How Fast Are F1 Teams Developing in 2026? 🏎️📈
Let's compare the fastest qualifying times at four key circuits in 2025 and 2026: Australia, Monaco, Monza and Singapore.
Fastest qualifying times
Race | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|
Australia 🇦🇺 | 1:15.096 | 1:18.518 |
Monaco 🇲🇨 | 1:09.954 | 1:12.051 |
Monza 🇮🇹 | 1:18.792 | 1:21.786 |
Singapore 🇸🇬 | 1:29.158 | 1:31.373 |
It's important to remember that the 2025 cars were at the end of their development cycle, while the 2026 cars were at the very beginning. As teams optimise these new-generation machines, we should see further significant performance gains.
The gaps to 2025
Race | 2025 | 2026 gap |
|---|---|---|
Australia 🇦🇺 | 1:15.096 | +3.422s |
Monaco 🇲🇨 | 1:09.954 | +2.097s |
Monza 🇮🇹 | 1:18.792 | +2.994s |
Singapore 🇸🇬 | 1:29.158 | +2.215s |
The gaps are already reduced by almost 40% down in 17 races.
And remember: Singapore's lap is only about 338 metres shorter than Australia's Albert Park lap, yet the absolute lap times differ enormously because of the circuits' layouts and characteristics.
That is F1 engineering: developing, refining and finding performance. How much faster will these cars be by the end of 2026? 👀
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The Overtake of the Race in Singapore 🇸🇬
We rarely see many overtakes on Singapore’s street circuit, let alone one as beautiful as this — a move requiring imagination, precision, bravery, supreme car control and pure racecraft.
Ollie Bearman spent almost a full lap battling wheel-to-wheel with his teammate Esteban Ocon before setting his sights on Carlos Sainz.
The Spaniard tried to defend, but Bearman sold him the ultimate dummy, forcing the Williams driver onto one line before instantly switching to the opposite and snatching the position.
One of the most beautiful overtakes we’ve seen at this circuit. Pure class, Ollie Bearman! 👏🏎️
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More Details on the FIA’s Latest Blunder
More Details on the FIA’s Latest Blunder
It’s becoming increasingly clear that the FIA failed to reactivate Overtake Mode after the red flag in SQ1, reportedly costing cars around 10–12 km/h in straight-line speed.
Then came the most concerning part: Overtake Mode was reactivated for just 27 seconds, potentially giving an unfair advantage to drivers who could exploit it.
Based on the telemetry and timing, Albon, Stroll and LIN appear to have been the most affected in their fight to reach SQ2, with Sainz potentially losing out to a lesser extent.
We’re fortunate that the championship is practically decided. In a closer fight, an error like this could have directly influenced the outcome.
Qualifying should be decided by performance on track — not by whether the FIA’s software and procedures work as they should. 🏎️💻
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🏎️ The Fastest Lap Team
All images and videos used in The Fastest Lap Newsletter are our own or have been provided by our partners, including https://www.spasgp.com/
The Fastest Lap Newsletter is an independent project and is not affiliated with Formula 1 or any F1 team.
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Tomorrow, best. 🏎️