POINTS AFTER 18 RACES
In the ground-effect era, 🟠 McLaren went from 130 pts after 18 rounds in 2022 (less than Alpine!) to 650 in 2025 - biggest jump came in 2024. 📈
The 2022 “tractor” ⚫️Mercedes W13 remains the best-scoring ground-effect Merc. 😲
🔴 Ferrari has been inconsistent; 2025 is their worst ground-effect season. 🚨
🔵 Red Bull likewise: just 290 pts (down from 706 in 2023). Bottom reached? 👀
What's your 2026 prediction?
[ Made via @JMP_software ]
In the ground-effect era, 🟠 McLaren went from 130 pts after 18 rounds in 2022 (less than Alpine!) to 650 in 2025 - biggest jump came in 2024. 📈
The 2022 “tractor” ⚫️Mercedes W13 remains the best-scoring ground-effect Merc. 😲
🔴 Ferrari has been inconsistent; 2025 is their worst ground-effect season. 🚨
🔵 Red Bull likewise: just 290 pts (down from 706 in 2023). Bottom reached? 👀
What's your 2026 prediction?
[ Made via @JMP_software ]
❤10😢5👍3
US GP - Rear Wings
Medium to Medium-High rear wings in Austin - with some quirky choices!
🟠 McL: deep but narrow lower-plane spoon, focusing on the most efficient central section (compare with 🔴 Ferrari’s).
🔵 RBR & ⚫️ Merc: very cambered lower plane. Note the extreme leading-edge angle of attack! The central section extends forward and upward to increase load.
Least loaded wings?
RB (skinniest upper plane) & Williams (skinniest lower plane).
Less load = tougher time heating the C1 tyre!
📸 @AlbertFabrega
Medium to Medium-High rear wings in Austin - with some quirky choices!
🟠 McL: deep but narrow lower-plane spoon, focusing on the most efficient central section (compare with 🔴 Ferrari’s).
🔵 RBR & ⚫️ Merc: very cambered lower plane. Note the extreme leading-edge angle of attack! The central section extends forward and upward to increase load.
Least loaded wings?
RB (skinniest upper plane) & Williams (skinniest lower plane).
Less load = tougher time heating the C1 tyre!
📸 @AlbertFabrega
❤8🔥3
Formula Data Analysis
US GP - Rear Wings Medium to Medium-High rear wings in Austin - with some quirky choices! 🟠 McL: deep but narrow lower-plane spoon, focusing on the most efficient central section (compare with 🔴 Ferrari’s). 🔵 RBR & ⚫️ Merc: very cambered lower plane. Note…
Due to the high temperatures forecasted this weekend, running a less loaded wing won’t necessarily make the hard C1 tyre harder to heat up… instead, it might prevent overheating the softer C3 and C4!
❤6🔥2
US GP - PRACTICE 1 OVERVIEW
1) BEST SECTOR GAP:
ALO quickest in S1 (shorter straight, very fast snake). Next were HAM (very high PU mode, as shown by Federico Albano), and VER.
HUL quickest in S2 (which includes the longest straight), despite an unimpressive top speed.
McL next. Papaya drivers quickest in S3.
2) GAP TO BEST:
Best laptime per driver (tyre compound used shown inside parentheses).
1) BEST SECTOR GAP:
ALO quickest in S1 (shorter straight, very fast snake). Next were HAM (very high PU mode, as shown by Federico Albano), and VER.
HUL quickest in S2 (which includes the longest straight), despite an unimpressive top speed.
McL next. Papaya drivers quickest in S3.
2) GAP TO BEST:
Best laptime per driver (tyre compound used shown inside parentheses).
❤6
US GP - Sprint Qualifying | Aero Performance
💡 Interesting:
2nd (🟠 McL) and 3rd (🟢 Sauber) fastest in SQ had the worst top speed (324 km/h) ➡️ performance from high downforce.
🔵 Pole-sitter had the 2nd highest (327 km/h) ➡️ great drag/downforce balance.
Austin rewards diverse aero load levels!
From this POV:
🟢 Mercedes looked like a worse RBR;
🔴Ferrari like a less extreme (and worse) McL/Sauber(‼️).
⚪️ Haas = inefficient (high drag, no standout downforce).
Teams can change setups after the Sprint: I'll show you how this picture changes in Quali!
💡 Interesting:
2nd (🟠 McL) and 3rd (🟢 Sauber) fastest in SQ had the worst top speed (324 km/h) ➡️ performance from high downforce.
🔵 Pole-sitter had the 2nd highest (327 km/h) ➡️ great drag/downforce balance.
Austin rewards diverse aero load levels!
From this POV:
🟢 Mercedes looked like a worse RBR;
🔴Ferrari like a less extreme (and worse) McL/Sauber(‼️).
⚪️ Haas = inefficient (high drag, no standout downforce).
Teams can change setups after the Sprint: I'll show you how this picture changes in Quali!
❤14
UNITED STATES GP - SPRINT OVERVIEW 🏁
Start:
- VER quickest to 100 km/h, but OCO reached 200 km/h in the least time.
- Poor starts for both Astons; worst by SAI.
Top Speeds:
- ANT hit 340 km/h (slipstream + DRS).
- VER: 305 km/h (no DRS nor slipstream). Yet ALB managed 312 km/h in the same conditions!
Your race prediction? 👀
Start:
- VER quickest to 100 km/h, but OCO reached 200 km/h in the least time.
- Poor starts for both Astons; worst by SAI.
Top Speeds:
- ANT hit 340 km/h (slipstream + DRS).
- VER: 305 km/h (no DRS nor slipstream). Yet ALB managed 312 km/h in the same conditions!
Your race prediction? 👀
❤7👍1🔥1
US GP - RACE PACE 🏁
🟠 NOR was <0.1s/lap slower than VER on average; 🔵 VER was managing, yet NOR was stuck behind 🔴 LEC for long!
HAM was 0.18s/lap slower than LEC; PIA’s gap to NOR was over twice that!
Finally, a race where Ferrari could fight McL.
🟢 RUS won in Singapore’s heat, yet Merc was only 4th fastest in (hot) Austin.
Little pace from 🟡 Racing Bulls; none from 🟣 Alpine.
After the summer break, the quickest RBR (VER) has had a better race pace than the quickest McL.
VER has to recover 40 points in 5 weekends, or 8pts/weekend on average: hard but doable, considering his (and McL's, especially PIA's) current form!
🟠 NOR was <0.1s/lap slower than VER on average; 🔵 VER was managing, yet NOR was stuck behind 🔴 LEC for long!
HAM was 0.18s/lap slower than LEC; PIA’s gap to NOR was over twice that!
Finally, a race where Ferrari could fight McL.
🟢 RUS won in Singapore’s heat, yet Merc was only 4th fastest in (hot) Austin.
Little pace from 🟡 Racing Bulls; none from 🟣 Alpine.
After the summer break, the quickest RBR (VER) has had a better race pace than the quickest McL.
VER has to recover 40 points in 5 weekends, or 8pts/weekend on average: hard but doable, considering his (and McL's, especially PIA's) current form!
🔥15❤3👍1
Formula Data Analysis
US GP - RACE PACE 🏁 🟠 NOR was <0.1s/lap slower than VER on average; 🔵 VER was managing, yet NOR was stuck behind 🔴 LEC for long! HAM was 0.18s/lap slower than LEC; PIA’s gap to NOR was over twice that! Finally, a race where Ferrari could fight McL. 🟢 RUS…
Race pace last year, when Ferrari was quickest, clearly in front of McL and VER.
Mercedes struggled last year; this year's improvement was far from enough to fight for a podium.
Mercedes struggled last year; this year's improvement was far from enough to fight for a podium.
❤12🔥1
UNITED STATES GP - TOP SPEED PER LAP VS TOP SPEEDS IN QUALIFYING
💡In an F1 race, drag does not dictate which car reaches the highest top speed - the intensity of the slipstream does!
🟠NOR: LOWEST top speed in quali (highest drag), yet HIGHEST AVERAGE top speed in the race (stuck behind LEC!).
🟢 STR hit 342 km/h, +19 km/h vs quali, where he was only 12th in the speed traps!
💡In an F1 race, drag does not dictate which car reaches the highest top speed - the intensity of the slipstream does!
🟠NOR: LOWEST top speed in quali (highest drag), yet HIGHEST AVERAGE top speed in the race (stuck behind LEC!).
🟢 STR hit 342 km/h, +19 km/h vs quali, where he was only 12th in the speed traps!
🔥6❤3👍1
Formula Data Analysis
UNITED STATES GP - TOP SPEED PER LAP VS TOP SPEEDS IN QUALIFYING 💡In an F1 race, drag does not dictate which car reaches the highest top speed - the intensity of the slipstream does! 🟠NOR: LOWEST top speed in quali (highest drag), yet HIGHEST AVERAGE top…
Top speeds in quali, which are much better suited to assess which cars ran the most drag as the conditions (DRS + slipstream) are equivalent across the grid.
👍7❤3
MEXICO CITY GP | TYRES & TRACK PREVIEW
🇲🇽 Mexico’s 2285m altitude cuts air density by 20.7% vs sea level ➡️ analogous drop in downforce, drag, cooling, and engine air intake!
Keys to performance:
✅ Being able to bolt on downforce (efficiently if possible);
✅ Strong cooling capability;
✅ Large turbocharger, which can spin faster to burn the 100kg/h fuel flow.
Teams will run Monaco-like wings… yet reach speeds above Monza’s!
Compounds: C2 / C4 / C5.
McLaren’s main weakness (high drag) will matter less here!
🇲🇽 Mexico’s 2285m altitude cuts air density by 20.7% vs sea level ➡️ analogous drop in downforce, drag, cooling, and engine air intake!
Keys to performance:
✅ Being able to bolt on downforce (efficiently if possible);
✅ Strong cooling capability;
✅ Large turbocharger, which can spin faster to burn the 100kg/h fuel flow.
Teams will run Monaco-like wings… yet reach speeds above Monza’s!
Compounds: C2 / C4 / C5.
McLaren’s main weakness (high drag) will matter less here!
❤11🔥4👍1
MEXICO CITY GP - RACE | RACE PACE ANALYSIS
NOR was quickest… despite using one less tyre set than most! 😳
🟠 PIA lost 0.15s/lap despite pitting twice.
⚪️ BEA was 3rd fastest, but not quick enough
vs 🔵VER /🔴 LEC to offset the extra stop.
Soft-Medium
1) NOR quickest
2) VER +0.30s/lap
3) LEC +0.38
Soft-Medium-Soft
1) PIA +0.15s/lap vs NOR
2-3) BEA/HAM +0.19
4) ANT +0.23
5) RUS +0.30
Alpine slowest by far… no surprise!
NOR was quickest… despite using one less tyre set than most! 😳
🟠 PIA lost 0.15s/lap despite pitting twice.
⚪️ BEA was 3rd fastest, but not quick enough
vs 🔵VER /🔴 LEC to offset the extra stop.
Soft-Medium
1) NOR quickest
2) VER +0.30s/lap
3) LEC +0.38
Soft-Medium-Soft
1) PIA +0.15s/lap vs NOR
2-3) BEA/HAM +0.19
4) ANT +0.23
5) RUS +0.30
Alpine slowest by far… no surprise!
❤13👍2🔥1
Formula Data Analysis
MEXICO CITY GP - PRACTICE 2 | LONG RUNS Norris’ quali advantage looks to be confirmed in the race as well: he was quickest, the only top driver to use softs along with his teammate! Still, not quickest overall: BEA’s stint on Mediums was even quicker!
MEXICO CITY GP - RACE
MEXICO’S MOST COMPREHENSIVE PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS
⛽️Fuel-corrected laptimes vs 🛞tyre age
Mediums or softs, fresh or worn - it didn’t matter: NOR had a huge ~0.4s advantage all else being equal!
Only exception: end of the soft stint, when VER and SAI were quickest!
LEC was 2nd fastest on mediums, with excellent wear; his wear was instead severe on softs.
Answering this before it gets asked:
'Why did your race pace analysis show that BEA had better pace than LEC on average, yet this new graph shows that he was slower?'
Because BEA did one more stop than LEC: on equally-worn tyres, BEA was indeed slower. However, he had, ON AVERAGE, less-worn tyres, so he was quicker on average (still not enough to offset the extra stop)!
The same applies to the other one- vs two-stopper comparisons.
Made via @JMP_software
MEXICO’S MOST COMPREHENSIVE PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS
⛽️Fuel-corrected laptimes vs 🛞tyre age
Mediums or softs, fresh or worn - it didn’t matter: NOR had a huge ~0.4s advantage all else being equal!
Only exception: end of the soft stint, when VER and SAI were quickest!
LEC was 2nd fastest on mediums, with excellent wear; his wear was instead severe on softs.
Answering this before it gets asked:
'Why did your race pace analysis show that BEA had better pace than LEC on average, yet this new graph shows that he was slower?'
Because BEA did one more stop than LEC: on equally-worn tyres, BEA was indeed slower. However, he had, ON AVERAGE, less-worn tyres, so he was quicker on average (still not enough to offset the extra stop)!
The same applies to the other one- vs two-stopper comparisons.
Made via @JMP_software
❤7
MEXICO CITY GP - RACE | PIA vs BEA Pace
🟠 Piastri’s race was ruined by traffic: was P9 after a poor quali and bad start, and only ran in free air during parts of the last stint!
In my view, a one-stopper would have helped, letting him pass those ahead (all on two stops) as they pitted.
🟠 BEA had the 2nd-best pace in his final stint, behind only PIA (though NOR, LEC, and VER had much more worn tyres by then).
PIA's was indeed slower than NOR, but his potential pace was way closer than it looked like. 😉
🟠 Piastri’s race was ruined by traffic: was P9 after a poor quali and bad start, and only ran in free air during parts of the last stint!
In my view, a one-stopper would have helped, letting him pass those ahead (all on two stops) as they pitted.
🟠 BEA had the 2nd-best pace in his final stint, behind only PIA (though NOR, LEC, and VER had much more worn tyres by then).
PIA's was indeed slower than NOR, but his potential pace was way closer than it looked like. 😉
👍4❤2
MEXICO CITY GP - QUALIFYING: DRS EFFECTIVENESS
So… I discovered something while digging through some old code of mine...
Remember 🔵 Red Bull's 'godly' DRS from 2023? It's back!
In Mexico it reduced drag by an estimated 34.7%! ✅
Others:
🟢 Merc: 34.0% ✅
🟠 McL: 27.1%
🔴 Ferrari: 21.4% ❌
In Austin? Same trend! (lower values due to less loaded wings):
🔵 RBR: 29.3%✅
🟢 Merc: 26.7%
🔴 Ferrari: 21.9%❌
🟠 McL: 21.5%❌
McL’s deficit makes it harder for its drivers to battle on track, which favours VER.
The proof is in the first comment.
👇
So… I discovered something while digging through some old code of mine...
Remember 🔵 Red Bull's 'godly' DRS from 2023? It's back!
In Mexico it reduced drag by an estimated 34.7%! ✅
Others:
🟢 Merc: 34.0% ✅
🟠 McL: 27.1%
🔴 Ferrari: 21.4% ❌
In Austin? Same trend! (lower values due to less loaded wings):
🔵 RBR: 29.3%✅
🟢 Merc: 26.7%
🔴 Ferrari: 21.9%❌
🟠 McL: 21.5%❌
McL’s deficit makes it harder for its drivers to battle on track, which favours VER.
The proof is in the first comment.
👇
🔥9🥰1🤯1
Formula Data Analysis
MEXICO CITY GP - QUALIFYING: DRS EFFECTIVENESS So… I discovered something while digging through some old code of mine... Remember 🔵 Red Bull's 'godly' DRS from 2023? It's back! In Mexico it reduced drag by an estimated 34.7%! ✅ Others: 🟢 Merc: 34.0% ✅…
I performed a nonlinear regression using a simplified model of longitudinal dynamics:
P = m*v*a + 0.5*CxA*ρ^v^3
So:
P = (m*a+k*v2)*v
P = m*v*a + k^v^3
Engine power P and car mass m don’t change with DRS
I estimated k twice: first using instants without DRS, then with DRS (in quali→no tow).
Results are robust, as both teammates showed similar values (e.g. 21.4% for LEC and 21.9% for HAM).
Repost this if you found it interesting!
P = m*v*a + 0.5*CxA*ρ^v^3
So:
P = (m*a+k*v2)*v
P = m*v*a + k^v^3
Engine power P and car mass m don’t change with DRS
I estimated k twice: first using instants without DRS, then with DRS (in quali→no tow).
Results are robust, as both teammates showed similar values (e.g. 21.4% for LEC and 21.9% for HAM).
Repost this if you found it interesting!
🔥18✍2
What’s going on with Alpine? 🤔
In Mexico, every team went quicker in quali than last year - except for Alpine, which was 0.654s SLOWER!
Gasly said he was satisfied with the progress from Friday to Saturday… yet he qualified 18th (8th last year).
The team claims it’s focused on 2026, but so are most others... and that shouldn’t make them SLOWER than last year.
Underpowered engine, poor low-speed performance… they’ve only scored points at four tracks so far, mainly those demanding high aero efficiency: Bahrain, Catalunya, Silverstone, Spa.
They currently sit dead last in the WCC, their worst showing since 1978!
What's your take? 👀
Made via @JMP_software
In Mexico, every team went quicker in quali than last year - except for Alpine, which was 0.654s SLOWER!
Gasly said he was satisfied with the progress from Friday to Saturday… yet he qualified 18th (8th last year).
The team claims it’s focused on 2026, but so are most others... and that shouldn’t make them SLOWER than last year.
Underpowered engine, poor low-speed performance… they’ve only scored points at four tracks so far, mainly those demanding high aero efficiency: Bahrain, Catalunya, Silverstone, Spa.
They currently sit dead last in the WCC, their worst showing since 1978!
What's your take? 👀
Made via @JMP_software
🤔7❤4