Jeppe H. Olesen

Yep. The red markings are the zones where cars can activate straight mode - the low drag aero configuration.

The blue markings are where straight mode can be activated if low grip conditions are declared.

The power and energy restrictions for the Australian GP:

Sky Sports have unveiled their plans for the 2026 Formula 1 coverage.

Experts and analysts: Martin Brundle, Jenson Button, Nico Rosberg, Jacques Villeneuve, Naomi Schiff, Bernie Collins, Karun Chandhok, Jamie Chadwick and Anthony Davidson.

Danica Patrick is no longer part of the lineup.

The stewards for the Australian GP will be Nish Shetty, Mathieu Remmerie, Pedro Lamy and Matthey Selley.

Friday, 14:30 local:
- Adrian Newey (Aston Martin)
- Grame Lowdon (Cadillac)
- Toto Wolff (Mercedes)

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Schedule for the first official press conferences of the Formula 1 season:

Thursday, 13:30 local:
- Nico Hülkenberg (Audi)
- Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac)
- George Russell (Mercedes)

Thursday, 14:00 local:
- Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
- Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
- Arvid Lindblad (VCARB)

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If war risk premiums become unaffordable, or cover gets pulled entirely, the decision essentially makes itself, regardless of what F1 or the FIA want.

Sometimes the most pragmatic force in the room ends up doing what principle alone couldn't.

6/6

Now there's an active regional conflict, Iranian missiles have landed close to the Bahrain circuit, airspace across the Gulf has been closed, and the situation isn't showing signs of calming down. That's a very different risk profile for insurers, both for assets and for people.

5/6

Teams ship hundreds of millions in cars, parts, infrastructure, and hospitality setups to every race. Every team also carries liability and personal insurance for hundreds of staff, drivers, media, and contractors on the ground. Insurers were already uneasy after Jeddah in '22.

4/6

What might actually force the decision is something more practical: Insurance.

3/6

That set a pretty clear precedent for how F1 handles these situations.

So while there's understandable debate about whether the Bahrain and Saudi GPs should go ahead, history suggests that ethical concerns and even safety worries alone probably won't be what tips the balance.

2/6

In 2022, a missile hit an Aramco facility close enough to the Jeddah circuit that drivers could see smoke from the cockpit during FP1. There was a tense crisis meeting, several drivers expressed serious concerns about safety, and ultimately the decision was made to race anyway.

1/6

Airspace closures and shipping lane disruptions are already causing logistical problems.

The FIA, F1, and other series will need to make decisions very soon on how to respond.

5/5

- Bahrain GP: six weeks away, with the Saudi Arabian GP the following week
- Qatar and Abu Dhabi GPs: late November and early December
- WEC: Qatar in March, Bahrain in November
- MotoGP: Qatar in April

4/5

Mercedes, currently in Bahrain for testing, has had to cancel its programme and is now working to get staff and equipment back to the UK.
All five countries are scheduled to host major motorsport events this season:

3/5

Strikes have been confirmed in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi, with missile fragments also falling in Qatar. Several of these strikes occurred in or near areas where team personnel typically stay during race weeks.

2/5

Beyond the geopolitical crisis and the risk of a wider conflict in the Middle East, today's strikes on Iran and the retaliatory strikes that followed will have a direct impact on motorsport.

1/5

The exits include INDYCAR (Prema), WEC (Prema, Iron Dames), Le Mans (Prema, Iron Dames), IMSA (Prema, Iron Dames) and ELMS (Iron Dames).

Prema remains listed in F2, F3, F4, and some regional series, though they will be more dependent on driver funding than they have been in the past.

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On the eve of the INDYCAR season, we have confirmation that Prema will not be on the grid, at least to start the year.

It is another blow for their cash-strapped parent company, DC Racing Solutions, which has been forced to withdraw from several series due to financial difficulties.

1/2

Preseason testing is a separate deal, usually on a year by year deal.

The alternative would probably be both races dropping off the calendar completely

Barcelona confirmed for 2028, 2030 & 2032 under new alternating F1 calendar deal.

The GP will be every other year starting in '28.

The IOC permits Russian flag stickers, Russian flags in stands, and Russian athletes competing as "neutrals."

But a Ukrainian honouring his fallen countrymen? Disqualified.

The helmet was fine in training. Fine in the mixed zone. Just not for 57 seconds of competition.

Absolutely disgraceful.

From the formula1 community on Reddit: Aston Martin's AMR26 has arrived to Barcelona Explore this post and more from the formula1 community

Aaaaand someone already lifted the photos and put them in a Reddit post 😂

www.reddit.com/r/formula1/c...

At the risk of jinxing it again, it's unlikely 😅

Barcelona isn't on the WEC calendar this year, and teams prefer to do their testing on circuits they race on, to correlate the data.

As far as I know, there are also no upcoming WEC tests in Europe, at least until March.

Turns out it was an Aston Martin flight after all!

Aviation Photographer @sgouldphotography.bsky.social was on site, and got some shots of a suspiciously F1-car shaped box carrying AMR markings being loaded.

Appreciate it!

Well, that's fairly conclusive. Very interesting that they chartered an old Antonov 😅

Can I use these photos? And are you on other platforms so I can credit you properly?

Aston Martin has a partnership with Atlas Air for freight needs, and F1's official contract is with DHL. They'd likely use these partners if air freight was needed.

Most likely scenario: It was shipped in AMR team trucks - Standard procedure for European.

No need for obscure cargo aircraft.

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Re. the rumours that the AMR26 is being transported to Spain on Cavok Air CVK7020 (A 54 year old Antonov 12BP).

This is unconfirmed and unlikely.

1/2 🧵