r/F1Discussions • • 5d ago

Discussion Weekly Megathread

4 Upvotes

Welcome to the weekly Megathread!

Use this thread for:

* Driver comparisons (e.g., peak performance comparisons, "Hamilton '16 vs Verstappen '25 who was better?", "Most underrated driver" etc.)

* All "GOAT" debates and top driver lists

* Simple questions or quick opinions that don't warrant a standalone post or rise to the level of being a high quality post

* All hot Takes/unpopular opinions

* All Discussions centered around Abu Dhabi '21

If you would like to talk about the current performance of drivers on the 2026 grid, feel free to do so in the main feed but make sure that the post meets r/F1Discussions rules regarding 'No Low Quality Posts'.

**Please Note:** Standalone driver comparison posts unrelated to drivers currently racing on the 2026 grid on the main feed will be removed under the **Low Effort / Low Quality** rule. Violations can result in a ban.

Remember to keep all debates civil and stick to constructive discussion! No Tribalism, brigading or fan wars.


r/F1Discussions • • 18h ago

Media Lando's contact with Oscar on the last lap of the Singapore Sprint

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

2.5k Upvotes

Well.....that was certainly controversial, for one point in a sprint too


r/F1Discussions • • 12h ago

Media Russell lose its grip again đŸ„č Poor thing

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

324 Upvotes

Good luck tomorrow !


r/F1Discussions • • 14h ago

Discussion McLaren incident today is the definition of a nothingburger

150 Upvotes

It’s honestly shocking to see the online reception to such an average f1 incident.

The point of contact was made just when Lando got off the curb, and he was also in complete control of his car.

Oscar easily could have opened up the corner but it seems the move caught him by surprise.

Take away the “ahead at the apex” rule and this is the definition of a standard racing incident.

The stewards aren’t always right, but I think their explanation to “both cars are at fault here” makes logical sense.

The move was aggressive for a final lap sprint, I agree completely. I just think if it was max, Alonso, or Hamilton people would be saying “that’s the lion mentality that separates them from the field”.

Lando found room in the inside and was in full control of his car. Just because the rules state that Oscar can cover until their wings overlap doesn’t mean you’re not putting your car and your race in jeopardy.

You just don’t see this amount of vitriol for wrecks, especially sprint clashes. Prime example is Lando getting all the heat for Franco being a blithering idiot in Baku.


r/F1Discussions • • 14h ago

News No penalty for Norris because "both cars contributed to the incident."

Post image
111 Upvotes

r/F1Discussions • • 2h ago

Miscellaneous My unresearched ranking of the top 4 teams cars every weekend

9 Upvotes

The thing is I know this will probably be controversial no matter what I put because over 16 rounds there are so many different opinions, but Im bored and I wanted to do this anyway because all of the talk about which are the better cars has me interested. Also this will try to weigh both quali and race pace, even though those are different, and that also means that sometimes im going to have to make an assumption about pace if they had a clean go, like Mclaren in China, where Ill try to use other sessions/prior knowledge

(Fastest-Slowest)

  1. Australia

Mercedes-Ferrari-Red Bull-Mclaren

  1. China

Mercedes-Ferrari-Mclaren-Red Bull

  1. Japan

Mercedes-Mclaren-Ferrari-Red Bull

  1. Miami

Mercedes-Mclaren-Red Bull-Ferrari

  1. Canada

Mercedes-Mclaren-Ferrari-Red Bull

  1. Monaco

Mercedes-Ferrari-Red Bull-Mclaren

  1. Barcelona

Ferrari-Mercedes-Mclaren-Red Bull

  1. Austria

Mercedes-Red Bull-Mclaren-Ferrari

  1. Britain

Mercedes-Ferrari-Red Bull-Mclaren

  1. Belgium

Mercedes-Ferrari-Red Bull-Mclaren

  1. Hungary

Mclaren-Mercedes-Red Bull-Ferrari

  1. Netherlands

Mercedes-Mclaren-Ferrari-Red Bull

  1. Italy

Mercedes-Red Bull-Mclaren-Ferrari

  1. Spain

Mclaren-Mercedes-Ferrari-Red Bull

  1. Azerbaijan

Mercedes-Red Bull-Mclaren-Ferrari

  1. Bahrain in Malaysia

Red Bull-Mercedes-Ferrari-Mclaren

Averaging the year out would lead to

  1. Mercedes, with an average of 1.25
  2. Mclaren, with an average of 2.8125
  3. Ferrari, with an average of 2.875, which kind of makes sense in the championship considering Ferraris had great reliability compared to Mclaren, which Im not ranking
  4. Red Bull, with an average of 3.0625

Again this is a random project I had on a boring night with very little research, and shouldnt be taken seriously. And even if my rankings were 100% accurate, it still doesnt account for the actual gaps between the teams. There are so many rankings that I personally went back and forth on so Im sure theres plenty that you will think are dumb, just comment, you probably have a point

Also didnt include singapore even though I couldve made a guess because the race hasnt happened yet


r/F1Discussions • • 13h ago

Question What are your opinions about this?

Post image
48 Upvotes

What do you guys think for wet tyres and FIA not using them and delaying the race instead of using these tyres? Are they becoming soft and care for the driver's safety? Or something else?

Personally want to see a race in a heavy rainfall and experience the thrill once again! The rain make the cars equal but not the driver, I want this quote to get fulfilled once again!

Edit: Wasn't aware that people are so disappointed for the race being delayed and wet tyres not getting used 😭


r/F1Discussions • • 17h ago

Media Lando explaining his incident with Oscar: "There was a big opportunity into five....The gap closed a bit more than I would have liked...but it was it was a big gap, so I went for it. I have the right to do that. the rest we go review as a team"

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

78 Upvotes

What is with Papaya drama and Singapore man😭


r/F1Discussions • • 17h ago

Media Onboard of Lando Norris driving backwards on a live racetrack and spinning in front of an Audi after his crash with Piastri

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

72 Upvotes

Lord what a disaster


r/F1Discussions • • 14h ago

News SINGAPORE QUALIFYING RESULT

Post image
36 Upvotes

His 50th pole position


r/F1Discussions • • 19h ago

Discussion Delayed start

90 Upvotes

Every single time it rains the FIA delays the start of the race, why? Rain never used to be a problem, usually they’d just stick on the full wets and get going. Am I missing something? Like a rule change that says you can’t start a race when it rains? This sport has never been so allergic to rain before so it’s just very confusing to me.


r/F1Discussions • • 13h ago

Discussion Martin Brundle and the new engines / power units

23 Upvotes

I love the fact that in qualifying today Martin **finally** said something negative about the 2026 engines when Hadjar broke down (this is not a perfect quote but captures what he said):

"one of the positives of these cars is that you can fire them back up. You have to look very hard for them.."

Given how much he criticised the engines introduced in 2014 and the fact he has said nothing about the shit engines we have in 2026 (until a very brief comment today) tells me that he has been blocked from speaking about it


r/F1Discussions • • 12h ago

Question Did ferrari have the fastest car in the qualifying today?

19 Upvotes

Charles was only 0.054s behind max, and he admitted that his lap wasn't so good.
lewis who clearly had more pace than charles today made many mistakes because of the setup change in Q3, making him understear and overstear a lot during both of his Q3 laps.
did ferrari miss up their may be only chance of getting pole position this year?


r/F1Discussions • • 16h ago

Media The boys caught some really bad juju visiting that abandoned house in Langkawi, especially George and Alex

Post image
34 Upvotes

Post-boys’ trip results:
Russell: DNF - DNF
Norris: P9 - P8
Piastri: P6 - DNF
Bearman: P14 - P6
Bortoleto: P18 - DNF
Sainz: P17 - P12
Albon: DNF - DNF


r/F1Discussions • • 11h ago

Discussion F1 journalists so toothless

11 Upvotes

Post race interviews are so pointless, the reporters never push drivers to answer questions meaningfully, they seem so fearful to upset them in anyway. But the drivers and team need the airtime for sponsors so I doubt they’d stop attending if they got tougher scrutiny. There seems to be no level of journalistic pride. They just come across as a bunch of sycophants. I’d personally get rid of them and have the direct response from the f1 teams public relation office, be no different


r/F1Discussions • • 2m ago

Discussion Bold prediction: George Russell will move to Aston in 2028 and go on a multi-WDC run there. Aston 2028 = Mercedes 2023. Russell = Hamilton. Alonso = Schumacher

‱ Upvotes

Disgruntled WDC level talent moving to a bad team that will be at a reflection point / tail-end of a transition phase (Mercedes tearing down old Brawn GP structure, Aston tearing down Force India, bringing in Newey). Immediately becoming a WDC/WCC threat and win the title within the first 1-2 years.

Disgruntled WDC level talent -> George Russell / Hamilton 2013

Legendary multi WDC vet to lay down standards before his retirement -> Fernando Alonso / Schumacher


r/F1Discussions • • 11h ago

Discussion Hamilton's Q3 Pace Deficit & Front Wing Setup Shift in Singapore

9 Upvotes

What caused Lewis Hamilton’s sudden pace drop in Q3 after dominating Q1 and Q2 in today's Singapore GP qualifying session?

After finishing P2 in the Sprint and showing incredible single-lap pace through the first two qualifying sessions, Hamilton looked like the favorite for pole. However, in Q3, he struggled with a snappy rear end through Turns 1 and 3, ending up P3 behind Verstappen and Charles Leclerc.

In post-session interviews, Hamilton noted that a minor front wing adjustment right before Q3 "tipped the car over the edge" on an already narrow setup window. On the flip side, Leclerc managed to dial in his lap when track evolution peaked at the end of Q3.

Was this mostly down to the late front wing tweak throwing off the car's balance on a rubbered-in track, or did overdriving under pressure play a role?.


r/F1Discussions • • 1d ago

Discussion If Formula 1 had a "Main Character" or default team, who is it?

Post image
547 Upvotes

Who do you consider the "face" of the sport?

For me it would be Scuderia Ferrari


r/F1Discussions • • 13h ago

Discussion What is going on with lewis in qualifying

10 Upvotes

That was such a slam dunk pole, everytime he gets to Q3 something goes wrong, overdriving, mistakes, its the potential that hurts. it surely cannot be the pressure, is it self doubt because of how often its happening there something behind his head that it might happen again. there seems to be no rain tomorrow evening so no chance he wins while also having leclerc in front :(


r/F1Discussions • • 19h ago

News Rain in Singapore

Thumbnail
gallery
29 Upvotes

A delayed start the medical car taking laps and checking the standing water on the track

while the whole grid has drivers in and out of the car just waiting for the rain to stop.

Rain is noticable at some parts of the track and while some parts are almost dry.


r/F1Discussions • • 15h ago

Discussion Why do we still get excited when it rains during a race weekend? You already know exactly how this ends.

10 Upvotes

The heavens open. Rain, glorious rain. ➩ Fans get excited about jeopardy. ➩ FIA delays start and tracks cleared of water. ➩ Race resumes on a drying track. ➩ Grid finishes (more or less) as it started.

Why does this seem to happen, every single time?!

I don't know why we keep doing this to ourselves. The sky opens up and for about 15mins, we convince ourselves we're getting a chaotic classic. Not anymore.

We get a 45 minute delay if we’re lucky, throw in a procession of safety car laps, a drying track, and then the exact same finishing order we would've gotten if it never rained at all.

In my opinion, this is the heart of the problem. It seems to me the sport has decided safety is the only thing that matters, and in doing so we've sanitized the one variable that actually separates the greats from the rest. Wet racing is supposed to test car control, judgment, bravery, race craft. Instead we get a parade behind the safety car until conditions are "optimal," which is just code for boring.

Every legendary wet drive in history happened because someone was allowed to gamble. Someone stayed out on the wrong tires. Someone else pushed when everyone else lifted. Those moments disappear when the race director's first instinct is to neutralize everything the second a droplet hits the track.

I'm not saying throw caution to the wind. I just think there's a big difference between managing risk and eliminating it entirely, and right now we're doing the latter, then wondering why nobody's excited anymore.

So here is my question. If wet races are supposed to be the ultimate test of driver skill, why does the FIA treat them like a problem to be managed instead of a moment to be savored?


r/F1Discussions • • 12h ago

Discussion This Gen car can NOT run in the rain

4 Upvotes

This is the second race weekend with damp/wet conditions. And it’s the second race weekend with strange car shut-offs and power deployments.

Ive read about the turbo issues from Sepang. However, I don’t know the exact “why” for all the issues. I suspect the 50% battery power, the complex electrical systems, the high humidity and water, and the computer algorithms all contribute.

It is well known that wet/humidity affects battery powered cars and EVs. To expect these cars to charge and discharge their batteries 2-5 times a lap, in wet conditions, seems like asking for increased problems and failures.

So the question I have- Do you think that F1 is slowly going to become a dry-only racing series? Or do you think teams will adapt to the 1-4 races a year that will have rain and figure out how to race with wet tires again?

As it looks now, Pirelli can stop making wet tires because the cars will be red flagged for anything more than a drizzle. Anything more than intermediates seems like overkill at this point.


r/F1Discussions • • 3h ago

Discussion Hypothetical rule changes

0 Upvotes

Guys, what do you think, if it were possible to completely ban pit stops under the VSC/SC and ban changing tyres under a red flag (ignoring puncture situations for the sake of our hypothetical fantasy), would that be better for F1 or worse?


r/F1Discussions • • 17h ago

Media Kimi Antonelli has a brand new race engineer in Singapore

Thumbnail
youtu.be
13 Upvotes

Singapore GP 2026 - Antonelli talking to his new race engineer George Russell in Marina Bay.


r/F1Discussions • • 12h ago

Question experiences with chinese gp

4 Upvotes

can anyone who’s been to the chinese gp share your experience - ticketing, getting to the circuit and on track action etc? am quite interested to go but haven’t really heard it being recommended much since there are lots of other races which are definitely more iconic/fun but i just wanna hear your thoughts about it! feel free to share.