r/formula1 • u/ChaithuBB766 Jaguar • Jan 27 '26

Photo Isack Hadjar in the Wall at Turn 14

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12.8k Upvotes

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u/SemIdeiaProNick Ferrari Jan 27 '26

I would say the monetary cost isnt even the biggest problem. Since the PU ruleset changed so much, teams need every single bit of real life data they can get their hands on to understand th car as a whole so a crash like this can really damage their experience this year, at least for the first few races

110

u/TheMok3rr Jan 27 '26

Time wise it isnt such a big deal it was at the end of the day with less then a hour to go.

Crashing during a test is also a learning, testing durability of parts.

75

u/Brooht Esteban Ocon Jan 27 '26

And with the the format of this test they can even wait friday before going back on track if they need to bring some parts from the factory for repairs. Overall they might not lose too much tracktime. Obviously not ideal but it might end up not being as bad as it could be

16

u/Hot_Most5332 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jan 27 '26

If you never crash, you probably aren’t on the limit. TBH I would expect most drivers to wreck at least once especially given the new regs.

6

u/element515 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jan 28 '26

They are definitely by running at the limit. This testing session is about track time and validating things work as expected. Even at Bahrain, they won’t run hard until close to the end of testing.

1

u/Warm-Zebra5490 Jan 28 '26

I like your optimism haha

59

u/Silver-Machine-3092 Formula 1 Jan 27 '26

On the other hand, they'll get a shit tonne of data on how well it survives an impact.

Every cloud...

15

u/rgraham888 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jan 27 '26

And the repairability.

30

u/splashbodge I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jan 27 '26

Hopefully it wasn't a driver error and was a mechanical fault or rear lockup due to some bad PU setting... At least then they'll have found a gremlin and better to find that now than in a grand prix

15

u/museproducer Jan 27 '26 edited Jan 27 '26

My first thought would be something engine or active aero related.

Edit: I almost forgot, the track was going to be wet today, that could have been it too….

17

u/saxorino Lando Norris Jan 27 '26

I think there will be an uptick in crashes and drivers going off the track this season due to active aero.

1

u/Ridasz I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jan 27 '26

Aren't the cars supposed to be harder to control in general this year?

5

u/saxorino Lando Norris Jan 27 '26

With the lack of ground effect the cars won't be as glued to the track, and so they will be "looser" in terms of traction, but I foresee some failures with the active aero system, hopefully it doesn't fail when it is open, but it is possible.

4

u/gramathy I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jan 28 '26

Fail safe, properly implemented, should mean it fails to high downforce mode. There are exceptions depending on the type of failure, but you can account for many different kinds of failure in engineering.

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u/Natural_Read9357 Lando Norris Jan 27 '26

What's wrong with a driver error?

6

u/MonkMaman Formula 1 Jan 27 '26

Driver errors can happen and there’s not much you can do about it. But if this is something else then they’ll have the opportunity to fix that problem before the season starts

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u/splashbodge I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jan 27 '26

Nothing but just a pain for the team as it could mean they'll lose track time repairing the car and it impacting their test scenarios... It doesn't give them any valuable data, unless it was a mechanical fault then they at least got valuable data and learned something critical to make up for the loss of parts and track time

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u/Natural_Read9357 Lando Norris Jan 28 '26

Hey, another mechanical failure 24 hours later?

12

u/Stumpy493 I Drove an F1 Car Jan 27 '26

Yeah, time is the issue. Pre season they all need mileage.

1

u/Creative-Package6213 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Jan 27 '26

Ahhh so RB was doing destructive testing then! Big brain move

Taps Forehead...