Bhavin Lathia
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Madrid had 9 overtakes in 57 laps. We checked every one.
The first Madring race produced 9 on-track passes, the fewest of 2026 outside Monaco. Two came from Verstappen running off, three were on cars that retired soon afterwards. Every pass explained, the trains that never broke, and what changes for 2027.
Singapore GP 2026 preview: the first Marina Bay sprint and a pole forecast
Singapore hosts its first sprint on 9 to 11 October, the last sprint of 2026. Session times in Singapore time, our 1:31.8 to 1:32.1 pole forecast, the last three races and what the 2025 radio tells you to listen for.
Bahrain GP at Sepang preview: session times and a pole forecast from 2017
The 2026 Bahrain Grand Prix runs at Sepang in Malaysia on 4 October, as a day race. Session times in Malaysian time, and our forecast of a 1:31.6 pole from how 2026 cars compare with 2017 at unchanged circuits.
Azerbaijan GP preview: Baku's 2026 pole could be slower than its lap record
We forecast the 2026 Baku pole at 1:43.9 to 1:44.5, slower than the race lap record Leclerc set in 2019. Session times for the first Saturday race in Baku, the last three winners and what to watch.
Spanish GP team radio: Norris says McLaren should have won
Norris said McLaren deserved to win "quite easily", Hamilton lost his brakes on lap 6, Russell asked why Mercedes were not trying to win, and Ferrari kept Leclerc out hoping something would happen. Every radio message from the first Madrid race.
Spanish GP Results: Antonelli Wins the First Madring Race
Kimi Antonelli won the first Grand Prix at the Madring by 4.351 seconds from Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, after a Virtual Safety Car stop and 32 laps chasing Charles Leclerc. Full results, penalties and retirements.
Spanish GP Qualifying: Norris Takes the First Madring Pole by 0.011s
Norris beat Antonelli to the first Madring pole by 11 thousandths. We predicted the pole time from Friday practice and missed by 0.014 seconds. Full results, grid penalty and the radio.
What does box box mean in F1? We counted every pit call in 37,359 radio messages
Everyone knows the phrase as box box box. The radio says otherwise: nearly three quarters of real pit calls say the word exactly once, and the busiest session for pit calls is not the race.
You can watch a race engineer change hands in the radio archive
Drivers address their race engineer by first name, so the archive quietly records who was in whose ear. Two of those pairings begin and end inside our data, and you can see both happen.
Every F1 circuit has its own vocabulary, and we measured it
Drivers at Monaco say tunnel twenty two times more often than drivers anywhere else. Shanghai says holes. Austria says deleted. Every circuit leaves a fingerprint in the radio.
Sepang returns: the Bahrain Grand Prix that is being held in Malaysia
The 2026 Bahrain Grand Prix is being run at Sepang, 6,000 km from Bahrain. More than half the current grid has never turned a lap there, and the man who won the last one is still racing.
Spanish GP preview: the first race at a circuit nobody has driven
We predicted the Madring pole time from Friday practice. It was 1:31.824, 0.014 seconds off. Here is the grid, the penalties and what to watch in the race.
What banking actually does to an F1 corner, measured
At Zandvoort's final corner an F1 car never lifts. At Monza's Parabolica, on identical machinery, the driver backs off to 68% throttle. The difference is 18 degrees of banking.
Which F1 driver swears the most on team radio? We counted 37,359 messages
One broadcast radio message in 53 contains something the transcript has to censor. Three in four of them come from the driver, and the sweariest session is not the race.
F1 team orders: what 37,359 radio messages actually show
Team orders are the most argued-about thing in Formula 1 and among the rarest things you will ever hear on the radio. We counted every instance across eight seasons of our archive.
F1 sector colours: what purple, green and yellow actually mean
Three colours on a timing screen carry more information than the lap time does, and the Monza pole lap is the cleanest proof of it: Gasly took pole without setting a single fastest sector.
Antonelli wins the Italian Grand Prix from 19th on the grid
He restarted twelfth after the red flag, made one more pit stop than the man he was chasing, and still had enough left to set the fastest lap of the race on the road to the flag.
Ferrari SF-26: The 2026 Car, and What It Has Actually Done
Red and white, pushrod at both ends, and no pole positions in thirteen rounds. But Hamilton is out-qualifying Verstappen 10-3, which is the number nobody expected.
Mercedes W17: The 2026 Car, and What It Actually Does
The W17 is smaller, narrower and lighter than the car before it, and it has taken ten of the first thirteen poles. We measured where its advantage actually comes from.
F1 Telemetry Explained: What the Data Actually Shows
Speed, throttle, brake and gear traces from a real F1 car, what each channel tells you, and the four traps that make most telemetry comparisons wrong.
How Many Laps Is an F1 Race? Every 2026 Circuit
Monaco has the most laps of any race and the shortest distance. Spa has the fewest laps and one of the longest. One rule explains both, and here is every 2026 round.
F1 Pole Times 2026: Every Pole Lap of the Season, Measured
Every pole time of the 2026 season in one table, with the average speed each lap was run at. Monza's 1:21.786 is the fastest lap of the year. Monaco's is not the slowest.
Italian GP Qualifying: Gasly Takes Alpine's First Ever Pole
Gasly beat Russell by 0.060 for his maiden pole and Alpine's first ever. Antonelli and Albon then took power unit penalties, so the grid is not the qualifying order.
Italian GP FP3 Results: Russell Leads, Hamilton Puts a Ferrari Second
Russell topped final practice at Monza with a 1:22.219, but the number that will worry everyone is 21 deleted laps in a single hour, most of them at Turn 1.
F1 Abolished DRS. We Measured What Happened to Overtaking.
Losing DRS was supposed to kill overtaking. Across nine dry circuits raced in both seasons, on-track position changes fell by 3.9%. That is all.
Yas Marina Explained: Did the Redesign Actually Fix the Racing?
Abu Dhabi cut 21 corners to 16 to stop processional finales. We measured on-track position changes since, and Yas Marina now beats Monza.
Lusail Explained: The Only Race Where the FIA Tells You When to Pit
We measured the Qatar lap. Its slowest corner is taken at 99 km/h, the highest minimum speed of any circuit we have measured, and it is why Lusail eats tyres.
Las Vegas Explained: Monza Speed on a Freezing Street
We measured the Las Vegas lap from telemetry. It reaches 347 km/h, exactly what Monza reached, on a track 34.6C colder than any other session of the year.
Mercedes Took 10 of 13 Poles in 2026, Then Gasly Ended It
Antonelli six, Russell four, Norris two. Then Gasly took Alpine's first ever pole at Monza and ended the run. The qualifying data explains all of it.
Interlagos Explained, and What Rain Actually Costs
Lando Norris took pole at Interlagos in the wet and again in the dry. We measured both laps. The difference is 13.894 seconds and half the throttle.
Why Mexico Has F1's Highest Top Speed and a Slow Lap
We measured it: Mexico produces the highest peak speed of any circuit we have measured, 351 km/h, while spending less than half the lap at full throttle.
COTA Explained: Inside the Circuit of the Americas Lap
We measured the Austin lap from telemetry. Ten braking events, 58% full throttle, and a first corner that climbs 41 metres before it turns.
Marina Bay Circuit: Why Singapore Is F1's Hardest Race
We measured the Singapore lap. Ten braking events, 52% full throttle, and the longest flat-out run is just 644 metres. It is the least restful lap in Formula 1.
Italian GP Race Preview: What Friday's Data Says About Sunday
Ferrari topped Friday on mediums, Mercedes had the race pace, and Monza has not seen a safety car in three years. What the measured data says about the race.
The Fastest Street Circuit in F1, Measured
Jeddah is the fastest street circuit in Formula 1, but only just. Measured on the same cars, Melbourne is 1.9 km/h behind it and Monaco is 83 km/h slower.
Madrid Grand Prix: The Madring Circuit Explained
F1 has now driven the Madring. We measured the first laps: 1:33.662, 204.8 km/h average, 64% full throttle, and 55 lap times deleted in two sessions.
Italian GP team radio: Mercedes ran the race on the radio
Mercedes swapped their drivers twice, told Russell eleven laps early that Antonelli was forecast to catch him, and then told both cars the same thing one minute apart.
Monza Telemetry: What 1,163 Laps of Practice Data Show
We pulled the car telemetry from both Italian GP practice sessions. Corner speeds, a 251 km/h braking event, and the first Monza Friday without DRS.
Italian GP FP2 Results: Russell Leads a Mercedes Front Row Threat
George Russell topped FP2 at Monza with a 1:22.559, and Mercedes backed it up with the best long-run pace in the field. Full results, race pace and telemetry.
Italian GP FP1 Results: Leclerc Leads a Ferrari 1-2 at Monza
Charles Leclerc topped first practice at Monza with a 1:23.008, and he did it on the medium tyre while the cars behind him were on softs. Full results and telemetry.
Retired F1 Numbers: There Is Only One
Formula 1 has retired exactly one number, and it is 17. The others people assume are gone, including 27 and 13, are all still available.
F1 Suspension Explained: It Exists to Serve the Floor
F1 suspension is not really about ride comfort or mechanical grip. Its main job is holding the floor at a constant height so the aerodynamics keep working.
How F1 Teams Actually Use Simulators
A team simulator is a lidar-scanned virtual test track on a motion platform that responds in milliseconds. Its value depends entirely on one unglamorous thing: correlation.
Why F1 Teams Barely Get to Test, and What They Do Instead
Track time is rationed to a handful of hours a year, one car at a time. Simulator time is unlimited. That single asymmetry explains how modern F1 teams are built.
How F1 Moves a Grand Prix Around the World
Around 1,200 tonnes of freight, up to seven 747s an event, 300 trucks across Europe and 120 ocean containers in permanent circulation. The hardest job in the sport.
F1's Heat Hazard Rule and the Cooling Vests Drivers Don't Want
Above 31°C the FIA declares a Heat Hazard and every car must carry a cooling system. Drivers can refuse to wear the vest, and the rule makes sure it costs them nothing.
F1 Marshals: The 838 Unpaid People Who Run Every Grand Prix
An FIA report put numbers on it. It takes an average of 838 volunteers to run a Grand Prix, they train 50 to 75 hours a year, and two thirds take annual leave to be there.
Why Baku Produces the Racing It Does
A 2.2km straight, a seven metre gap between walls, near-zero tyre wear and an 86% safety car rate. Baku's chaos is not luck, it is the direct product of four things.
F1 Car Setup Explained: What Teams Actually Change
Setup is a set of compromises made before the car is locked. Wing level, ride height, brake bias and tyres, what each one trades away, and when the freedom ends.
What Is Downforce in F1? The Force That Makes Everything Else Possible
Downforce is aerodynamic grip, and it is where almost all of an F1 car's performance comes from. For 2026 the sport cut it by 30% on purpose. Here is what that does.