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'25⋆. 𐙚 ˚ '26⋆. 𐙚 ˚ 26' expectations݁ ˖Ი𐑼⋆

2026: Expectations for Each Team

Ferrari

During the Barcelona testing, I had seen a lot of discussion about the speed of the Ferrari and the endurance during long runs. There is no doubt in my mind that Ferrari is the most anticipated group this year, especially with the change in the regulations this year.

One of the main reason as to why I’m excited to see the Ferrari at play this year is because of Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton has mentioned that he was ‘massively excited’ about the improvement if the Ferrari from December to now, setting the fastest lap time during the Barcelona testing. Charles Leclerc seems to agree with this sentiment, sharing his opinions on the new regulations: “We kind of have to relearn most of the programmes, we’ve got to understand the system a lot better in order to make the most out of it, so there are many, many implication also on the driver’s side.” This adds to my overall excitement as it increases my expectations of a great Ferrari and hopefully, a great year for both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.

Mclaren

It was an overall very strong testing for Mclaren but there seems to be something missing. The Mercedes has proved that they might be the benchmark team for this season. As Andrea Stella said ‘I think McLaren and Red Bull are probably very similar. Ferrari and Mercedes are a step ahead’ which is evident after the Barcelona and Bahrain testings. However, this does not mean they won’t have a chance at being championship contenders this year as they could be hiding some secret potential.

Mercedes

The buzz around Mercedes this year seems greater than ever, as they performed well in the Barcelona testing. One thing I’m anticipating to see is the performance of Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who was a rookie last year and finished 7th on the leader board. Antonelli has showed the fans that he is capable of holding his own against his more experienced teammate, George Russell. They will both have something to prove this year as they are both on 1-Year contracts, having to work extra hard to gain a new contract with Mercedes, especially when ToTo Wolff is rumoured to have his eyes on a certain dutchman. However, recently, there has been an apparent lawsuit against Mercedes and their engine. Although I do not know much, I will definitely look into it and write a blog about it!

Red Bull

The Red Bull engine seems to be one of the most reliable ones on the grid as of the second Bahrain testing. Isack Hadjar seems happy with how the car has been responding and working so far. However, Max Verstappen has shared his discomfort with the new regulations, describing the car to be like ‘Formula E on steroids.’ He criticised the energy management of the car and has complained that the car is not fun to drive.

Williams

While Williams were unable to participate in the Barcelona testing, they have been able to catch up with a decent car for now. However, compared to Haas, Alpine and the Racing Bulls, they seem to be doing worse with the new regulations, unable to keep up with the other midfield cars. Additionally, there are many concerns over the weight of the car, being severely over the weight limit. The only way we, as the audience, will really know what is happening with the car is when the season actually begins.

Haas

Haas seems to be one of the midfield teams that are getting to drips with the new regulations quite well. The Ferrari power unit appears fast already, so it would not be a surprise if Haas does well in Australia.

I don’t have much to say about Haas but hopefully they use their fairly successful 2025 season as a way to climb up the midfield ranks.

Alpine

Alpine seem to eb facing the same climb. After the disastrous season they had last year, it would be nice to see Alpine running in the top of the midfield grid. Alpine also set the fastest time in Bahrain on C5 soft tyres which is an amazing feat, especially when compared to last year. With this being Franco Colapinto’s second year fully being in Formula 1, hopefully he is able to show his potential with a much better car!

Racing Bulls

Compared to last year’s amazing season for the racing bulls, I personally think they will be able to keep that momentum going forward, especially with the new rookie, Arvid Lindblad. During the second Bahrain testing, they were able to show the efficiencies of the power unit as well as setting some fast pace laps. Although there are some doubt that they won’t be able to keep up with Haas or Alpine, I think, with the right upgrades, the racing bulls could becoming a top midfield car this year.

Audi and Cadillac

I feel like it is right to put them on the same standing because we don’t know much about how they will perform. As they are new and coming into a season where the regulations are also new, it might give them an advantage OR disadvantage so all we can do for now is wait and see

The end⁠♡

I hope you enjoyed this and if you have an opinion, please comment down below.

Happy 2026 season!

3 responses to “2026: Expectations for Each Team”

  1. mindfully2750e7c2a2 Avatar
    mindfully2750e7c2a2

    thanks for this💕loved itttt xoxox

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  2. 86ybvbqgqd Avatar
    86ybvbqgqd

    love this! excited to see what hadjar brings!

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    1. sumaya ali Avatar
      sumaya ali

      me too!! i have high hopes for him

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'25⋆. 𐙚 ˚ the end⟡

End of Season conclusion: The Best and The Worst

As the season is coming to an end, I want to write about what I believe was the best and worst moments of the season. If I had missed anything that you think could fit into these categories, please comment down below!

The Best

The Chinese sprint for Lewis Hamilton fans was arguably the highlight of their season. Him winning gave hope to many people that he will have a great comeback. However, due to the certain incompetence of Ferrari, this was the last major success for Hamilton as they refused to fix their car.

Nico Hulkenburg’s podium was also a high of the season, achieving his first podium after 239 Grand Prix starts.

Carlos Sainz double podium for Williams was to many a good sign that he will achieve great things at Williams, not needing Ferrari to get podiums.

The rookies were probably the best thing that came out of this season as they brought entertainment, talent and success throughout the entire season. Kimi with 3 podiums, Isack Hadjar with 1 and Bortoleto and Bearman coming very close to achieving a podium in midfield cars. They have been a great addition to the grid in my opinion.

Oscar Piastri and Lando’s title fight has been fun before Max was involved in it too because it was interesting to see how Mclaren manage both drivers who are championship contenders. However, that’s where everything goes wrong but I will talk about this later on.

Zandvoort was also an overall great weekend, especially for me as seeing Isack Hadjar get a podium made my season. His determination has led him to this point and even if he doubted himself in the moment, i’m glad he was able to prove people wrong by achieving this podium.

The Bad

Australia seemed to be a bad race for many drivers on the grid, but especially for Isack and Oscar, one of which crashed during the formation lap and the other spun when he was running in the top 3, and ended up at P9. It was heart-breaking to see especially when you realise that it was Hadjar’s first race and Oscar’s home race, both having an emotional end to their races.

The Red Bull switch from Liam Lawson to Yuki Tsunoda was a very emotional part of this year, especially when you realise that it was neither of their faults that their cars were borderline undriveable. They were both blamed for not being able to keep up with Max Verstappen when the car was still using old parts while Verstappen’s were upgraded quite frequently.

The performance of Ferrari to many people was extremely disappointing to witness. Ferrari had promised to build on their car from last year, but instead of doing that, they managed to create a worse car, one that can’t even turn corners without massive under/oversteer. Moreover, Elkaan blaming the drivers instead of the people working on the car just shows the overall lack of respect Ferrari has for its drivers.

Personally, I thought the discussion about Max Verstappen moving to Mercedes was extremely boring and overdone, just recycling what other media sources have ‘found’. Everything was just speculation and quite frankly, silly, because Verstappen has a contract with Red Bull until 2027 so he wouldn’t have moved anyways.

In my opinion, I liked this season the best when it was only Lando and Oscar fighting for the championship. Adding Max into the mix made the season become more tense, which isn’t fun when you are trying to have a good weekend afterwards.

End.

With the season coming to an end, I wanted to write about the best and the worst moments of the season. Hopefully, you guys can also write down your opinions in the comment section!!

See you guys when the the 2026 season starts.-`♡´-

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'25⋆. 𐙚 ˚ hot takes 𓏲ּ𝄢

My F1 opinions/Hot takes

Lewis Hamilton is the undisputed GOAT.

Hamilton has had one of the most impressive careers of all time. His rookie season alone is evidence of his skill as he was only one point away from winning the Worlds Drivers championship, going on to win it in his second year in Formula 1. He then won 6 more championships with Mercedes. Just because he is having one bad season doesn’t erase his impact and dominance for almost a decade. Lewis Hamilton is bigger than Formula 1, whether you like it or not.

Ferrari is unreliable and don’t deserve loyalty.

Charles Leclerc and many f1 fans have dedicated their lives to Ferrari and I simply cannot wrap my head around it because Ferrari has done nothing BUT disappoint. A win here and there wasn’t promised. Fans were promised that Ferrari will win all the time.

These are the most impressive group of Rookies ever.

The 2025 rookies have impressed everyone for the entire year. Even when half of them were doubted continuously by the media, they have proved everyone wrong by scoring high in midfield cars (Apart from Kimi Antonelli who drives for Mercedes).

Alonso isn’t as impressive as people make him seem to be.

This might seem very crude but in my opinion, Fernando Alonso was good for 2 years and has just declined from then on. He hasn’t been on the podium since 2023 and hasn’t won a race since 2013. I feel like he is the definition of not hanging it up when the sport leaves you.

Sponsor VS Nepotism

Being sponsored doesn’t mean they aren’t a good driver. There is a difference between being sponsored by a company that wants to see that driver in Formula one, to having your billionaire father buy you a whole Formula One team just so you can continuously be on the grid. I’m not saying Stroll doesn’t have talent, I’m just talking about the unfair nature of his position on the grid, as it reduces the opportunity for other upcoming drivers.

Alpine’s management is worse than Red Bull.

Most people hate the way Redbull manage their drivers and team, which is very valid and understandable, but in my opinion, Alpine is much worse and almost psychological in the way they degrade their drivers. They ridicule their drivers (especially the ‘second driver’ through videos of them slamming chairs and shaking their heads in despair. Yes, they have every right to be disappointed but instead of just blaming the drivers, they should start looking inward and fix their car.

Parasocial Fans and the damage of it.

I have seen and watched fans defend their favourite drivers through thick and thin and it is fine if they are defending them from something that isn’t true. But when a driver does something that isn’t right, I think there should be a space where you are allowed to criticise them despite them being your favourite driver.

VCARB has changed how F1 teams market their drivers.

By catering to Gen Z with their TikTok trends and overall fun videos, VCARB have gained many fans this year simply because of the light-hearted nature of their social media accounts. Both their drivers, Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson, are presented to be fun drivers who get the job done at the end of the weekend, not pushing their drivers to do awkward and quite frankly, embarrassing videos during Media day. I love VCARB’s social media team so much. They genuinely have a way to bring your mood up after a bad race week.

2 responses to “My F1 opinions/Hot takes”

  1. megan Avatar
    megan

    Overall great blog post with great points! Particularly the point about parasocial fans was interesting. I’ve been in other fandoms (bands, youtubers, etc) that have very parasocial fans. But the F1 fandom in my experience seems particularly unhinged, but also very conservative (and often racist, misogynistic!!! etc). I think because of this people let their drivers get away with almost anything, which I wasn’t as used to in other fandoms. Also, slight side tangent, I think wag culture is idolized in such a strange and parasocial way. It almost makes me think of trad wife tiktokers. And I’m not saying that to diminish their work, but rather the way fans view them. It’s like they view wags as these perfect, clean girl, soft, conservative, women who are attached to the driver. Not as individuals. Whereas in reality most of the wags are standing on their own feet without the driver. They’re models, students, actors, etc but people kind of turn them into self insert fanfiction.. Because f1 drivers and wags are very rich and untouchable, much more than say, youtubers, fans reallyyyy put them on a pedestal and ignore any mistakes they make. They defend them over anything when they already hold so much power… But also I think that lends into the fact that they are so rich, so conservative, so white, so quiet against social issues, that their fans refuse to see their wrongs… I wish more drivers stood for things outside of themselves, and I wish more fans expected that of them. Anyways I’m just rambling. None of this was well organized or planned out, nor complete thoughts. This was all just a tangent.

    Though there was one thing I disagreed with, and that was your point on Alonso. While I understand why people view Alonso as overhyped, he hasn’t won in over a decade. But when you say “I feel like he is the definition of not hanging it up when the sport leaves you” I think you misunderstand the reason he’s driving, or maybe you just value different things. He knows he isn’t going to be winning for the rest of his career, he’s said that. He joined AM to help develop a new team, saying that he’s here because he enjoys driving and he hopes that by being one of the first in AM, he’s setting up future drivers at a chance of winning with the team. So while he isn’t winning, I don’t think the sport got away from him, I think he’s just enjoying it from a different perspective. 

    Anyways, overall loved the blog!!! Super interesting points and I would love to see you expand on them more in the future if thats something you wish to do!! :)))

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. sumaya ali Avatar
      sumaya ali

      i completely agree with you about the wag culture argument!! I have always felt that the media uses their girlfriends/wives as an identity instead of a human with a job like the rest. Also, I remember when Isack was having girlfriend allegations, ‘fans’ immediately jumped to make a fanpage of the poor woman even though nothing was confirmed. They are so quick to jump to conclusions about things like this and its quite embarassing. I also agree with what you said about defending drivers, especially those who haven’t stated their opinions clearly or at all.

      With the Alonso thing, I was a bit harsh with my wording and I can totally see your side of the argument. I love seeing different opinions about drivers so THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE COMMENT!!!!

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'25⋆. 𐙚 ˚ papaya⋆.˚

The Joke of Papaya Rules

The 2025 Formula 1 season has been McLaren’s best in over a decade with race wins, podiums, and a genuine title fight. But beneath the celebration lies a familiar tension: the sense that, no matter how much changes, the Papaya Rules still bend toward Lando Norris.

McLaren insists on equality between its two drivers. Yet when it comes to the big moments like strategy calls, pit stop priorities, and team orders, the orange always seems to glow a little brighter on Lando’s side of the garage.

Take Monza. After Norris lost time in a botched pit stop, Oscar Piastri undercut his way into second place. It should have been a straightforward position swap earned on merit. Instead, McLaren stepped in, asking Piastri to hand the spot back. Team principal Andrea Stella defended it as “consistent with our principles,” but the optics were obvious: when there’s a tough call, Norris gets the nod.

That moment summed up McLaren’s dynamic perfectly, polished on the outside, political on the inside. Piastri accepted the decision with trademark composure, saying the team had “valid reasons.” But for fans, it looked like déjà vu. Different year, same hierarchy.

The situation feels even sharper because Piastri isn’t the quiet rookie anymore. He’s won races, matched Lando on pace, and proven himself as one of the grid’s most disciplined, methodical drivers. Yet when things get tight, he’s still treated like the junior partner. He’s the one asked to hold position, the one told to think “about the team,” while Lando is free to chase the win.

McLaren’s reasoning isn’t irrational. Norris is the team’s emotional core as he is the driver who stuck through the lean years, the one who built relationships across the garage, and the face of their brand. That kind of loyalty earns trust. It’s no surprise that when decisions must be made in a split second, the team instinctively leans toward their long-time driver. But in a season where both are fighting at the front, those instincts come under more scrutiny than ever.

Even the team’s upgrade patterns fuel the narrative. Time and again, Lando receives new components a race earlier officially for “testing” reasons, but the result is the same: he gets first shot at the potential advantage. When you’re separated by tenths of a second, that’s not a small detail.

Then there’s the messaging. After incidents like the Canadian collision, where Norris admitted to breaking the “rule number one” by hitting his teammate, McLaren moved swiftly to defend him. The tone was protective, contrite, but not critical. It’s a leniency Piastri’s never needed but might not get if the roles were reversed.

The truth is, Papaya Rules aren’t written to be unfair, they’re born from familiarity. Norris has been in papaya orange for six seasons; he’s earned influence through time, trust, and talent. But equality in Formula 1 isn’t just about machinery, it’s about perception. And right now, perception says that when the chips are down, McLaren still dances to Lando’s rhythm.

Oscar Piastri is patient. He’s smart enough to know these things don’t shift overnight. But as 2025 edges toward its finale, one thing feels clear: McLaren may talk about balance, but the heart of the papaya still beats for its original son.

One response to “The Joke of Papaya Rules”

  1. mindfully2750e7c2a2 Avatar
    mindfully2750e7c2a2

    go papaya go!!

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