Congrats to Red Bull

[UKnCincy]

Red Bull clinched the constructor’s championship today at Suzuka. This year’s car in Verstappen’s hands has been close to being as dominant as the MP4/4, which further proves that Adrian Newey is a mad scientist.

Hopefully some of the other teams can bring a car next year that’s capable of putting up more of a fight.

 

[HymanKaplan]

Verstappen is the best driver since Schumacher. If you don't believe it, just ask him.

 

[funKYcat75]

You know what happens when a driver is too dominant? They change the rules so he isn't. That's how it works in NASCAR at least.

 

[Rebelfreedomeagle]

Right after preseason testing, I caught one of the European F1 writers on twitter claiming that RB was doing their own timing, splitting up sector timing. He said they were doing this to hide how fast the car really is. I’ve learned that sports is the one thing where conspiracy theories usually have some merit, and this one seems pretty accurate.

 

[UKnCincy]

Right after preseason testing, I caught one of the European F1 writers on twitter claiming that RB was doing their own timing, splitting up sector timing. He said they were doing this to hide how fast the car really is. I’ve learned that sports is the one thing where conspiracy theories usually have some merit, and this one seems pretty accurate.

The teams don’t run their own timing, so I’m not sure how what the writer was suggesting would work.

Each car has a transponder that transmits the car’s position as it passes over timing loops embedded in the track. That data is fed back into the broadcast center where it gets disseminated to the FIA, the teams and to the TV broadcasters.

Sandbagging during preseason testing is fairly common, but you don’t have to manipulate timing to do that. You can do simple things like running with a higher fuel load. On average, an extra 10kg of fuel adds about 0.3 seconds to your lap time, and there’s no way for the other teams to know how much fuel you put into the car during a session.

 

[UKnCincy]

You know what happens when a driver is too dominant? They change the rules so he isn't. That's how it works in NASCAR at least.

They have major rule changes coming in 2026, so I don’t foresee them making any changes to rein in Red Bull before then.

However, I think the progress that teams like McLaren have made is encouraging. If they can keep up with their improvements, then we might see them challenging Red Bull more next season.