Eloy Aparicio | Motorsport Engineer

📘 YA ESTÁ AQUÍ: 4 MEGAJULIOS Si quieres entender mejor esta nueva F1 de 2026, he escrito un libro para explicar cómo funciona: ⚡ Energía 🔋 Batería 📉 Clipping y superclipping ♻️ Recuperación Ya disponible: redlightsoff.com/4-megajulio…

Hamilton took pole in Mexico by 0.009 s without topping a single sector. 🔴 His 1:16.514 is Ferrari’s first pole since Leclerc in Hungary 2025, and Lewis’s first Grand Prix pole with Ferrari. I went through the official sectors, the telemetry and the 2025 pole. Here is what the data says 🧵 1️⃣ No purple sectors, no mistakes Against the best sector of the whole session, Hamilton was +0.084 in S1, +0.022 in S2 and +0.108 in S3. Russell had the best S2, Leclerc the best S3 and Verstappen the best S1 (in Q2). Hamilton was second or third everywhere. He won pole by not dropping time anywhere. Both Ferraris were 3-4 km/h slower through the speed trap (347/346 vs 350 for Mercedes and Red Bull): more wing, won back in the corners. 2️⃣ The pole that got away from Verstappen Add up Max’s best sectors and you get 1:16.407, 0.107 s faster than pole. On his final Q3 run he was 0.065 s up at the end of S2. Between Turns 13 and 15 he dropped to 62 km/h (Hamilton 66) and lost half a second. Then he went to 0% throttle on the run to the line. My read: traffic in the stadium, then with the lap gone, a lift to manage the battery (SOC). That’s a hypothesis, not confirmed. 3️⃣ How Hamilton drives the lap Minimum corner speeds of the top 5: Hamilton slows the most for Turn 1 (96 km/h vs Leclerc’s 104) and in the stadium. Yet he is the fastest through Turn 9, the quickest corner of sector 2. He gives up entry speed to rotate the car and get on the power earlier. Verstappen is 7 km/h below average at Turn 7, which explains much of his +0.229 in S2. 4️⃣ 2026 cars are closing in on 2025 The 2026 pole was +0.928 s (+1.23%) slower than Norris’s 2025 pole, the smallest gap of the season. Over the first 12 repeat tracks, 2026 poles were 3.2% slower on average. Over the last 4, only 1.7%. In Mexico, 99% of the gap is in sector 2 (+0.916 s): the 2026 car lacks downforce in the esses. In sector 1 it is already faster than the 2025 car (-0.064 s). Data: official timing, FastF1 via RLO Telemetry and Jolpica. Compare any lap yourself at telemetry.redlightsoff.com #F1 #MexicoGP #Hamilton #Ferrari #Verstappen

Mexico GP FP2 tyre degradation, fuel-corrected across 287 laps: 🔴 Soft: +0.220s/lap (n=185) 🟡 Medium: +0.188s/lap (n=90) ⚪ Hard: −0.101s/lap (n=12) Both soft and medium show less degradation than in FP1. The hard's negative slope is inconclusive given the small sample.

FP1 tyre degradation Across 222 laps, fuel-corrected pace shows: 🔴 Soft: +0.262s/lap 🟡 Medium: +0.232s/lap ⚪ Hard: −0.021s/lap The soft and medium show similar degradation, while the hard remains almost flat. Will this be a 2 stopper with soft and medium tyres? FP2 data coming soon

🇲🇽 Mexico City 2026 · Qualy simulation V2, with the official FIA power-unit data ⏱️ 1:17.093 S1 27.062 · S2 29.331 · S3 20.700 📊 vs Norris's 2025 pole (1:15.586): +1.507 s (+0.146 / +0.217 / +1.144) 🚀 Vmax 350.1 km/h 🏔️ 2,285 m: air 0.899 kg/m³ 🔋 The key: 350 kW of MGU-K out of T17, before the timed lap starts ➡️ crosses the line at 270.7 km/h with 3.235 MJ (not a full 4.0) ⏱️ −0.287 s vs a full-battery start ⚡ 350 kW up to 337.5 km/h ♻️ 7.75 MJ deployed · 5.33 MJ recovered 🪫 0.82 MJ at the flag (low 0.11 at T12) 📄 FIA Mexico PU info: 8.5 MJ in Q · 100 kW/s · T8–T9 250 km/h threshold · Exit-T17 reset · Straight Mode ×3 from the FIA map ⚠️ Engineering prediction, not FIA-certified: track width assumed (±1.4 s), altitude braking provisional. #F1 #MexicoGP

Exactamente, RUS pasó unos 7 km/h por hora más rápido en la parte más rápida de las S... en Sector 1 de COTA en Q3. Hasta la frenada de la curva 11, RUS iba por delante, pero a la salida de la curva 11 pasó de ir casi 0.2s por delante de ANT a ir 0.7s por detrás..... En la salida de la curva 11, ANT acelera 10km/h más rápido que RUS. A partir de ahí, la vuelta se estabilizó entre ellos dos, pero ya ANT fue por delante. S2 y S3 es donde más pierde....gastar más energía de la cuenta en el momento "incorrecto" te puede costar 0.3s como le pasó a RUS el pasado GP....

Mexico GP 2026 preview 🇲🇽 What's different this year, and who might be quick? 1️⃣ New asphalt. 68% of the lap has been resurfaced, from T7 all the way round to T1. More grip, but the track will be dirty and green early on. Pirelli rates track evolution 5/5, its maximum. 2️⃣ Thin air. At 2,285 m the air is 23% less dense than at a typical track. For a 2026 F1 car that's ~320 kg less downforce at 250 km/h. The upside: far less drag, so teams bolt on max-downforce wings and still top 350 km/h. 3️⃣ Tyres. Pirelli brings its softest range: C3, C4, C5. With little grip from the air, the risk is graining, mostly at the rear. With a 22 s pit loss, everything points to one stop. 4️⃣ Who's quick? I compared the speed profile of 13 tracks with Mexico's. The closest are Miami, Shanghai and Montreal. Mercedes took pole at all three. Ferrari and McLaren were ~0.3 s back on a Mexico lap, Red Bull ~0.4 s. But Red Bull has 2 poles in the last 4 races. My provisional sim puts the 2026 pole at 1:17.386, 1.8 s slower than Norris in 2025. Almost two thirds of that gap is in the stadium section. Mercedes again, or a surprise? 👇

🇲🇽 MEXICO 2026 · QUALY LAP SIM (provisional) 🏎️ ⏱️ 1:17.386 🟣 S1 27.372 · S2 29.313 · S3 20.701 🆚 NOR ‘25 pole 1:15.586 → +1.800 s 📊 +0.456 / +0.199 / +1.145, the stadium costs most 🚀 Vmax 350.1 km/h 🏔️ ρ 0.899 kg/m³ at 2,240 m ⚙️ ICE 355 kW at wheels · 778 kg 💥 Overtake curve: 350 kW up to 337.5 km/h, tapering to ~110 kW at 350 km/h 🔋 4.0 MJ at the line → 1.16 MJ at the flag (min 0.46) ⚡ Deployed 8.19 MJ · recovered 5.35 MJ 🛑 4.18 MJ from braking + 1.16 MJ from part-load 🔌 8.5 MJ recharge cap doesn’t bind 🪽 Straight Mode on the straights ⚠️ Caveats: the track width is assumed (±1.4 s), the altitude braking treatment is provisional, and the FIA’s Mexico PU document isn’t out yet. 🧮 Model prediction, not an official lap.

Qualy simulation V3 AUSTIN GP 2026 I have re-simulated the lap (V3) to what I uploaded the other day after FIA doc. Predicted lap: ⏱️ 1:33.864 — just 1.354s off Verstappen’s 2025 pole. In my initial simulation, S3 is quite fast, where in reality, most of the cars are doing a S1 faster, and a S3 more conservative. Energy recovered is just 4.86 vs 8.5MJ limit. No superclipping, just a bit of clipping before T11 and in the straight towards T12. The fast corners in S1 are slower than 2025 but not that much. The higher differences are in T17-T18 and T19. #f1 #austingp

RB22 evolution pace to pole position Since Suzuka (even more since Silverstone), the tendency has been to be closer and closer to pole (except Baku where RUS's time was out of reach) Last two circuits? Pole Position for Verstappen. In my opinion, this is a combination of aero improvements, weight reduction and understanding of the PU. I would be 'brave' and also add that could have been the adaptability of Max's to these cars where the driving style has to change to have more energy in certain places and be faster. Where do you think the RedBull will finish in the Driver's and Constructor's championship? #f1 #redbullracing

50cv sobre la reglamentacion 2026 o 50cv sobre la reglamentacion 2027? En 2027 se espera que los equipos aumenten la potencia del ICE, debido a el cambio de flujo de combustible unos 30cv... Aumentaran 50 + 30cv? o 50cv en total?

Pirelli's report for COTA (AUSTIN GP) 5.5 km track 56 laps Traction is high, especially T1, T11 and sector 3 Also, tyre stress and lateral load is high due to the fast corners in sector 1 Grip and abrasion are medium, it is expected bumpy conditions which could affect grip. Braking is medium too, high braking in T12 and T1, although T1 is uphill so the braking is not that 'strong'. Expected a high track evolution through the weekend. C2-C3-C4 for the weekend. Expected C2-C3 for the race and 1 stop.

2026 title simulator for next races ANT has it 'easy' but you can simulate any position from Top6 finish in the link below (season -> simulator tabs) telemetry.redlightsoff.com

COTA 2026 EEUU GP ⏱️ 2026 sim: .967 (provisional) 2025 pole: .510 · Δ +2.457 s S1 +0.876 · S2 +0.911 · S3 +0.670 Top speed 325 km/h · 5.23 MJ recovered in the lap Pending FIA doc with specific zones and limits #F1 #USGP #AustinGP #F1Tech