Verstappen: "As a pure driver, I enjoy driving flat out, and at the moment, you cannot drive like that."

He was right, look at Turn 12: LEC and NOR were full-gas for ~300m, yet their cars couldn't exceed 240km/h! 😳

2026 F1 Rules allow the ERS to generate NEGATIVE power (recharge battery) when the driver is full-gas, up to -250kW. As the ICE power is ~400kW, the resulting power is as little as 400-250=150 kW... about half that of a Formula 3! ⚠️

The driver is full throttle, yet it's the software that decides whether power should be 200hp (240km/h in T12) or 1000hp (330km/h on the main straight), or something in between: the engineers have more control on the instantaneous power than the driver!

Therefore, LEC and NOR didn't have to lift in T12, as the power was controlled electronically there.

[...]

Compared to 🟧NOR, 🟥LEC:
- 🟡 Had more deployment on the main straight 🔋(gaining 0.2s) but 🟢 less at lap-end. 🪫
- 🔵 Braker later, losing on exit.
- ⚪️ Lifted way less in T6-7, due to better downforce and/or confidence.

What's your opinion?

Alonso then made this comment which confirms my analysis:

I've analysed the telemetry of ALL 3,716 laps made during the F1 Bahrain test, looking for the highest top speeds - here are the results!

PU averages:
1) RBPT ✅
2) Ferrari -5.8 km/h 👌
3) Mercedes -7.5
4) Audi -13.5 ⚠️
5) Honda -15.5 ❌

- VER reached 344 km/h on Day 1, and no one has beaten it since!
- The 2 fastest cars have an RBPT engine.
- Ferrari was 7km/h faster than Cadillac; Mercedes 6km/h faster than Alpine.
- Honda struggled the most, yet improved day after day (303→318→326). They are running a detuned mode to safeguard the PU. Audi's lack of top speed seems genuine, though.

No team is running full-power yet. Still, RBPT's PU is looking strong, while Audi's and Honda's gap looks due to more than just a different PU setting.

What's your prediction?

If you are a content creator or journalist, remember you are always welcome to use my content... for free! 😁

This analysis is me putting my new gaming laptop to good use... 🔥

⚠️Getting the deployment strategy right will be a huge performance differentiator this year...

TOP (Vertical axis) VS AVERAGE SPEED (Laptime, Horizontal) IN EACH TEAM'S BEST LAP

Cadillac reached 343 km/h on the main straight; Aston? Just 317. Yet, things are not looking that bad for Aston: power was actually decent for most of the lap, except for the main straight.

They were as quick as Cadillac out of T3, T10, and faster out of T13 and T15! For both, speed in T12 was limited by the engine, and Aston decided to deploy more there.

The top 3 laps (RUS, PIA, LEC) all had a moderate speed on the main straight. Still huge differences deployment-wise: Ferrari deployed the least out of T3 and in T12, and the most out of T13!

Audi, which had very low top speeds in the past test, has finally tested a higher-deployment mode.

Each team's 15 highest top speeds reached on Wednesday

BOR was fastest on average (330km/h), and even reached 342km/h on one lap. No driver got close; OCO (2nd highest) reached 'just' 325km/h.

Slowest drivers on average were ALO (314km/h), PER (312), and STR (308km/h).

Ferrari’s “Rotating Wing” is the wildest concept since DAS - Here's how it works!

🔴 Corner-Mode (Traditional): Max downforce, moderate drag.

🟢 Parachute-Mode (90°): downforce drops to ~0, drag skyrockets, possibly helping slow the car at the start of braking (🔵 Straight → 🔴 Corner) when speed and drag are highest.

🔵 Straight-Mode (180°): wing faces the OPPOSITE direction. With a cambered flap, this minimises drag… and even generates lift!

Ferrari tailored the rear end to exploit this:
- Highly cambered wing profiles → rotation massively reduces drag.
- Exaust deflector→ gases hit the wing’s lower side, boosting downforce in 🔴 Corner Mode and helping cancel drag in 🔵 Straight Mode.

Possible effects:
✅ Less drag in Straight-Mode
✅ Higher drag at braking start
✅ Reduced rolling resistance on straights
⚠️ Less stable initial braking?
⚠️ Higher tyre wear on straights?

[ Images: @dr_obbs / @KyleEngineers / @Motor_Sport ]

Only time will tell, but things like this and DAS are what make F1 what it is! 😃

About why this could generate more tyre wear on the straights: the answer is ‘more friction power’.

Friction power = longitudinal force * sliding speed.

The lower the force that pushes the tyre onto the ground, the more the tyre slides longitudinally as it generates the same longitudinal force.

Lift decreases this force, making the Tyre slide more.

Length of 8th Gear per Team and PU

Rules allow max fuel flow starting from 10500rpm --> peak power around here as friction increases above that.

At 10500rpm, McL is travelling at just 288 km/h... Audi? 319km/h!

Possible implications of this 31km/h (10%!) difference:
- McL expects a low top speed due to high drag in Straight Mode and/or plans little deployment at high speed. Additionally, the Mercedes engine might remain close to its peak power well above 10500rpm.
- Audi expects a high top speed, its PU loses a lot of power above 10500, and plans to have a more balanced ERS deployment between medium and high speeds. Due to the very long gear, they'll likely have to downshift at full throttle once the clipping starts!

The three Ferrari-Powered teams share the same ratio. Same for Red Bull/Racing Bulls, and Alpine/Williams.

F1 teams are allowed to change ratios just once throughout the season.

[Calculation approach: median (rpm/speed) ratio using all the laps from Day 3]

💡Who started best in Bahrain?
Each driver's median 0-200km/h time using ALL the starts from the last F1 test!

- RUS was quickest: 5.30s, very close to last gen cars!
- 🟥 LEC and 🟧 PIA almost matched him.
- RBPT-powered drivers were quick. Instead, Cadillac and Audi struggled ⚠️

ALL the data in the first comment. Two main points:
- 🟩 Aston did just ONE proper launch to 200km/h (which wasn't bad).
- 🟦 VER made one crazy-quick launch: just 4.36s to 200km/h! He launched from the pit lane, revving to 11000rpm for some time, then dropped to 5000rpm and was slighshot forwards.

Raw data by @FormulaGhostLap
🤝

Made via @JMP_software

ALL THE STARTS (each dot = one start)

ANT and VER produced some of the quickest launches, but lacked the consistency of the top three. LEC, in particular, had a good start performance almost every time. GAS was quick!

'Straight Mode' reduces drag by ~1/5, according to a CFD simulation I requested from @MayaSimulation!

Key points:
- Downforce is more affected (-31%) than drag (-21%).
- Rear wing drag reduces massively (-70%); next up is Front wing (-43%).
- Tyres (Front and Rear Corner) produce most of the drag. They also produce lift, like the chassis!
- The floor produces ~47% of the car's downforce in Corner Mode, and ~76% (!!) in Straight Mode.
- The wake stays much closer to the car in Straight Mode. This makes drag reduction come from the wheels, chassis, and floor, too!

[The F1 model is not optimised, as shown by the high 0.715 CdA in Straight Mode. Teams can find ways to go below 0.6 ;)]

Simulation by: Maya HTT
[https://x.com/MayaSimulation]

I'M HOSTING AN F1 FANTASY LEAGUE! 🚗

I will use the official 'F1 Fantasy' platform. League name: 'Formula Data Analysis'

2 ways to join:
-Link: https://fantasy.formula1.com/en/leagues/join/P3WOBNM0E09
-League Code: P3WOBNM0E09

Beat your friends through my analyses; may the best Performance Engineer win! 🏆

Ferrari’s rotating rear wing could cut drag by a further 7%, worth 5-8 km/h on fast tracks 💡

Rear-wing CdA (drag) drops by 'just' 0.010. But the effect propagates upstream:
• Rear tyres: –0.024 CdA (!!)
• Chassis: –0.014 CdA

CFD by @MayaSimulation shows every component either sees reduced drag or remains unchanged... and that’s with a generic wing profile! Ferrari has shaped the rear end specifically to maximise this concept.

This could be a critical advantage!

AUSTRALIAN GP - PRACTICE 2 DATA ANALYSIS 📊

Best Sector Gap

Three different teams set purple sectors: McL (PIA) in S1, Ferrari (LEC) in S2, and Mercedes (ANT) in S3.

Quali will be close!

LIN was very quick in S2; VER is losing significant time in the first and last sector.

Aston lost well over 2s in the last sector alone!

Was the case in the test, it’s happening again now: the QUICKEST laps were made with a LOWER top speed!

💡Possible explanations:
- Theory suggests deploying as much as possible as early as possible, then reduce electric energy (Better performance, but lower top speed).
- The quicker a team is (e.g. McL), the larger the incentive to sandbag.

Both are happening, imho...

Mercedes has the best F1 PU - Period

No PU got close to it from T3 to T13. RBPT, the other PU of the 'Compression ratio' saga, is 2nd best.

Audi did produce a good PU, unlike Honda.

Beware of Ferrari: the team had battery software issues in Q2 and Q3, but BEA (the next quickest Ferrari-powered driver) had the least clipping!

Clipping is massive: cars lose ~50km/h ***on full throttle***!

Ferrari needs the rotating rear wing to work (and wait for the 1st June updated PU testing procedures) to fight on the straights. Their downforce is encouraging: look at the speed in the fast T6!

Losing ~50km/h AT FULL THROTTLE cannot be what F1 is about… especially in qualifying!

This PU-ruleset will be a disaster, and a clear downgrade compared to the previous one.

[Data: Considering each PU's quickest lap]