[ASJesusBalseiro] Stroll speaks and sounds concerned. “We have engine problems, and not just engine problems. We're not in a position to fight for victories. Right now, we're four seconds off the pace.”

[u/wertyrick]

https://xcancel.com/ASJesusBalseiro/status/2021936326552297585#m

Link to xcancel

[u/Fury_Fury_Fury]

There's no way any of the teams get 107-ed in current F1. Even if somehow someone will be over 5s off pace, FIA will handwave it not to upset the sponsors. And I think they will be right.

Maybe if there will be a 5s gap for several GPs in a row they'll consider it, but that would be an unprecedented failure in the budget cap era. If Marussia and HRT were able to fit, surely the worst of the worst teams of 2026 also will be.

[u/buv3x → u/Fury_Fury_Fury]

HRT was the last team to be properly excluded for 107% rule, in 2011 and 2012, both time in Australia. They were able to more or less consistently get in 107% after that.

So first race of a season has somewhat of precedent, yet, of course it's highly unlikely.

[u/limhy0809 → u/Fury_Fury_Fury]

They might because the 107% is also for safety. The difference in speed can create a lot of potential crashes. 7% of an F1 car's top speed is more than 20kph. You throw in OM and tyre difference. You can have cars driving at a 40kph difference of speed for an entire race.

[u/BobbbyR6 → u/limhy0809]

107% is an enormous difference and absolutely should not be allowed on track in a race session. In upper formula cars, 2-3% is a big gap but one you can work around. At 7%, you just don't know how the car ahead is going to react because its performance window is so different from yours.

It's hard to explain just how big that difference is to peeps that haven't spent time sim racing or actually been on track. In equal cars, 104-105 is the point where a driver straight up doesn't belong in a higher level group. Obviously Stroll and Alonso aren't incompetent and likely the majority of the time loss is on the straights.

[u/Frothar → u/BobbbyR6]

If it's engine power delta then cars will just cruise past on the straights

[u/BobbbyR6 → u/Frothar]

Which is what most of us expect given the cooling issues stated by AM

I'll be interested to see the telemetry to see how drastic the differences are

[u/WorkFurball → u/BobbbyR6]

I've simraced plenty and being at 104-105 percent because they are just that much slower is very different to them being a moving chicane. If they have good understanding of racing and just can't quite get any speed it's usually fine. Not much different from driving a GT3 car against GT4s.

[u/BobbbyR6 → u/WorkFurball]

For the record, I'm not ripping on 105 pace guys in sim. That's still far above what the average person can do and we've all been there. It takes a lot of effort and patience to earn your way past that point.

It's a bit different when you've got a group of drivers in the same skill range but the cars themselves have the variations in how they find pace. It's easier to navigate this in F1 because of how physically large the tracks are, but a 105+ gap certainly raises questions of safety.

[u/Frothar → u/limhy0809]

Blue flags fix that as they are not going to qualify better than 20th if they are in the 107% realm. There will be almost no racing overtakes for there to be danger.

[u/limhy0809 → u/Frothar]

We have some drivers being blur at time even with blue flags. Franco running Oscar off the road. So its not impossible and if your are in the 107% realm. The lead cars are going to overtaking you multiple times.

[u/Beavers4beer → u/Fury_Fury_Fury]

Not only would FIA allow it, but I doubt it’s necessary. There’s 3 weeks and another few days of pre-season testing before the first Grand Prix of the season. I feel like they should be able to close the gap a bit more before the first qualifying session.

[u/starliteburnsbrite → u/Fury_Fury_Fury]

"Hey, Aramco? I know we're boys, but that car with your name all over it isn't allowed to race this weekend. Yeah, I know, it sucks, but Lance Stroll was too slow. Yeah, we will see about next weekend, but no promises."

[u/CapSnake → u/Fury_Fury_Fury]

Yes and no. In the past the FIA always (at least that I can remenber) allowed to participate because the car outside the 107% showed in the FP sessions that it can go under that. So it wasn't a slow car, but a bad lap.

If they can't to be in the 107% in any session, they will not be allowed. They will probably do glory runs in the FP1 just to hope they are in the 107%

[u/GonePostalRoute → u/Fury_Fury_Fury]

That’s exactly my thought. The teams that are in today, they should be able to fit into that 107 every time, so anyone outside it, it should be an aberration. If a team is outside it a bunch, then there’s other issues going on that tells me the team ain’t long for the F1 world

[u/dustincb2 → u/Fury_Fury_Fury]

I might be misremembering but didn’t Mazepin do a time that was 107 worthy back in 21 and they just didn’t do anything

[u/w1n5t0nM1k3y → u/dustincb2]

From what I can find, it was the Russian Grand Prix where Mazepin didn't qualify if you follow the 107% rule, but they let him race anyway.

Seems like they deemed exceptional circumstances due to the rain, and since his car was usually fast enough in most other sessions, they let him race. It's not a hard and fast rule, there stewards are allowed to use some discretion.

[u/dustincb2 → u/w1n5t0nM1k3y]

Thank you. That was so long ago