They test the fuel in every car post race. They must have 1 L in the tank for inspection or be disqualified. Happened to Seabass in 2021

ESPN.com

Sebastian Vettel disqualified from Hungarian GP for insuf...

Sebastian Vettel has been stripped of second place at the Hungarian Grand Prix and disqualified from the result after his car did not have enough fuel to offer a sample to the FIA after the race.

*unclear if all cars tested or just the podium finishers

Edited February 4Feb 4 by ChickenSandwich

2 hours ago, otisdog said:

How does the ability to modify the fuel at the track not result in an unfair advantage? Is the FIA monitoring / testing every iteration that they take the track with? Seems vary strange that a team would be allowed a monopoly on the fuel that they use.

They all have fuel suppliers and afaik they all do it.

Mercedes PUs: Mercedes, McLaren, Williams, Alpine. Fuel: Petronas

Ferrari PUs: Ferrari, Haas, Cadillac. Fuel: Shell

Honda PU: Aston Martin. Fuel: Aramco

Red Bull Ford PUs: Red Bull, Racing Bulls. Fuel: ExxonMobil

Audi PU: Audi. Fuel: Castrol

Re: the fuel, here's an excerpt from a long interview of Adrian Newey from AM the other day. Really good interview. I recommend the whole thing. He talks about the new wind tunnel, AI, and all sorts of other things. He also mentioned that the car in Melbourne will be very different from what we saw in Barcelona, and the car at the end of the season will be very different from that as well. If anyone tells you they know what the pecking order is right now, tell them to fuck off. They don't know.

UNDERCUT | Adrian Newey wants you to keep an open mind

Adrian Newey discusses a busy 10 months for Aston Martin Aramco, the philosophy behind our 2026 F1 car, and why Team Principal is just a title.

"One of the key aspects of this year's regulations is the new power units, and with that comes the move to using fully sustainable fuel for the first time in Formula One. Aramco are absolutely pivotal for us here because of how they develop fuel, as are Valvoline, which is developing the oil, to suit the work Honda is doing and are a big part of a very complicated, but very important, equation.

"Without having a technical partner and fuel supplier with Aramco's expertise, Honda's development of the power unit would be restricted and that, in turn, would restrict us. The work Aramco are doing is going to stand us in very good stead."

Aramco are absolutely all-in on this project, aren't they?

"Becoming a technical supplier of ours has been a big change for Aramco."

How so?

"They’ve had to reorganise. They've had to expand their facilities in certain areas to suit what is a very specific challenge: developing a fuel for a Formula One team. They are already experienced in this area as supplier low-carbon fuels to other formulas, such as F2, F3 and F1 ACADEMY, but of course, Formula One being what it is, we want to take their knowledge and expertise much further. They are developing very specific fuels to suit the Honda engine and our needs."

Does the same apply to Valvoline in terms of the lubricants they're developing for us?

"It's a similar story with the engine oil. Efficiency is one of the big drives of this new formula and is a real source of performance, efficiency from the fuel, and also the lubricants."

F1 TV app now available to link with Apple TV account

You can now access F1 TV with your Apple TV account, here's how to set it up - 9to5Mac

23 minutes ago, ChickenSandwich said:

F1 TV app now available to link with Apple TV account

You can now access F1 TV with your Apple TV account, here's how to set it up - 9to5Mac

So for those of us who currently have F1TV but no Apple TV, it seems like it makes sense to cancel F1TV before it renews and just sign up for Apple TV, right? Do we still have to pay separately for F1TV or is it rolled into Apple TV sub?

Rolled in from what i understand.

Creat an F1 account (sounds like you have one) then click the link to link to your apple account. Then once signed in on your phone, add app to apple tv/roku etc and use qr to log in from phone and automatically link to F1TV premium account. Was very easy

Edited February 5Feb 5 by ChickenSandwich

Thanks, it was pretty painless.

I'm excited to see what Aston does....well, what Alonso does in his Aston...

Newey has stuck these vanes on the intake and they're supposed to smooth the air coming off the driver/cockpit before it hits the rear wing. Will be interesting to see how well that works/doesn't work and if they keep them all season.

He used them on the 2005 McLaren too.

Yup, but not since then. Curious about them coming back.

Would love to see the Aston and Alonso up in the mix.

If you have T-Mobile, they offer AppleTV for $3/mo., which is a nice discount from the $12.99 street price.

Zak Brown not giving up on getting Fernando back in an Indy 500 seat.

Zak Brown “would love” Indy 500 reunion with Fernando Alonso

The two-time Formula 1 world champion hasn't raced in the Indianapolis 500 since 2020

On 2/4/2026 at 3:38 PM, wood said:

Re: the fuel, here's an excerpt from a long interview of Adrian Newey from AM the other day. Really good interview. I recommend the whole thing. He talks about the new wind tunnel, AI, and all sorts of other things. He also mentioned that the car in Melbourne will be very different from what we saw in Barcelona, and the car at the end of the season will be very different from that as well. If anyone tells you they know what the pecking order is right now, tell them to fuck off. They don't know.

UNDERCUT | Adrian Newey wants you to keep an open mind

Adrian Newey discusses a busy 10 months for Aston Martin Aramco, the philosophy behind our 2026 F1 car, and why Team Principal is just a title.

Amazing that they are 4 weeks behind in development and AM rolled out the car they did in Barcelona.

5 hours ago, ChickenSandwich said:

Rolled in from what i understand.

Creat an F1 account (sounds like you have one) then click the link to link to your apple account. Then once signed in on your phone, add app to apple tv/roku etc and use qr to log in from phone and automatically link to F1TV premium account. Was very easy

Thanks. Just did it.

In other news ...I f you thought the buildup show was already too much…

‘APPLE OUTLINES PLAN TO EXTEND F1 RACE COVERAGE INTO WEEK-LONG EXPERIENCE’ https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/apple-outlines-plan-to-extend-f1-race-coverage-into-week-long-experience/10791584/

Edited February 6Feb 6 by wood

A lot of reports coming out that RBR is now joining all the other teams saying the Merc PU compression ratio violates the rules and reports are the FIA is considering a new test by Australia that will account for dynamic scenarios, i.e. the compression ratio must be 16:1 at all times, not just during a static test. It'll be interesting to see if the FIA really implements the new test that quickly and if the new test will actually capture what Merc is doing. This is not an easy thing to design a test for and accurately capture. I did expect this was coming when Toto fired off in the media at all the other engine manufacturers. He doesn't usually say stuff like that unless he knows he's already lost the battle.

IMO, what Merc is doing is illegal, it's just that the FIA test wasn't going to catch it under their current testing, so it was technically legal under those testing parameters. IMO the rule is pretty clear it must be 16:1 at all times and that rule was written back in 22 or 23. The FIA didn't clarify what the test would be until last year. So if Merc designed for a loophole based on the limitations of the test and the FIA now updates the test, it's tough luck for Merc. That's a risk you take when you spend resources taking advantage of a loophole: it might get closed at some point. Merc also may not need this. They could still have the best PU and car even at the 16:1 ratio.

I am surprised the FIA is changing the test this quickly., but they usually only move quickly when all teams are united against something. I thought this might not get sorted until second half of the season or even all the way to 27.

Edited February 6Feb 6 by Burt Macklin

I don't fault them for trying, but I expected the advantage to stick for this year. I wonder if they will have any issues getting the engine compliant this quick? Germans loves plans, so I assume Toto probably had one in case this happened.

10 hours ago, Burt Macklin said:

A lot of reports coming out that RBR is now joining all the other teams saying the Merc PU compression ratio violates the rules and reports are the FIA is considering a new test by Australia that will account for dynamic scenarios, i.e. the compression ratio must be 16:1 at all times, not just during a static test. It'll be interesting to see if the FIA really implements the new test that quickly and if the new test will actually capture what Merc is doing. This is not an easy thing to design a test for and accurately capture. I did expect this was coming when Toto fired off in the media at all the other engine manufacturers. He doesn't usually say stuff like that unless he knows he's already lost the battle.

IMO, what Merc is doing is illegal, it's just that the FIA test wasn't going to catch it under their current testing, so it was technically legal under those testing parameters. IMO the rule is pretty clear it must be 16:1 at all times and that rule was written back in 22 or 23. The FIA didn't clarify what the test would be until last year. So if Merc designed for a loophole based on the limitations of the test and the FIA now updates the test, it's tough luck for Merc. That's a risk you take when you spend resources taking advantage of a loophole: it might get closed at some point. Merc also may not need this. They could still have the best PU and car even at the 16:1 ratio.

I am surprised the FIA is changing the test this quickly., but they usually only move quickly when all teams are united against something. I thought this might not get sorted until second half of the season or even all the way to 27.

How do you enforce a rule if you can't prove whether someone has violated that rule or not?

4 hours ago, PGFrog said:

How do you enforce a rule if you can't prove whether someone has violated that rule or not?

That would be where the new test comes in.

• 
• Cadillac F1 Updates @F1Caddy

🚨 Cadillac’s livery reveal will air in the Super Bowl’s 4th quarter, and will be jointly promoted by Apple. 🚨

• 2:39 PM · Feb 6, 2026

12 hours ago, wood said:

That would be where the new test comes in.

This isn't Merc finding an engineering loop hole like they did with DAS nor is this akin to Ferrari cheating by harvesting battery power in a way that was known to be against the rules.

This doesn't involve one team or is a simple fix. A decision to change the Merc PU before or during the season impacts not just Merc but McLaren, Alpine and Williams .

Merc found a loophole AND it seems they were able to make it work, but this advantage isn't kept solely to the Merc team, we still don't know the impact of the fuels, don't know the impact of the increased dependence on the batteries (which Merc has dumped billions into new battery technology) , nor the new active aeros so before we start killing things off why doesn't the FIA let teams actually race and see how things play out.

Or just mandate everyone has to be the same like Nascar and kill off any semblance to the F1 of old.

The new PU's are nothing more than an over the top attempt at virtue signaling by F1 and I will believe they even have thought about how many impacts climate change when they force team principals and drivers to travel on the same private plane to races and they put a carbon tax on yachts that exceed certain limits at Monaco.

Hell, GM and Ford are both getting out to the EV business and most of Europe heats with Russian crude, but changing the PU's for the reasons they did made perfect sense.

8 minutes ago, PGFrog said:

This isn't Merc finding an engineering loop hole like they did with DAS nor is this akin to Ferrari cheating by harvesting battery power in a way that was known to be against the rules.

This doesn't involve one team or is a simple fix. A decision to change the Merc PU before or during the season impacts not just Merc but McLaren, Alpine and Williams .

Merc found a loophole AND it seems they were able to make it work, but this advantage isn't kept solely to the Merc team, we still don't know the impact of the fuels, don't know the impact of the increased dependence on the batteries (which Merc has dumped billions into new battery technology) , nor the new active aeros so before we start killing things off why doesn't the FIA let teams actually race and see how things play out.

Or just mandate everyone has to be the same like Nascar and kill off any semblance to the F1 of old.

The new PU's are nothing more than an over the top attempt at virtue signaling by F1 and I will believe they even have thought about how many impacts climate change when they force team principals and drivers to travel on the same private plane to races and they put a carbon tax on yachts that exceed certain limits at Monaco.

Hell, GM and Ford are both getting out to the EV business and most of Europe heats with Russian crude, but changing the PU's for the reasons they did made perfect sense.

They're only changing the test, not the rule. As, Burt put it, if Merc built their engine to pass the test rather than building it to conform with the rule, then they rolled the dice. They took a risk, and they may have lost. They found out. I have no problem with the FIA changing the test now in an attempt to avert a mid-season change after a potentially tainted start of the season. If they have reason to believe that Merc found a way to pass the test while skirting the rule, and that seems to be the case, then they are perfectly justified in changing the test to ensure that the season gets underway as fairly as possible. We had years of domination to start the last PU era. I'm sure that's the last way the FIA wants to start this one.

Re: the new PU being a virtue signal, the last PU was just as bad in that regard and was a huge mistake for F1 imho. As I have posted here many times, I love hybrid power in road cars. I love that our huge, heavy AWD Toyota Sienna can average 33 mpg, even fully loaded with 4 people and all their shit, on ski trips or whatever. But when it comes to racing, if you want to show your 'green' side, just run V10s with alternative fuels and hype the fuck out of it. That will create an F1 fuel war along with a battle to see who can engineer the best combustion efficiencies. Then F1 and the world benefit from it without hampering the racing.

2 hours ago, wood said:

They're only changing the test, not the rule. As, Burt put it, if Merc built their engine to pass the test rather than building it to conform with the rule, then they rolled the dice. They took a risk, and they may have lost. They found out. I have no problem with the FIA changing the test now in an attempt to avert a mid-season change after a potentially tainted start of the season. If they have reason to believe that Merc found a way to pass the test while skirting the rule, and that seems to be the case, then they are perfectly justified in changing the test to ensure that the season gets underway as fairly as possible. We had years of domination to start the last PU era. I'm sure that's the last way the FIA wants to start this one.

Re: the new PU being a virtue signal, the last PU was just as bad in that regard and was a huge mistake for F1 imho. As I have posted here many times, I love hybrid power in road cars. I love that our huge, heavy AWD Toyota Sienna can average 33 mpg, even fully loaded with 4 people and all their shit, on ski trips or whatever. But when it comes to racing, if you want to show your 'green' side, just run V10s with alternative fuels and hype the fuck out of it. That will create an F1 fuel war along with a battle to see who can engineer the best combustion efficiencies. Then F1 and the world benefit from it without hampering the racing.

i understand they don't want one PU being dominant at the start, but effectively you are going to swing it the other way to the Ferrari PU if you declare the Merc engine must be changed.

There are also a number of other variable as we have discussed so I still believe the best course is run your new text, and then see how things actually play out in real racing.

What I don't want to see if the FIA and F1 making decisions based upon what they think MAY happen.

3 hours ago, PGFrog said:

i understand they don't want one PU being dominant at the start, but effectively you are going to swing it the other way to the Ferrari PU if you declare the Merc engine must be changed.

There are also a number of other variable as we have discussed so I still believe the best course is run your new text, and then see how things actually play out in real racing.

What I don't want to see if the FIA and F1 making decisions based upon what they think MAY happen.

I think they're just doing the best they can to make sure all the PUs are legal. It's similar to when they changed the wing deflection test. A lot of people (not you afaik) had to be reminded that the test is not the rule. The test is only there to help enforce the rule, by hopefully finding the illegalities that may exist. Having passed it doesn't guarantee legality, it just means no illegality was detected. If the old test isn't catching illegal PUs and they have a better one in mind to do that, then they should do that IMHO.

Then, if one manufacturer's PU is better than the rest, so be it. I'm cool with that, and I think most people are. I don't see what the problem is there. I fault the FIA for a whole lot, but I can't fault them for trying to get this right.

Who knows ... maybe Merc & everyone else will pass the new test with flying colors too. If they don't pass it, then they weren't legal.

I also don't think we really know who has the best PUs this early. I'm not even sure anyone has actually pushed their PU at this point, and even if they have, testing performance is very difficult to read even in an open test. The preseason pecking order has been badly misjudged many times in the past when people were certain they knew who was quick and who wasn't.

5 hours ago, PGFrog said:

i understand they don't want one PU being dominant at the start, but effectively you are going to swing it the other way to the Ferrari PU if you declare the Merc engine must be changed.

There are also a number of other variable as we have discussed so I still believe the best course is run your new text, and then see how things actually play out in real racing.

What I don't want to see if the FIA and F1 making decisions based upon what they think MAY happen.

You’re really blowing this out of proportion. No one is mandating Merc change their engine. It will still work just fine at a 16:1 ratio and probably still be the best engine.

It’s literally just enforcing a rule that’s been on the books for 3 years.

7 hours ago, PGFrog said:

i understand they don't want one PU being dominant at the start, but effectively you are going to swing it the other way to the Ferrari PU if you declare the Merc engine must be changed.

If the Ferrari PU is way ahead of the pack but conforms to the rules, then hat tip Ferrari, you've earned your early season dominance, though I'm sure they'll plan F it into obvilion.

If the Merc PU is only ahead because they're taking advantage of a loophole and running at 18:1 under load (or whatever it is in reality) and they get caught, they deserve what's coming to them.

Follow the rules, for all teams, for all the races. I realize that never will happen but that's the ideal scenario F1 should strive towards. The rule is 16:1 and if you have to change tests to better enforce it, so be it. Just because testing sucks currently doesn't make the rule invalid - all teams should still adhere to it. If Merc get f'd because they got caught knowingly breaking the rule, too bad. Definition of FAFO.

If Merc and others know the compression ratio is higher under load, then logically there is already a way to test for this? I assume they aren’t guessing.

• 
• CJ Fogler @cjzero.bsky.social

Charles Leclerc in a Pokemon commercial 🫡

• 2:03 AM · Feb 9, 2026

Black and silver?!?

CADILLAC!

Cadillac killed it!

• 
• Cadillac Formula 1 Team @Cadillac_F1

The mission begins now. Introducing Cadillac Formula 1 ® Team’s first livery. Our season kicks off March 7th streaming on @AppleTV in the US.

• 2:38 AM · Feb 9, 2026

Edited February 9Feb 9 by texas08

The asymmetry is kind of cool I guess, but overall it’s not really doing anything for me.

It looks pretty generic.

not bad for the baseline…

The alternate liveries will be more colorful I’m sure.

I will say that it will probably look much better on track.

I think it looks great.

Loved this rendering

It looks good as a car. But what a boring corporate choice. Great marketing, hey look a Mercedes!!

I was definitely hoping they’d have the racing yellow the use in other series.

It's not like the Caddy is going to get much airtime since they'll be bringing up the rear in most races.

12 hours ago, TexEx15 said:

Cadillac killed it!

Couldn't disagree more. Boring as hell, especially when compared to their liveries in other series.

4 hours ago, Burt Macklin said:

I was definitely hoping they’d have the racing yellow the use in other series.

I think this will come in the alternate liveries!

I'll be shocked if he ever does better than Nicole, but damn, he could do wayyy better than this ...

I like the Caddy livery OK but I think the custom of national liveries needs to be revisited, you still see shades of it with the Mercs and Ferraris, and the hint of British racing green on the Aston. (British racing green is a car’s best color).

America’s traditional blue/white or white/blue has amazing moments and looks incredible. Would have been amazing if Caddy, coming in as an American brand with works aspirations, did something inspired by Gurney and the AAR Eagle.

On 2/7/2026 at 10:11 PM, dieucla98 said:

If the Ferrari PU is way ahead of the pack but conforms to the rules, then hat tip Ferrari, you've earned your early season dominance, though I'm sure they'll plan F it into obvilion.

If the Merc PU is only ahead because they're taking advantage of a loophole and running at 18:1 under load (or whatever it is in reality) and they get caught, they deserve what's coming to them.

Follow the rules, for all teams, for all the races. I realize that never will happen but that's the ideal scenario F1 should strive towards. The rule is 16:1 and if you have to change tests to better enforce it, so be it. Just because testing sucks currently doesn't make the rule invalid - all teams should still adhere to it. If Merc get f'd because they got caught knowingly breaking the rule, too bad. Definition of FAFO.

Merc did follow the rules, even went to the FIA and asked for clarification in October when they were told the engine was compliant. After which is when the FIA added the line about when the compression had to be 16:1 and if Merc is smarter than the FIA that is on the fucking FIA and the other teams that couldn't figure out how to make it work. Specifically you Red Bull for deciding this was an issue only if you couldn't make it work for you.

The FIA has one fucking job and if the Merc PU is the F1 equivalent of Audi slipping in all wheel drive to the rally regs so be it. As Newey and Brawn have both said in their books, their job is to push the limits and finish the loop holes. It is what has happened with every set of regs and one would think if a team specifically brings something to them they damn well better start looking at what the angle is because as I said Merc damn well isn't the first to do this and surely won't be the last.

7 hours ago, Mittens said:

Couldn't disagree more. Boring as hell, especially when compared to their liveries in other series.

Fair. My daughter who somehow ended up obsessed with F1 also plays basketball. A big thing in the basketball world right now is the mismatched shoes. When we were talking about the livery we said it would be cool if they did something like that and so she was pretty excited when we watched the livery reveal.

Lol

• 
• Will Manso @WillManso

This year’s F1 Miami Grand Prix is May 1-3 and a new addition is the MSC Yacht Club. It’ll include a lifelike super yacht, a pool area, special lounges and seating, plus the highest vantage point for full track views. F1 celebrates 5 years in Miami.

https://t.co/mmvjooB7FA

• 3:06 PM · Jan 29, 2026