2026 Scuderia Ferrari HP F1 Team

[ali623]

Leclerc:

“FP1 was good for us, but in FP2 Mercedes gradually started to show their potential and we began to see where we fall short compared to them.”

“I think they are very strong, especially in terms of race pace. I don’t know how much faster they can get in qualifying, but in terms of race pace they seem quite strong compared to us.”

“We have a lot of work to do, but I’m not focusing on that too much. There are a lot of things we need to improve on our car. I tried a pretty aggressive setup in FP2 and didn’t get the result I wanted, so tomorrow I’ll go back to a more reasonable setup range and see how it looks.”

“Oscar did a very impressive lap, but I don’t know what they were trying out between the cars, because Lando was quite far behind. Maybe they’re testing different things between the cars.”

“However, this is the first race with completely new cars, so there are still many question marks. In the longer runs, a clearer picture of everyone's performance is emerging now.”

“I hope I’m wrong and we’ll be much faster tomorrow, but right now Mercedes is a step ahead, followed by Red Bull, McLaren and then us.”

“We still have work to do, as I’ve always said, Melbourne and Shanghai are the two toughest tracks for me throughout the season, and I always push myself a bit harder here, which is a whole other challenge,”

“But that shouldn’t be an excuse. I’m enjoying this fight and I’ll work hard tomorrow to turn this situation around.”

[Matt2725]

Mercedes so far looks a decent bit ahead.

"Long run" from Russel looked quite good but it is hard to tell as Ferrari did 10 and 13 laps on their hards before the qualy simulation before coming back out on the same hards. Russell's hards had only 5 laps when hopped back on to them.

Piastri's long run didn't seem to good, Antonelli started getting slower, looked like deg, but Russell's didn't seem to have any real drop off at all.

Sure although Russell was getting quicker as the laps went on, so I don't think tyre age was a factor there. Ferrari certainly were a bit more reserved it felt like in FP2 however.

[Seanspeed]

Yea this is kinda what I feared, but didn't want to say too much cuz things weren't clear. Everybody heavily underestimated Mclaren despite them having some of the most clear impressive race sims in testing. Red Bull was a bigger question, but are fast. Merc are clear ahead and that car just drives so well, just turning into corners with absolute immediacy.

The Ferrari is good, but just lacking a bit everywhere.

[f1Follower]

Do we have Race Simulation timings?

[subfire91]

Do we have Race Simulation timings?

i think only mercedes did a proper race sim on hards, 11 laps for Russel and 13 for Antonelli so nothing for comparison.
Piastri did a 5 lap small one but on softs

[atanatizante]

Do we have Race Simulation timings?

[atanatizante]

merc and meclaren did fast lap and went into pits, while ferrari kept going fast lap after fast lap, charles was asked if he wants to sacrifice long run for another pushlap, so i feel like Ferrari had more fuel onboard

THIS!

Some highlights from the Italian media:

- Neither driver used 8th gear in both sessions.

- HAM asked for more power towards the end of FP1 and then set a lap time three tenths faster (his fastest lap of that session), even though he was on used medium tyres that had already done 18 laps.

- HAM complained about graining on the front-left hard tyre towards the end of the FP2 session, a sign that he was running with a lot of fuel on board, at least in that stint.

- The fact that both drivers are running with a large amount of fuel here in Melbourne is a continuation of the strategy they applied both in the Barcelona test and later in the two tests in Bahrain, when, at least in the medium and long stints, they ran with a full fuel tank.

As proof of this, in the race simulations, both drivers were about eight tenths faster than the McLaren drivers and at least equal (HAM) or faster (LEC) than ANT, even though he and RUS did not complete a full race simulation, precisely to hide as much as possible their real race pace.

In practice, here in the race at Melbourne, we will see a hierarchy closer to reality, but only after 3–4 races will we be able to say with certainty what the order of the teams really is. It should also be noted that everything depends on the rate of development that each team can bring to its car, especially this year, when everything is new, and so many upgrades are constantly being introduced…

[atanatizante]

All the teams worked very hard on the deployment aspect in both sessions, because this represents the essential focus at the beginning of this era, when greater emphasis is being placed on the electrification of the car. This can be seen very clearly both from what LEC stated and from the comparison of the top speeds in the two sessions:

FP1 speedtraps for the fastest 11 drivers:



FP2 speedtraps for the fastest 11 drivers:



As you could see, both drivers from each team tried different setups, something that LEC also mentioned in his press statement.

[deadhead]

Leclerc’s interview on F1TV inspires zero confidence but let’s hope he is wrong, otherwise it will be another year celebrating the occasional podium.

[AR3-GP]

Leclerc’s interview on F1TV inspires zero confidence but let’s hope he is wrong, otherwise it will be another year celebrating the occasional podium.

Teams have to develop well, so maybe the tables turn later in the season.

[f1316]

Leclerc’s interview on F1TV inspires zero confidence but let’s hope he is wrong, otherwise it will be another year celebrating the occasional podium.

Teams have to develop well, so maybe the tables turn later in the season.

We’ve also heard all the drivers point the figure at others about being fastest - I wouldn’t be surprised if there isn’t at least a bit of that here. Let’s see.

[aberracus]

We knew Mercedes got their cheat PU, this is the results

[sypack]

We knew Mercedes got their cheat PU, this is the results

Exactly, let us hope that when the middle east races get cancelled they will not be replaced. Come June there should be a clearer picture.

[SoulPancake13]

The race sims look a little better when correcting somewhat for tyre age offset (and the fact that LEC and HAM barely got any laps in), but I still expect Mercedes to be ahead, albeit not by a large margin (unless they are hiding more on the engine side... in which case there's nothing to be done there)

[deadhead]

Leclerc’s interview on F1TV inspires zero confidence but let’s hope he is wrong, otherwise it will be another year celebrating the occasional podium.

Teams have to develop well, so maybe the tables turn later in the season.

The only thing that can affect the tables is the Mercedes engine getting a nerf mid summer.