2026 Scuderia Ferrari HP F1 Team

[MB_Racer]

They have two cars … they can slip the strategy… no stress and they still manage to screw it up wow seriously

It isn't just 2 cars. It's two drivers trying to win a driver's championship. Charles Leclerc outqualified Lewis Hamilton and gets priority. Mercedes did the same thing in their good years. 2nd car isn't allowed to undermine the first.

Ok you have a great point…

Maybe you are correct but then Charles should have decided to pit under virtual safety car or his strategy team…

[Waz]

They have two cars … they can slip the strategy… no stress and they still manage to screw it up wow seriously

It isn't just 2 cars. It's two drivers trying to win a driver's championship. Charles Leclerc outqualified Lewis Hamilton and gets priority. Mercedes did the same thing in their good years. 2nd car isn't allowed to undermine the first.

Ok you have a great point…

Maybe you are correct but then Charles should have decided to pit under virtual safety car or his strategy team…

It wasn't that simple. The first VSC was too early and staying out was the right option.

They got slightly unlucky with the Bottas VSC and the pit lane closing a lap later.

It definitely would have been interesting at least with Antonelli and Charles.

[AR3-GP]

It wasn't that simple. The first VSC was too early and staying out was the right option.

Mercs stopped at the 1st VSC and went to the end right? It's moot anyway. They were too quick. Even though Russell made a hash of the first stint, they were always going to win.

[wowgr8]

Nothing other than software optimization (could be worth a bit of laptime) unless they qualify for ADUO after the 7th round.

I'm not sure how everyone except Mercedes will fail to qualify for ADUO when they apparently showed a 50+ hp advantage in quali yesterday, though I'm sure Merc will now go into hiding and avoid showing all the power in subsequent rounds

[f1Follower]

I find a 2004 patent on ICE sensor for Compression Ratio by Ford

https://patents.google.com/patent/US6857401B1/en

This is 2026 so there will be sensors for measurement of compression ratios

[Vinlarr89]

The car was pretty competitive vs the Mercedes from the start up until the first VSC, and Russell wheel to wheel is nowhere near either Charles or Lewis. If they can get that new rear wing to work then I don’t think there will be that much between them.

Reference the strategy, they should have pitted under the VSC when bottas stopped but did get caught out a bit with the pit lane closing

[Badger]

Russell had a massive lock-up in the first stint trying to pass Leclerc into turn 1, after that he got a big vibration and came on the radio complaining about the tyre. Soon after that the VSC came. In other words, Ferrari screwed up by not pitting Leclerc on that first VSC. Russell would not have been able to go long. They fell asleep on the pit wall, per usual.

[Frank73]

Leclerc said they messed up on the setup and something went wrong, but it's not immediately clear what from the data

Too much wing, possibly.

Considering Ferrari made all their gains in corners, maybe they were losing too much in terms of efficiency over a whole lap by to using too much power to get the car up to speed on the straights.

I think he was hinting at suspension set up. Wing setup, given active aero that nearly nulls drag induced by flaps over any significant straight, is not anymore a major trade off.

[F1NAC]

Russell had a massive lock-up in the first stint trying to pass Leclerc into turn 1, after that he got a big vibration and came on the radio complaining about the tyre. Soon after that the VSC came. In other words, Ferrari screwed up by not pitting Leclerc on that first VSC. Russell would not have been able to go long. They fell asleep on the pit wall, per usual.

Were you watching the same race as I did?

Leclerc on 14 laps younger tyres couldn’t close the gap to Antonelli. Russell was just cruising in the lead. Had they pitted, merc would have probably stayed out or eventually passed leclerc with stronger race pace.

P3 is the most they could get.

[Xyz22]

The engine difference is just too big.
The chassis is fantastic though, very good job by the aero team (i didn't expect this at all).

Look at this:
https://x.com/TechnicalRacing/status/20 ... 1746686223

[Vinlarr89]

Merc definitely playing games, McLaren nowhere the same power level!
Hopefully ADUO kicks in so that an in season upgrade can somewhat close the gap

[Xyz22]

Merc definitely playing games, McLaren nowhere the same power level!
Hopefully ADUO kicks in so that an in season upgrade can somewhat close the gap

I don't know if Ferrari can do something with their very small turbo (according to reports). It will help in some tracks but overall it's likely that MB concept is superior.

[Badger]

Russell had a massive lock-up in the first stint trying to pass Leclerc into turn 1, after that he got a big vibration and came on the radio complaining about the tyre. Soon after that the VSC came. In other words, Ferrari screwed up by not pitting Leclerc on that first VSC. Russell would not have been able to go long. They fell asleep on the pit wall, per usual.

Were you watching the same race as I did?

Leclerc on 14 laps younger tyres couldn’t close the gap to Antonelli. Russell was just cruising in the lead. Had they pitted, merc would have probably stayed out or eventually passed leclerc with stronger race pace.

P3 is the most they could get.

I was paying more attention than you apparently. They made a mistake by not pitting Leclerc under the VSC. Russell had to take that pit stop due to his massive flat spot, going long was not an option for him on that set. It doesn't mean Leclerc would have won the race, Russell would probably have passed him.But he would have had the opportunity to defend, instead they just lost it on strategy.

[Xyz22]

Our only hope is if the FIA decide to reduce the electricity output available.
If on the other hand decide to increase how much is possible to recover, for example through superclipping, than we are even more finished.

[ChrisM40]

What’s the qualification criteria?

Combustion engine performance delta between 2% and 4% can introduce 1 extra PU homologation in 2026, and 1 extra PU homologation in 2027. So across 2026 and 2027 they would be able to introduce 3 new PU homologations (2026 in-season upgrade, 2027 launch spec, 2027 in-season upgrade).

If the ICE delta is greater than 4%, they get 2 in-season upgrades in both '26 and '27.

Knowing this, i think its great that Ferrari are focusing on chassis upgrades. Even matching mercs in terms of pace forces merc to use more power. If they use more power others qualify for ADUO. A good chassis is a win win

How do they measure the percentage though? Merc can sandbag all they like but the customers wont be. If its obvious the merc engine is the best from their telemetry will ADUO still be triggered?