Missed Apex Formula 1 Podcast Chinese F1 Grand Prix Race Preview 2026
19 snips
Mar 12, 2026 A lively sprint preview of the Chinese Grand Prix, covering tyre behaviour, cold graining and how harvesting changes strategy. They debate starting chaos and super-clipping, plus proposed battery deployment fixes. Technical talk on active aero, overtake modes and regen limits mixes with chatter about team parity, Mercedes tactics and who benefits on this circuit.
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Australia Was An Energy Outlier Not A New Normal
- The Australia race was an outlier for energy recovery, so problems seen there (super-clipping, odd straight-line slowdowns) won't appear equally across the season.
- Scott [Stuffeyy] and Matt Trumpets note most circuits allow more harvesting than Albert Park, so China should show different energy dynamics and fewer extreme clipping events.
New Harvesting Rules Shift Tyre Thermal Windows
- Reduced downforce on straights and lower speeds changed tyre behaviour, producing cold graining and novel thermal windows for tyres.
- Matt Trumpets links the change in harvesting and downforce to unexpected tyre reactions late on long straights.
Smooth Battery Deployment To Stop Ghosting Overtakes
- Reduce sudden battery power steps to avoid abrupt acceleration differences that create 'ghosting' overtakes.
- Spanners suggests smoothing battery deployment (e.g., constant 70/30 split) so overtakes don't teleport cars past each other.
