The Racing Thread

[Topkick]

running in dirty air kills the tires

In most forms of racing, the cars are now nearly identical. Tire and fuel management, coupled with driver intelligence wins races.

 

[AWP]

In most forms of racing, the cars are now nearly identical. Tire and fuel management, coupled with driver intelligence wins races.

F1 has had some great disparity in aero. Mercedes nail the first turbo-hybrid in..2014? but the others caught up after a few years. Aero however is the real sticking point these days with limited tunnel and CFD time.

Modern F1 cars look the same, but if you scrutinize still photos you can really see the differences in the side pods.

Ironically, Red Bull in the ground effect era (which just ended) had the most dominate car in 2023 until Checo crashed (Monaco?) and the crane lifted the car high enough everyone saw the underside. After that teams brought aero packages which closed the gap and led to McLaren's two-peat in the WCC.

 

[Topkick]

F1 has had some great disparity in aero

I'm pleasantly surprised to hear this. In NASCAR and a lot of other forms, a template is used to check cars to ensure no disparity. Hell, I think NASCAR even has a template for the drivers now, and its part of the problem.

 

[AWP]

I'm pleasantly surprised to hear this. In NASCAR and a lot of other forms, a template is used to check cars to ensure no disparity. Hell, I think NASCAR even has a template for the drivers now, and its part of the problem.

Odd trivia for you. In the 80's cars were weighed and met a limit but drivers were not. A guy like Alain Prost who was 10-20 pounds lighter than other drivers had a .1 - .3 advantage before they even took to the track. That's why today you see drivers weighing in as soon as they step out of the car because the weight limit today is driver+car. The cars to "scrutineering" and that weight is combined with a ticket provided to the drivers after they weigh in.

Just a very, very trivial example of individual designs, all from 2025 cars where even the endplates are different. NASCAR's running spec, F1 has tech adopted by NASA and SpaceX. SpaceX even poached some engineers awhile back.

 

[BloodStripe]

You're embarrassing yourself.

I love it when Mommy and Daddy fight.

 

[AWP]

The new Red Bull livery is kind of awesome. Same, same, but different. In gloss(!) and the blue has some "texture" to it kind of like a digital camo pattern.
The launch event* for the cars and the new engine collab with Ford was a bit odd, especially the VR engine reveal and explanation, but also kind of cool. RB knows how to produce promo videos and events and last night was no exception.

* - Yes, I am that bored during the off season where I'll watch livery reveals and hype events.

 

[GOTWA]

Gives off Ford GT vibes with that color blue. I like it.

In other news, I totally missed the opening of Supercross last week.

 

[AWP]

- Looks like the higher compression engines from Merc and RB are here to stay for now.

- I don’t care what anyone says, the new liveries look great; no one cares about Alpine.

-Ferrari has a car?!?!?!!! You’d have thought Christ returned yesterday…

 

[GOTWA]

I'm just glad we're headed into the new season. No more wondering if last year was a sacrifice for a lot of the teams focusing on 2026. Now we can get back to full effort from everyone. I'm excited for the new teams coming in and looking to the drama that unfolds with them. DTS 25 hopefully provides some nice behind the scenes with Audi and Cadi making their way to the grid.

 

[Ooh-Rah]

I kind of sort of get this, but figure some of you will find this a lot funnier…

 

[Topkick]

Indy cars racing through the streets of DC is going to be wild.

 

[Topkick]

Indy cars racing through the streets of DC is going to be wild.

The race is free to everyone. It's part of Americas 250th birthday celebration and apparently you'll be able to find a spot and just set up a lawn chair. I'm sure it won't be that simple, but according to Roger Penske, the event is going to be televised on FOX.

 

[AWP]

A couple of people in the Epstein drop are Brian Vickers (no surprise there) and Lawrence and Claire Stroll lamenting how they missed digging for treasure on Epstein's island.
---
Anyway, Cadillac released some promo videos with their driver's uniforms. Back w/ white trim. I really hoped they'd have some color in there.

33 days left.

 

[AWP]

Some of you will get this.

 

[AWP]

I'll catch shit for this, but I like Cadillac's livery. I'd prefer more color, but Reddit hates it so that makes me like it even more.

They will turn the paddock into an English soccer stadium the first time the team makes it out of Q1.

 

[Blizzard]

I'll catch shit for this, but I like Cadillac's livery. I'd prefer more color, but Reddit hates it so that makes me like it even more.

They will turn the paddock into an English soccer stadium the first time the team makes it out of Q1.

It is bland, but maybe that will make it stick out more. ...and if Reddit hates it, then they probably got it right.

 

[AWP]

It is bland, but maybe that will make it stick out more. ...and if Reddit hates it, then they probably got it right.

Tacking on some yellow like the WEC car would be a nice touch and make it stand out. When they introduced the merch last week or so it was black/ white with USA/Tommy Hilfiger red, white, and blue accents. We could see this being all white and black coming from a mile away.

 

[AWP]

- It increasingly feels like F1's 2026 power unit shuffle (net zero by 2030!!!!! Save the planet!!!!!) is going to be a shit show. Those practice starts are hideous.
- Honda has probably delivered a dog and Red Bull probably has the best straight line speed. Also, Red Bull's chief engineer quit over the weekend.
- Drivers hate the new engines and battery management requirements.
- Fuck Lando Norris.
- Pulling Spa from the yearly schedule is a mistake. Good financial choice? Eh. Good racing choice? Not at all.
---
Daytona 500...I hate the series, but the people screaming about the ending on social media is kind of staggering. Was it that bad, @Topkick and @SpongeBob*24 or was it the normal "everybody crashes and the survivor wins" nonsense? Michael Jordan molesting that 6 YO on national TV though...kind of wild.

Also, fuck Lando Norris.

To close this out, Bathurst everyone.

 

[Topkick]

Was it that bad, @Topkick

I'm increasingly bored with the stage racing, but Tyler Reddick pulled off a Dale Sr. type move to win, so the end was pretty wild.

 

[SpongeBob*24]

In reference to Daytona crash, yeah late restarts usually end just like that. Maybe one car crossing the line going the right way, everyone else on fire!

I don't understand why anyone would be complaining, its life on a super speedway. Drivers go fast, try to block, miss judge or just simply act dumb....and it may work or your car may be in 50 pieces.

I'm not tracking the Jordan thing. I don't watch the races on TV anymore.