2026 Scuderia Ferrari HP F1 Team

[johnnycesup]

The way autoracer talks about the SF26, you would think it's for certain the fastest car. Odd that they only rank it 2nd.

I thought Leclerc did the most impressive race sims of anybody on the last Friday. However, we are told to fear Mercedes instead. Strange.

In my opinion, the italian media think Ferrari has the fastest car but are being superstitious about it.

They were very pessimistic before the Barcelona test because the rumours they got from their sources were of an underdeveloped/unreliable engine with mounted on a very rushed car (rushed to do the Fiorano launch and did not appear at the first Barcelona day).

Since the tests actually went well, the positive surprise has them feeling a bit more optimistic, and they are excited that some of the most interesting technical bits have come from Ferrari, but IMO they think Mercedes is first (would be my guess too).

[wowgr8]

The way autoracer talks about the SF26, you would think it's for certain the fastest car. Odd that they only rank it 2nd.

I thought Leclerc did the most impressive race sims of anybody on the last Friday. However, we are told to fear Mercedes instead. Strange.

In my opinion, the italian media think Ferrari has the fastest car but are being superstitious about it.

From the way they speak it sounds to me like the engine is the biggest doubt/unknown. Either Mercedes have a monster engine or Ferrari's engine isn't that strong. Donadoni has hinted at this a few times

[AR3-GP]

The way autoracer talks about the SF26, you would think it's for certain the fastest car. Odd that they only rank it 2nd.

I thought Leclerc did the most impressive race sims of anybody on the last Friday. However, we are told to fear Mercedes instead. Strange.

In my opinion, the italian media think Ferrari has the fastest car but are being superstitious about it.

From the way they speak it sounds to me like the engine is the biggest doubt/unknown. Either Mercedes have a monster engine or Ferrari's engine isn't that strong. Donadoni has hinted at this a few times

Are those recent comments or old comments? A long time ago AR was saying they would be lucky just to get into Q3 which clearly was wide of the mark.

[wowgr8]

Are those recent comments or old comments? A long time ago AR was saying they would be lucky just to get into Q3 which clearly was wide of the mark.

Recent comments, post-testing. He says stuff like "the engine remains to be seen", I'm paraphrasing

[Luscion]

The way autoracer talks about the SF26, you would think it's for certain the fastest car. Odd that they only rank it 2nd.

I thought Leclerc did the most impressive race sims of anybody on the last Friday. However, we are told to fear Mercedes instead. Strange.

In my opinion, the italian media think Ferrari has the fastest car but are being superstitious about it.

From the way they speak it sounds to me like the engine is the biggest doubt/unknown. Either Mercedes have a monster engine or Ferrari's engine isn't that strong. Donadoni has hinted at this a few times

Are those recent comments or old comments? A long time ago AR was saying they would be lucky just to get into Q3 which clearly was wide of the mark.

the engine worry were old comments from well before the tests and were just paddock rumors, the only thing they've said about it recently is that they basically have no clue how good or bad the engine is because Ferrari havent let any info out about it

[Sphere3758]

From the way they speak it sounds to me like the engine is the biggest doubt/unknown. Either Mercedes have a monster engine or Ferrari's engine isn't that strong. Donadoni has hinted at this a few times

Are those recent comments or old comments? A long time ago AR was saying they would be lucky just to get into Q3 which clearly was wide of the mark.

the engine worry were old comments from well before the tests and were just paddock rumors, the only thing they've said about it recently is that they basically have no clue how good or bad the engine is because Ferrari havent let any info out about it

F1 journalism is just a bunch of people making random sh*t up, mostly using past performance of the teams to bias their judgements. It is a good way to do it, as it usually works. Ferrari has flattered to deceive for so long that there is no trust in them.

[bananapeel23]

The way autoracer talks about the SF26, you would think it's for certain the fastest car. Odd that they only rank it 2nd.

I thought Leclerc did the most impressive race sims of anybody on the last Friday. However, we are told to fear Mercedes instead. Strange.

In my opinion, the italian media think Ferrari has the fastest car but are being superstitious about it.

From the way they speak it sounds to me like the engine is the biggest doubt/unknown. Either Mercedes have a monster engine or Ferrari's engine isn't that strong. Donadoni has hinted at this a few times

With that crazy reliability in testing compared to Mercedes, Ferrari must have been running it fairly conservatively. Meanwhile Mercedes must be struggling to unlock the full potential of their engine due to reliability, since they struggled with reliability despite allegedly sandbagging like crazy.

[f1Follower]

Will teams still Sandbag like in tests in FP1 to FP3 or will the teams show their hands?

[motobaleno]

Will teams still Sandbag like in tests in FP1 to FP3 or will the teams show their hands?

In my opinion no.
And for sure not in race sym laps. that would be very stupid.

[sucof]

I think they will, but to a smaller degree.
They will want to know exactly how fast they are, and with a lot of sandbagging that is not possible. But it is quite certain, until q2 or q3 they will not be on the limit.

[catent]

Ferrari seem to hide a bit during FPs since Vasseur's arrival.

I expect they will continue to do the same this season.

[motobaleno]

I think they will, but to a smaller degree.
They will want to know exactly how fast they are, and with a lot of sandbagging that is not possible. But it is quite certain, until q2 or q3 they will not be on the limit.

that's not sandbagging. it's the usual engine management of all the race weekends of the last many seasons.
They go really full beans only q2-q3

[catent]

The reduction in energy recovery during qualifying specifically can only help the likes of Leclerc and Hamilton, I'd imagine.

Both are late brakers who likely will thrive the harder they can push and the later they can brake. Less LICO required during flying laps can only suit their respective driving styles.

[bananapeel23]

I think they will, but to a smaller degree.
They will want to know exactly how fast they are, and with a lot of sandbagging that is not possible. But it is quite certain, until q2 or q3 they will not be on the limit.

that's not sandbagging. it's the usual engine management of all the race weekends of the last many seasons.
They go really full beans only q2-q3

Engine mode is set in stone for parc ferme when you roll out in Q1. In other words that’s when the engine is full beans.

[ScuderiaLeo]

Note: this is a change compared to 2025, not testing