2026 Scuderia Ferrari HP F1 Team

[catent]

How much do the drivers and teams control the battery deployment lap to lap versus the software doing things on its own or pre-planned?

Something that caught my attention in the interviews just now is Leclerc said the battery deals better with consistent laps than pushing to the limit, and this is something he dislikes about these regs.

A few commenters here have given differing views on how the battery deployment works, either that the team controls some or that the software decides it all. Do we know for a fact or is this just theory based on what the drivers say?

I am just wondering what he means by pushing isn't rewarded as much as consistency. Is it because the software calibrates better with a smaller delta between laps or something along those lines? Or is he referring to something with their car?

Charles: “The important thing in qualifying isn’t perfection. It’s better to stay within the limit by doing the same thing every time, rather than getting into Q3 and trying something more. It’s a bit disappointing, as it was clearly one of my strengths in the past, but I’ll adapt. It’s not a disaster, but I have to say I’m not really enjoying qualifying at the moment.”

what a shame...
still, great results form Charles
his worst track on the calendar and still beating Hamilton (tire whisperer)
Ferrari losing 0,9s on straights to Mercedes and gainig 0,6s on corners
come on Ferrari, we need a bit more on the straights

I didn't know this was Charles worst track? I mean something woud be wrong if the Ferrari chosen one is not beating an elderly "washed up" incumbent.

Leclerc has spoken about this being a challenging track for him (Australia, too) across his entire career - that's not some newly invented narrative to cover for the fact that Hamilton was a couple hundredths up on him across a single lap at China (as was the case last season, too).

Leclerc is 2-7 head-to-head in qualifying compared to his teammates at China, having only topped Ericsson in 2018, and Sainz in a later season by something like 7 thousandths of a second.

There is no bullsh*t in what Leclerc said about China being a tough track for him personally. If you followed Leclerc closely, I think you'll find he's a very honest, transparent person, who has a genuine ability to reflect and be self-critical.

[hollus]

I really can't believe it. For the first time since 2017 we have a top tier chassis and the engine is worse than the one made by RB.

I'm going to cry

Wouldn't we, in 2025 or any other 202x, have interpreted that graph as higher wing levels leading to more downforce and more drag? Higher min speeds, lower top speeds. One can presumably lower those wings...
It is early in the reg cycle, they are all findign their feet as fast as they can.

[catent]

I really can't believe it. For the first time since 2017 we have a top tier chassis and the engine is worse than the one made by RB.

I'm going to cry

https://media.discordapp.net/attachment ... y=lossless

This isn't even SF70H level of deficit, more like RB14

We really have no clue what the exact deficit is given the importance of energy recovery/deployment in determining overall lap time.

If the reported number of 15hp is accurate, the relative power gap is smaller than both the 2017 Ferrari and 2018 Red Bull.

But, as I said, with only 1-1/2 race weekends completed, we don't have much of an idea what the actual margin is and how that translates to performance under these regulations.

[Badger]

I really can't believe it. For the first time since 2017 we have a top tier chassis and the engine is worse than the one made by RB.

I'm going to cry

https://media.discordapp.net/attachment ... y=lossless

Wouldn't we, in 2025 or any other 202x, have interpreted that graph as higher wing levels leading to more downforce and more drag? Higher min speeds, lower top speeds. One can presumably lower those wings...
It is early in the reg cycle, they are all findign their feet as fast as they can.

SLM has removed that variable.

[PlatinumZealot]

The Haas is showing the engine is strong. Cadillac also looks decent on the straights. When I was their onboard they are not super clipping as much as the faster teams which is very interesting! Or am i not seeing things correctly.

[woocasz]

Q: Just three tenths behind Mercedes – where did you find that improvement in performance?

Charles: “These cars are a bit of a handful in qualifying; we need to get used to them a bit, myself included. Consistency pays off more than trying to find something we haven’t done before in Q2/Q1; that’s what I tried to do today. Unfortunately, you can feel there’s a bit more grip, but you can’t change things once the lap has started; it’s a bit tricky to manage. But that’s mainly where I made the big step forward compared to yesterday, when in SQ3 I took corners that were much faster than I had in SQ2, and that didn’t pay off later in terms of the engine; it’s a bit tricky to explain. Today, in Q1/Q2/Q3, I was consistent, but well, that makes qualifying a bit odd. It’s something we’ll need to look at to see if we can improve by making a few small changes; we already have a few ideas regarding the regulations rather than our car.”

“As for the race, I remain confident. P4, P3, P2 or P1, it doesn’t make much difference as we’ve seen, so there you go, we’re in the mix!”


thats the sad part. no point to risk it all in Q3
as we all know, Charles is famous for always managing to find something extra in Q3

[Badger]

Pointless reading into the H2H in these cars. You can't push! If you have two competent drivers they're going to be close to each other barring any deployment issues.

[Xyz22]

I really can't believe it. For the first time since 2017 we have a top tier chassis and the engine is worse than the one made by RB.

I'm going to cry

https://media.discordapp.net/attachment ... y=lossless

Wouldn't we, in 2025 or any other 202x, have interpreted that graph as higher wing levels leading to more downforce and more drag? Higher min speeds, lower top speeds. One can presumably lower those wings...
It is early in the reg cycle, they are all findign their feet as fast as they can.

Red Bull gains significant amount of time even in short straights where drag should be less of a factor...

[hollus]

I really can't believe it. For the first time since 2017 we have a top tier chassis and the engine is worse than the one made by RB.

I'm going to cry

https://media.discordapp.net/attachment ... y=lossless

Wouldn't we, in 2025 or any other 202x, have interpreted that graph as higher wing levels leading to more downforce and more drag? Higher min speeds, lower top speeds. One can presumably lower those wings...
It is early in the reg cycle, they are all findign their feet as fast as they can.

SLM has removed that variable.

I mean, maybe they made a downforcey but draggy car. Somehow the credit for downforcey goes to the chassis and the blame for downforcey goes to the Merces PU?
It is hard to know, though.

[Sidiamal]

The Haas is showing the engine is strong. Cadillac also looks decent on the straights. When I was their onboard they are not super clipping as much as the faster teams which is very interesting! Or am i not seeing things correctly.

Wouldn't be the first time an engine has been flattered by sub-top teams just not having downforce on.

[f1316]

A comparison between the Merc and Ferrari engine in Q3

https://youtu.be/c8f74gOaWzE?si=B_bGkMPmSoWrcXN8

This was a great video, thanks for sharing.

If indeed it’s true that Ferrari introduced a conservative v1 PU (apparently based on the 2025 V6) then I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised that there’s a reasonable gap. This would also tally with all the stuff about 3D printed piston heads and extreme combustion targets that they couldn’t make reliable etc so I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s true.

But it’s also true that Mercedes seem to have more of a barbering advantage over one lap than consecutive laps, which is better than if I was the other way round. Has anyone else noticed a really painful whine from the works Mercedes onboards in the right headphone? It’s much more pronounced than any other car’s onboards (to the point where I sometimes have to remove the right ear).

[Badger]

The Haas is showing the engine is strong. Cadillac also looks decent on the straights. When I was their onboard they are not super clipping as much as the faster teams which is very interesting! Or am i not seeing things correctly.

The Haas suffers on the straights too.

[Xyz22]

The Haas is showing the engine is strong. Cadillac also looks decent on the straights. When I was their onboard they are not super clipping as much as the faster teams which is very interesting! Or am i not seeing things correctly.

The Haas suffers on the straights too.
https://i.postimg.cc/nznkGzNJ/delta(1).png

Yup. Haas is using a different deployment strategy than Ferrari but overall they are struggling as well.

[catent]

I would be shocked if the margins currently observed on the straights can be strictly attributed to aerodynamic drag as a result of increased downforce.

Whether it's raw ICE power, energy harvesting/deployment, or some combination of both, it seems clear that Mercedes is finding a lot of lap time via superior engine performance (at least as of right now).

[PlatinumZealot]

Kimi did more time not braking into the corners than Lewis and some times seem to lift and coast for longer inbetween the low speed turns then out of the corner he is a rocket. I feel Mercedes gear ratio has a lot to do with it. Seems to be shorter in the lower gears? Engine braking is probably very strong. Would need to compare with McLaren now.