2026 Scuderia Ferrari HP F1 Team

[ryaan2904]

Tbh Lec and Ham both had a lot of oversteer moments especially coming out if turn 14 and also turn 5-6. But its good they are having them now, they'll come prepared in Aus

[atanatizante]

https://i.ibb.co/9HX5RffW/Bahrain-practice1-Ferrari.png

I know it's largely meaningless at this stage, highly depends on how much the driver is pushing, PU mode, fuel levels, and so on, but a comparison of the lap times set on 3rd day between the top 5 drivers, the tires used, and their wear can be found in the photo below:



In detail, the above results were discussed in the video below at minute 15:35 on the following link:

[atanatizante]

Points from Autoracer's livestream

...

. All that power coming on suddenly has an impact on the tires, which tend to spin and overheat.[/list]

...

All the teams had this issue except the Mercedes-powered teams, and the issue is an electrical power deployment rather than an ICE one. So all other teams are working flat out on the MGU-K deployment mappings, facing the following dilemma: how to set up a deployment map that wears less on the rear tyre but also doesn't cost you much time lap? Worth mentioning that Pirelli is a little worried after Barcelona regarding the rear tyres wearing out too much, caused by the powerful electric deployment out of the corner, which is much needed in order to set a quick lap time ...

[atanatizante]

Now, regarding the driving techniques, the deployment maps, etc., that are needed in the 2026 regs (don't know if this thread is the right place to do that), the hot topic these days is about what the drivers would need to do regarding the best way to manage the energy through a lap. In the following video, the driver and mental coaching mentor Martin is evaluating the pros and cons of the main driver techniques regarding energy management for 2026 (from the 13:01 minute mark):

[johnnycesup]

That first stint from Hamilton is actually quite encouraging given how much the laptime varies from one lap to the next. To me, that probably means they are trying different things on the electrical side of the PU for that stint, and their average pace would be a bit faster than the 40.28 they recorded if they ran a program closer to the second stint.

[f1316]

I think the consensus is that the Ferrari certainly looks less planted than, say, the Mercedes on push laps. It seems like the strength is longer runs at the moment and I think Hamilton’s first and third stints (shame there’s no Kimi reference for the third) in particular looked good - the second stint is still good but not quite as good as Kimi; the hard tyres may be part of that, as Mercedes is generally better of getting heat into those in cooler conditions.

The missing part is Charles’ run and the general trackside impression is that the car looks better with him driving it. Still a bit lary when on full push but he can handle it a bit better at the moment. I think that run from Charles is the most encouraging thing of the week and if they had to run the race tomorrow, my bet is that we’d be a bit off in quali but pretty strong in the race (podium contenders).

We don’t have to run the race tomorrow though so lots will happen both on and off track (eg potential reg changes could make a difference - not just compression ratios but also starts and potentially other conversations around super clipping, per lap energy limits in the race etc). I think Ferrari still have more to come on the car - eg lighter weight chassis and possibly more, we’ll see - but so do others. So the ebb and flow of that car development will be interesting to watch.

My overall impression is 2024 level competitiveness - not 2022 or even 2017, but a solid base to hopefully build on.

[f1isgood]

Now that I think about Ferrari this year, it's basically 2022 again. They threw away 2021 barring a battery pack upgrade and then came out with a good car. It would be interesting to see if they have a base concept that can last four years unlike last time.

[PlatinumZealot]

I found always strange no one talked about such systems before.
While having such solutions would be a given to optimise basically everything.

There's a fine line in the regulations if I'm not mistaken. Renault was disqualified from the 2019 Japanese GP for using a distance-based system to automatically adjust the brake bias. It was deemed a "driver-aid" but what is not a driver aid? Power steering is a driver aid.

I meant systems that are not on the car. I know in car these are forbidden.
But you can still collect data, and then pre program everything based on that, also teach the driver how to drive the fastest laps.
You can use off track supercomputers, LLMs, to do this, they will provide you with all the optimal settings and methods for every meter of the track.

The engine learning systems has been around since the Hybrid engines. Honda was very open and transparent tuning their MGUK deplyment and charging at different tracks. The ECU can do this with its onboard "navigation" it knows where the car is on track. This is why Lewis highlights that the car's deployment autotune (for lack of a better term) gets messed up when he careens off track.

[johnnycesup]

Now, regarding the driving techniques, the deployment maps, etc., that are needed in the 2026 regs (don't know if this thread is the right place to do that), the hot topic these days is about what the drivers would need to do regarding the best way to manage the energy through a lap. In the following video, the driver and mental coaching mentor Martin is evaluating the pros and cons of the main driver techniques regarding energy management for 2026 (from the 13:01 minute mark):

https://postimages.org/

He does miss one big factor (for me). For the same amount of regen, superclipping is a lot faster than lift and coast

[ryaan2904]

Now, regarding the driving techniques, the deployment maps, etc., that are needed in the 2026 regs (don't know if this thread is the right place to do that), the hot topic these days is about what the drivers would need to do regarding the best way to manage the energy through a lap. In the following video, the driver and mental coaching mentor Martin is evaluating the pros and cons of the main driver techniques regarding energy management for 2026 (from the 13:01 minute mark):

https://postimages.org/

He does miss one big factor (for me). For the same amount of regen, superclipping is a lot faster than lift and coast

With superclipping these cars come down from 1000 to 300-400 hp
Someone finger-wagged bicycle racing in an earlier answer on this thread, maybe in the next 10 years we can actually achieve that level in formula 1

[deadhead]

Now that I think about Ferrari this year, it's basically 2022 again. They threw away 2021 barring a battery pack upgrade and then came out with a good car. It would be interesting to see if they have a base concept that can last four years unlike last time.

We have no idea how the 2022 concept would’ve evolved because it got destroyed by technical directives and rule changes.

[Paa]

He does miss one big factor (for me). For the same amount of regen, superclipping is a lot faster than lift and coast

With superclipping these cars come down from 1000 to 300-400 hp

Still better than 0 hp of LiCo.

[johnnycesup]

He does miss one big factor (for me). For the same amount of regen, superclipping is a lot faster than lift and coast

With superclipping these cars come down from 1000 to 300-400 hp

Still better than 0 hp of LiCo.

When he's talking about Lift and Coast he means lift and regen, so it's more like -350kW = -470hp, not zero.

I think even the extra fuel weight from superclipping is well worth it.

[f1isgood]

Now that I think about Ferrari this year, it's basically 2022 again. They threw away 2021 barring a battery pack upgrade and then came out with a good car. It would be interesting to see if they have a base concept that can last four years unlike last time.

We have no idea how the 2022 concept would’ve evolved because it got destroyed by technical directives and rule changes.

That's a bad line of reasoning. If you base a concept off something that can be outdone by a TD it's a bad concept. Car was bouncing, red flag with suspension design. Flexi floor saga was also a red flag. It was a bad concept that died rightly early. That said it should have been allowed to have lasted at least one full year. In that regard Toto got Ferrari nailed.

[dialtone]

Now that I think about Ferrari this year, it's basically 2022 again. They threw away 2021 barring a battery pack upgrade and then came out with a good car. It would be interesting to see if they have a base concept that can last four years unlike last time.

We have no idea how the 2022 concept would’ve evolved because it got destroyed by technical directives and rule changes.

That's a bad line of reasoning. If you base a concept off something that can be outdone by a TD it's a bad concept. Car was bouncing, red flag with suspension design. Flexi floor saga was also a red flag. It was a bad concept that died rightly early. That said it should have been allowed to have lasted at least one full year. In that regard Toto got Ferrari nailed.

That’s what I say about the blown diffuser as well, or using brake cooling ducts to heat up tires or flexible wings. If your concept can’t win races without an engine then it’s no good concept.

Cars should just be lego bricks to make sure that no rule change can possibly mess up their performance.