Gravel F1

Breaking F1 News & Telemetry Data.

For partnership inquiries: @f1oppya

[Gravel F1 @graveldata]

@vetteltonin early than last year sooo yeah youre right😁😁

[Gravel F1 @graveldata]

@DanNoSkill2 early than last year 😁

[Gravel F1 @graveldata]

@BigBadP yep, our mistake, we include two seasons (2012,2013)

[Gravel F1 @graveldata]

😂 In 2012, the Lotus Formula 1 team offered Kimi Räikkönen a contract under which he would receive €50,000 for every point he earned that season

These days, that seems rather unusual, but at the time, the team believed that Kimi would either score no points at all or no more than 30–35 points, and that his total earnings would not exceed €1,500,000.

By the end of the season, Kimi Räikkönen had scored 390 points, earned €19,500,000, and nearly drove Lotus into bankruptcy.
Not all businessmen are businessmen

#F1 #Kimi

[Gravel F1 @graveldata]

🔴 Valtteri Bottas is the unluckiest driver of the 2026 season. Let’s take another look at what happened at the São Paulo Grand Prix.

As it turned out, Bottas was prevented from starting by a wheel nut that wouldn’t turn and became completely jammed.

Bottas’s car was brought back to the pits, where it took the Cadillac mechanics six hours to finally remove the wheel.

“It’s a shame we couldn’t start today,” Bottas said. “Before our formation lap, we tried to change the tire set, but we couldn’t unscrew the nut on the right rear wheel. We’re not sure what caused it, but we’ll learn from this and, hopefully, won’t run into this again. At least we had some decent pace at times during qualifying. We’ll regroup ahead of the final races and focus on ending the season on a high note.”

Although this kind of failure is rare, this isn’t the first time Bottas’s race has been cut short.

In 2021, the Finn retired from the Monaco Grand Prix: during a pit stop, a wheel nut seized onto the hub of his Mercedes.

“The nut was so damaged that it was impossible to remove it, so we simply had no choice but to shut down the car,” Mercedes’ chief race engineer Andrew Shovlin explained at the time.

#F1

[Gravel F1 @graveldata]

@HaasF1Team *accepted*

[Gravel F1 @graveldata]

🚨🚨 Honda has once again encountered engine reliability issues. This could affect the current racing season as well as the 2027 season.

In Brazil, Lance Stroll retired from his second consecutive race due to battery problems. The malfunction occurred twice over the weekend, and Lance didn’t even complete half the race distance. In 2026, Stroll managed to finish only 6 out of 20 races. That’s incredibly low for an F1 driver

However, in recent races, Aston Martin has miraculously come back to life. Alonso scored points in Malaysia, showed good pace in Austin despite underbody damage, and in Brazil advanced to Q3 for the first time this season—but new technical issues arose: In Mexico, Alonso had a cooling system failure, and in Brazil, as already mentioned, battery issues marred the weekend, despite Fernando advancing to Q3

Shintaro Orihara said they are trying to identify the root cause of the failures:
We need to identify the true root cause of this failure by next year. Otherwise, we’ll continue to face the same problem

The most concerning thing is that reliability has deteriorated significantly compared to the middle of the season. Back then, the cars were finishing races more often: Alonso completed as many as five races in a row without retiring, Lance finished two out of three races before the summer break, and now the team is once again facing malfunctions

There are speculations that some of the problems may be related to component wear or attempts to increase the load on the engine to boost performance. But regarding the battery issue that arose in Brazil, it’s still too early to say what caused it.

Adding to all these problems is the fact that Honda has yet to achieve the expected progress in powertrain performance. The internal combustion engine still lags significantly behind competitors in terms of power, despite updates throughout the season. Therefore, the decline in reliability without a noticeable increase in speed creates additional pressure and scrutiny.

All of this is hindering preparations for 2027, as Honda needs to improve both the engine’s performance and reliability. Investigating the causes of breakdowns takes time and resources, limits testing capabilities on the test bench, and eats into the budget. First, there was the cooling system issue in Mexico—whatever its exact cause—and now a battery-related malfunction: all of this is distracting Honda from its planned development path, along which the company ideally should have already progressed much further.

#F1 #AstonMartin

[Gravel F1 @graveldata]

🇦🇺 @OscarPiastri may have considered leaving McLaren, but Mark Webber was unable to find him a suitable alternative

Red Bull and Mercedes were mentioned among the possible destinations

However, Oscar’s contract runs until 2028, and McLaren are happy with their current line-up. Rumours of the driver’s interest in other teams had been circulating even before the summer break, but there is no confirmation of this

#F1 #McLaren

[Gravel F1 @graveldata]

@OSCLIVlA @OscarPiastri We put up the wrong flag haha!

[Gravel F1 @graveldata]

To mark @MercedesAMGF1 victory in the Constructors Championship, let’s take a look at who has won this title throughout the history of F1.

🇮🇹 Ferrari - 16 (1961, 1964, 1975-1977, 1979, 1982-1983, 1999-2004, 2007-2008)

🇬🇧 McLaren - 10 (1974, 1984-1985, 1988-1991, 1998, 2024-2025)

🇬🇧 Williams - 9 (1980-1981, 1986-1987, 1992-1994, 1996-1997)

🇩🇪 Mercedes - 9 (2014-2021, 2026)

🇬🇧 Lotus - 7 (1963, 1965, 1968, 1970, 1972-1973, 1978)

🇦🇹 Red Bull - 6 (2010-2013, 2022-2023)

🇬🇧 Cooper - 2 (1959, 1960)

🇬🇧 Brabham - 2 (1966, 1967)

🇫🇷 Renault - 2 (2005, 2006)

🇬🇧 BrawnGP - 1 (2009)

🇮🇹 Benetton - 1 (1995)

🇬🇧 Tyrell - 1 (1971)

🇫🇷 Matra - 1 (1969)

🇬🇧 BRM - 1 (1962)

🇬🇧 Vanwall - 1 (1958)

#F1 #Mercedes

[Gravel F1 @graveldata]

🇮🇹 Imola has abandoned preparations for a possible Formula 1 race this year

Imola: Hi, we've got everything ready to host the race
FIA: Sorry, we don't need you anymore

#F1 #Imola

[Gravel F1 @graveldata]

@ScuderiaFerrari @LewisHamilton @Charles_Leclerc I think you’ve left someone out…

[Gravel F1 @graveldata]

🇬🇧 Lando Norris, following the incident on the podium in Brazil:

How’s my ear? My ear’s fine. Thanks for asking! The problem is that everyone’s like: why did you go straight there (towards the sparks)? Because I got champagne in my eyes, so I couldn’t see a thing. I didn’t know where I was going. I don’t think people realise how painful and stinging it is when you get champagne in your eyes.

I didn’t know where I was going, and suddenly my ear started to feel quite hot. I couldn’t see what was happening, so I just felt it. I was already in shock that my bottle had broken for the first time in my life.

But it didn’t hurt. I just felt something on my ear and thought it was a fly.

#F1 #LandoNorris

[Gravel F1 @graveldata]

🇳🇱 MAX FURRRSTAPPEN

The @Max33Verstappen family has welcomed even more “furry residents”. There are now four cats and two dogs living in the house
Kelly quipped that there are now more pets in the family than people

#F1 #verstappen

[Gravel F1 @graveldata]

🇬🇧 @LewisHamilton Rough Brazilian GP: Dealing with Tire Issues, Rain, and Communication Breakdowns with Ferrari
Team radio chatter revealed just how messy communication was between Lewis Hamilton and his race engineer, Carlo Santi.

Despite starting 20th due to a grid penalty, Lewis put together an incredible opening lap to rocket up to 9th. However, early on, his rear tires started acting up—overheating and leaving Lewis complaining about a complete lack of grip.
By Lap 7, he was told to give the position back to Bearman after overtaking him off-track. As it turned out, that wasn't even necessary. The stewards reviewed the incident later and concluded that Bearman had drifted right, forcing Lewis off-track to avoid a collision, meaning he didn't actually gain a lasting advantage.
As the track began to dry, Hamilton was raring to switch to slicks. On Lap 9, he reported severe rear tire overheating and asked if he could pit. Santi told him the team was going to wait it out. By Lap 12, Lewis noted a dry line was appearing, and on Lap 13, he requested a pit stop for the following lap. Ferrari finally called him in on Lap 14. He switched to softs, becoming one of the first to pit and triggering a wave of pit stops across the grid.
While Lewis felt better on the slicks, his pace started dropping off. On Lap 39, Ferrari called him in for another stop. While Hamilton was in the pit lane, Norris - who hadn't pitted yet—flew past and put a lap on him.
That's when total confusion set in. Once back on track, Hamilton tried to figure out what just happened:

Santi later explained that Ferrari was trying to undercut Hülkenberg and close the gap to Russell while fighting for 7th. Meanwhile, Norris still hadn't pitted and was leading the race.
On fresh softs, Lewis managed to pick up the pace. On Lap 43, he reported seeing blue flags, even though he had just unlapped himself against Norris. Lewis asked what he should do, and Santi told him to keep pushing and build a gap of over a second so he wouldn't have to let the leader back through. By the next lap, Lewis reported the gap was already up to two seconds. He got his lap back, but that pit stop had still left him completely out of the running:
H: What's the gap?
S: 30 seconds.
H: Guys, why are we 30 seconds back?
S: Because we pitted.
H: Okay, and what does that mean? Because now I'm so far back.
S: And now we are P8. We're this far back because we pitted and the others didn't.
The rain returned for the final stretch of the race.
On Laps 56 and 57, Santi warned about incoming rain, and on Lap 61, Ferrari called Hamilton in for intermediates. However, Hamilton missed the pit entry. At that point, his race completely unraveled. He stayed out on the wet track until he spun out on the approach to the pits, though he managed to recover and finally swap his tires:

After losing all that time, Hamilton was lapped once again and crossed the finish line in ninth place.
After the race, Lewis explained that the last update he got from the team was that the drizzle was holding steady. They never warned him that the rain had picked up heavily around Turn 1. Hamilton thought he could survive on slicks and admitted that staying out was ultimately his call. However, he made it clear: if he had known the conditions were changing, he would have pitted.
Post-race, Fred Vasseur blamed Ferrari’s struggles on tire performance, pressures, and temperatures. He suggested that tire pressures played a big role in their early-race struggles:
"It was probably a matter of tire pressure. You can't have a first lap like that and not pay the price for it later."

#F1 #BrazilGP #Ferrari

[Gravel F1 @graveldata]

🇦🇪 Mohammed Ben Sulayem has proposed eliminating age limits for top leadership positions within the @fia.

The proposal will be reviewed at the General Assembly next month. Currently, candidates over the age of 75 are barred from holding these positions.

Ben Sulayem previously succeeded in removing presidential term limits. This new initiative is raising questions about his intention to hold onto power.

#F1 #FIA #LasVegasGP

[Gravel F1 @graveldata]

🇳🇿 Liam Lawson is close to extending his contract with @visacashapprb

Although the shareholders of parent company Red Bull have not yet made a final decision, the publication has learned that Lawson will most likely receive approval and remain a race driver for the team in 2027. An official announcement is expected before the next race in Las Vegas

According to available information, VCARB considered its drivers’ performances at this triple-header to be crucial for finalizing the 2027 lineup. Tsolov strengthened his position thanks to a strong showing in FP1 in Mexico. This occurred on the same weekend that Liam received a penalty for an incident with Max during practice. But he redeemed himself in the race, finishing seventh. However, it was Liam’s superb form in Brazil that, by all accounts, ultimately solidified his position and virtually left Red Bull with no grounds to justify a decision not to retain him on the team for 2027.

According to available information, Lawson has the support of Permain, who highly values his driver’s speed and consistency this season. This support is significant, as Permain’s influence within the Red Bull organization has grown following last week’s announcement of his contract extension. But the decision isn’t made by Permain alone. Both Red Bull’s management and the parent company’s shareholders may weigh in. Of course, they could go against the preferences of the VCARB team itself, but that would be unusual. Furthermore, the decision to replace such a strong incumbent driver with a rookie whose capabilities have not yet been tested in F1 would pose a serious financial risk. Lawson has played a huge role in VCARB’s fifth-place finish in the Constructors’ Championship. This could be the team’s best result in history and bring in millions of dollars in additional prize money. Liam’s points alone will be enough to secure fifth place for the team

One of the options discussed involved signing a contract with Tsolov for 2028. In that case, Lawson and Lindblad would effectively be competing against each other next season for the right to become his future teammate. However, according to available information, this option is not being seriously considered; all decisions will most likely pertain only to the 2027 lineup

#F1 #VCARB

[Gravel F1 @graveldata]

Sounds like
— We’re checking - unnamed person 😁

#F1 #BrazilGP

[Gravel F1 @graveldata]

🔴 All the penalties handed out to drivers at the #BrazilGP this past weekend

#F1