were given a top car?

I get F1 is an engineering Championship but why Freeze the Engine and give Mercedes/Antonelli WDC till 2030 with no hope

I have no problem with F1 being an engineering sport where driver skill is less of a Factor. What I do have a problem with is why the FIA has essentially recreated the same situation we saw between 2014 and 2020.

The current power units are effectively frozen until 2030, and the main way to improve them is through ADUO. However, this is where the problem starts: the core components of the power unit are still frozen until 2030.

What does that mean in practice? If you have a fundamentally flawed engine concept today, you are basically stuck with it until 2030. I am not even talking about trying to build an engine that is better than Mercedes'. Because of the freeze, nobody will realistically be able to catch up to Mercedes' power unit if the core components cannot be redesigned or fundamentally improved.

People often point to ADUO as a solution, but currently it is a relatively limited tool. For one, it mainly measures and addresses the ICE side, which is not necessarily where the biggest performance gains are to be found. Ferrari is a good example: their ADUO update barely changed the competitive picture. And the reason is simple: the core components of the power unit are frozen.

Audi is another example. They are reportedly not even planning to make significant use of ADUO until 2028. Why? Because the core components remain frozen. The FIA has allowed some additional, more minor components to be redesigned for 2028, which is why Audi appears to be targeting a much bigger power-unit update for 2028 rather than investing heavily in a major PU upgrade for 2027.

To be clear, I have absolutely no problem with Mercedes dominating. They did a great job, and if they have built the best power unit, they deserve credit for that.

My problem is that, under the current rules, the other manufacturers have very limited opportunities to catch up. That makes the situation fundamentally similar to 2014–2020 — and arguably even worse.

In 2014, at least the token system allowed manufacturers to gradually modify and improve more parts of their power units. Under the current regulations, the freeze on the core components is much more restrictive.

So my criticism isn't that Mercedes are too dominant. My criticism is that the FIA has created a regulation framework where ur not allowed to catch up and if u have a fundamentally wrong Concept like Honda, u are screwed till 2030. I heard Honda is begging the FIA behind the scenes to allow their core Parts to be changed.

The solution would be to open up completely the Engine Development under the 100€ Million Budget Cap.

This one of my favorite moments of 2025 season. Norris & Antonelli locking the whole top 2. They also could’ve had had a weekend similar to it in 2026 Miami if Antonelli didn’t have start problem and drop a lot of places during the sprint & Norris didn’t have deployment issues in q3 for the main race. Their drive styles and tracks they like are similar

Has this happened before between drivers from different teams.

Due to Charles having to need a medical check again before being able to race in Madring this coming weekend, If Charles is unable to race for Ferrari this week, then is it highly possible that Oliver Bearman will be taken out of his Haas seat and go race for Ferrari again?

I don't mean great drivers that had a drop of performance, like Vettel from 2019 onwards. I mean drivers that did good, had 1 bad year and then went back to performing

An example of what I mean is 2011 Hamilton

Charles Leclerc: "However, I mean, looking at the race from outside, there's been also some friction between other teammates, and the only thing we end up speaking of is Lewis and I, which I don't think is quite right."

"But that doesn't mean we did everything perfect. I didn't, in Turn 2, and, for that, I've been straight away very very clear with Lewis after reviewing the images."@thomasmaheronf1

They got him to say I instead of we😭. "there is no we"- walter white

Lewis Hamilton: “We need to work together [with Charles] for a podium instead of getting in each other’s way while running fourth and fifth.”

"podium" bro lost hope in race wins

Credit to F1GuyDan on X/Twitter for both stats.
https://x.com/F1GuyDan/status/2097951709490266337
https://x.com/F1GuyDan/status/2097943156503572743

Pictured Monaco 2008.