Listen to Pit Talk here > <\/a><\/p>\nBut there\u2019s another complication that could arise from what\u2019s expected to be rapidly changing track conditions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of corners on this track that will be between 90 per cent and 100 per cent throttle,\u201c Alex Albon said, per Autosport.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think for the top teams it will be flat out.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the midfield teams and the backfield teams [it will be] a bigger lift, which has a big effect in deployment.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you can do a corner flat or not, it massively changes the way the deployment works.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 2026 power unit operated with certain built-in expectations about how fast a driver will go through certain corners, and it uses that model to decide where best to charge and discharge the battery.<\/p>\n
If a driver suddenly goes much faster at a certain part of the track \u2014 say, in qualifying, when they take some additional risk because grip has improved more than expected \u2014 the engine algorithm can become confused, with unexpected losses or boosts in power elsewhere.<\/p>\n
At such a high-risk circuit, both could be extremely problematic.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t want to go in qualifying, suddenly all these corners start to become flat and your deployment starts to move around a lot. That\u2019s what we\u2019ve found so far,\u201d Albon said.<\/p>\n
Every way you cut it, it looks like an unpredictable weekend.<\/p>\n
Norris edges Piastri on final lap | 01:37<\/p>\n
RUSSELL LOOKING FOR LUCK AS ANTONELLI HITS TOP GEAR<\/p>\n
For all the excitement over Formula 1\u2019s newest track, this is round 14 of the world championship \u2014 and it comes one week after an extraordinary round in Monza.<\/p>\n
Antonelli improbably extended his championship lead to 66 points despite starting 19th \u2014 fully 17 places behind teammate Russell.<\/p>\n
It was a seismic day for both the 20-year-old and a season that looks increasingly likely to deliver him his maiden world championship.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe weekend itself was absolutely incredible,\u201d Antonelli said, per the F1 website. \u201cDefinitely so far the best day of my life, and an incredible memory. I couldn\u2019t wish for a better day.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wish [I had] a bit more time to realise and enjoy it, but now obviously we\u2019re in Madrid and we\u2019re ready to do our best, and we\u2019ll try to repeat [it].\u201d<\/p>\n
Russell, though, will be hoping \u2014 praying \u2014 for anything but a repeat.<\/p>\n
At 66 points down with perhaps as few as nine rounds remaining \u2014 a decision on the Middle Eastern races pending \u2014 it\u2019s just about out of his hands.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not trying to be delusional,\u201d he said. \u201cThe reality is my teammate has done a better job than me this year. I\u2019ve had some bad luck, but he deserves to be leading.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight now he deserves to be in the position he is. From my side I\u2019m just going race by race. I\u2019m going to try and win as many as possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I\u2019m going to win this championship, I\u2019m going to need some luck. I\u2019m being quite realistic about the position I\u2019m in.\u201d<\/p>\n
While bad luck has been part of Russell\u2019s story \u2014 though it has contributed to a small percentage of the 66-point deficit \u2014 he would need a remarkable slice of good fortune to exert any sort of control over his title destiny.<\/p>\n
Antonelli\u2019s back-to-front win was the sort of performance that defies fortune.<\/p>\n
But the Madring could be the sort of circuit that generates the right kinds of circumstances that could reinject even a sliver of hope into the Englishman\u2019s outlook.<\/p>\n
Ferrari in chaos as Kimi seals comeback | 02:46<\/p>\n
\u2018TAKE RESPONSIBILITY\u2019: FERRARI SAYS ALL\u2019S WELL AFTER MONZA DISASTER<\/p>\n
While Antonelli is on cloud nine, Formula 1\u2019s other Italian entity, Ferrari, is at perhaps its lowest ebb.<\/p>\n
Its home race was disastrous, with execution errors from the pit wall through qualifying and then from the cockpit in the race, with Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton compromising each other at the first chicane before the Monegasque crashed out on his own at Parabolica on the following lap.<\/p>\n
Hamilton was anonymous from there despite a brief comeback following the ensuing red flag, in part thanks to the team neglecting to pit him during a virtual safety car.<\/p>\n
With Antonelli leading a Mercedes one-two, it was an all-but fatal blow to Hamilton and Ferrari\u2019s outside title hopes.<\/p>\n
The race ended with Hamilton in particular asking serious questions about the way the team operated both in terms of driver management and execution. He even invoked team boss Fred Vasseur\u2019s leadership, declaring change had to come from the top.<\/p>\n
With a few days to cool down, however, the team is putting on a united front ahead of a weekend it needs a good result.<\/p>\n
Leclerc opened the batting by owning up to causing the first-lap incident that put Hamilton into the gravel, dropping him to 11th.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter reviewing the images, it\u2019s pretty clear I could have done a better job slowing down the car and not putting Lewis in a difficult situation,\u201d he said, per the F1 website. \u201dThis is something I can learn from.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have a lot of respect for Lewis. I told him in turn 2 I didn\u2019t behave the way I should and the way a teammate should.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all try to do our best, sometimes you go a step too far. I\u2019ll retune that to ensure it doesn\u2019t happen again in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hamilton accepted Leclerc\u2019s admission, saying it was proof communication inside the team was better than it seemed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think what\u2019s great is that there was no shying away from having a discussion,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe sat face to face, just him and I, and talked about it and we were just both open and honest.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe squashed it, and we can move on. I think that shows the maturity from him, and I think it\u2019s healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vasseur, meanwhile, is attempting to lay down the law \u2014 and defend the way he manages the team.<\/p>\n
\u201cI reminded them of some fundamental principles of the way I manage the team, and I will continue to stick to them,\u201d he told Autosport.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy job is to protect the hundreds of people in the team and to take responsibility. That is what I have asked the drivers to do as well: if we want to achieve results, we need to protect the team and each of us needs to take responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n
The bottom line from Italy, though, is that the team overall underperformed. Though it never expected to contend for victory, having two cars on the front row should have led to at least one podium finish.<\/p>\n
Engine power was a big part of the story, but Madring is not anywhere near as power-sensitive as Monza.<\/p>\n
Ferrari, then, shouldn\u2019t be nearly as weak \u2014 in fact this downforce-sensitive circuit should play to some of the car\u2019s best qualities.<\/p>\n
That means there are fewer excuses for a bad weekend \u2014 and Ferrari can barely afford one of those right now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s rare for a brand-new circuit to appear on the Formula 1 calendar and even rarer for it…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":887635,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[64,63,817,813,816,85],"class_list":["post-887634","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/887634","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=887634"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/887634\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/887635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=887634"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=887634"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=887634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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