2026 Scuderia Ferrari HP F1 Team

[Sidiamal]

Everyone does really, anything short of a front row lockout and a 1-2 would be a bit of a disappointing result given how much Monaco plays into Ferrari's hands.

[PlatinumZealot]

Lewis was fast in quali, fast at the start, fast on restarts, and fast on the harder compound. All indications that he ran a set-up that got more temperature into the tyres. I wouldn't read too much into it in terms of "finding something" on the driver's side. That's magical thinking usually.

he kept thanking his engineer and mechanics so much? He claims they ignored the simulator and found something in previous data that give them direction on how to make the car work for his style. A key thing is that they didn't have data for this kind of car on this kind of track conditions... So it's not magical but there is something in it for sure. Have to judge it after like five more races.

[Badger]

Lewis was fast in quali, fast at the start, fast on restarts, and fast on the harder compound. All indications that he ran a set-up that got more temperature into the tyres. I wouldn't read too much into it in terms of "finding something" on the driver's side. That's magical thinking usually.

he kept thanking his engineer and mechanics so much? He claims they ignored the simulator and found something in previous data that give them direction on how to make the car work for his style. A key thing is that they didn't have data for this kind of car on this kind of track conditions... So it's not magical but there is something in it for sure. Have to judge it after like five more races.

The idea that they found something that is generally applicable to all tracks and conditions is likely magical thinking. The idea that they found something that worked really well on a cold overcast weekend in Canada seems very plausible.

[AR3-GP]

I think it's a lot of convenient coincidences. Hamilton doesn't like the simulator. Ferrari probably suggested more simulator work since he didn't feel on top of things. He happened to ditch the simulator ahead of tracks where he is always good (China, Canada).

Would need a larger sample size. Imo, the simulator (or not) is not decisive for his performances. Hamilton never said there was anything wrong with Ferrari's simulator. He said it was a very good one. He's just not a simulator guy and the way things line up, he got a get out of jail free card to never touch the simulator again. Remember that Hamilton wasn't using the simulator that much last year and that hardly guaranteed a good weekend.

[Waz]

It's one of Hamiltons best tracks since 2007.

The more positive outcome is actually Charles in 4th. Canada is a bogey track of his, so a 4rth place is encouraging that Ferrari have a good car that just needs a bit more power.

[venkyhere]

It's one of Hamiltons best tracks since 2007.

The more positive outcome is actually Charles in 4th. Canada is a bogey track of his, so a 4rth place is encouraging that Ferrari have a good car that just needs a bit more power.

"Hamilton is 2nd & Charles is 4th" not on the merit of the car. It's because one Mercedes and two Mclarens took themselves out. Realistically their positions are 5/6/7th with a Redbull in between or after them.

[El_KaPpa]

Hamilton says he's keen to use the simulator to correlate data for Canada. He wants to find out what the team is missing and why the stuff at Maranello isn't matching real-life track performance. But he's not using it to prep for race weekends.

"There are just too many risks. If you look at the two best races I've had, I didn't use a simulator. Pretty much all the championships before, except for probably 2008, I didn't use the sim, so it's not a necessity. It's a tool that can be powerful. But for me, I'm old school. I'm probably better without it."

If he completely relies on his instinct and builds his setup straight on the track, he creates a massive edge for himself. Gatekeeping his setups like this and finding them on the fly, I believe Leclerc is going to have a hard time catching up on some race weekends.

[Waz]

This can be looked at from a completely different angle:
Leclerc was very bad at this track, or his car or his setup, we do not know. Hence Lewis could be ahead. Now Lewis and his fans are all saying he is back etc.
He will be "back" only if he can be ahead at many tracks while Leclerc does not have a bad weekend.

Lewis would be great at PR... Whenever he is ahead of Leclerc he claims he is back While probably nothing else happened than Leclerc slipped behind the same Lewis for a race.

This is why I think that Leclerc in 4th is quite impressive from Ferrari, and a good showing at how good the car is.

It's a bogey track for Charles, and he did better than he usually does round there.

Good for Lewis on the podium again, of course.

[FDD]

Kimi Antonelli: "FERRARI are the favorites in Monaco"

"The wing they have on the rear provides them with a lot of aerodynamic downforce".

If he means on exhausts pipe wing, I think he's wrong, a lot. That wing has its impact on the DF, but not "with a lot of..."
Only FER knows how much. Here we can only assume, according to some aero guys from the sport impact is not huge and pretty far from huge, rather small. Regardless, small impacts are also needed for WDC.
However SF26 de facto & de jure is very agile car, so Monaco is the chance for us, a big one, my opinion.

[.poz]

A bit off-topic... the Ferrari Luce is probably the ugliest Ferrari ever... Clarkson used to say that when Ferrari does badly in F1, they make the best road cars... let's hope the principle also applies in the opposite direction.

[dren]

A bit off-topic... the Ferrari Luce is probably the ugliest Ferrari ever... Clarkson used to say that when Ferrari does badly in F1, they make the best road cars... let's hope the principle also applies in the opposite direction.

Yeah, Ferrari missed April 1 for the Luce's release.

[AR3-GP]

Kimi Antonelli: "FERRARI are the favorites in Monaco"

"The wing they have on the rear provides them with a lot of aerodynamic downforce".

If he means on exhausts pipe wing, I think he's wrong, a lot. That wing has its impact on the DF, but not "with a lot of..."
Only FER knows how much. Here we can only assume, according to some aero guys from the sport impact is not huge and pretty far from huge, rather small. Regardless, small impacts are also needed for WDC.
However SF26 de facto & de jure is very agile car, so Monaco is the chance for us, a big one, my opinion.

The impact of the exhaust system is not small. It’s big. That’s why it’s had developments in Miami, and half the grid tried tried to copy it with lesser solutions.

[PlatinumZealot]

I think it's a lot of convenient coincidences. Hamilton doesn't like the simulator. Ferrari probably suggested more simulator work since he didn't feel on top of things. He happened to ditch the simulator ahead of tracks where he is always good (China, Canada).

Would need a larger sample size. Imo, the simulator (or not) is not decisive for his performances. Hamilton never said there was anything wrong with Ferrari's simulator. He said it was a very good one. He's just not a simulator guy and the way things line up, he got a get out of jail free card to never touch the simulator again. Remember that Hamilton wasn't using the simulator that much last year and that hardly guaranteed a good weekend.

He literally said the car on track doesn't behave like it does on the simulator, though. This "driving feel" is different from numerical correlation. I'm not a race car driver but I can understand this.

Reminds me of a time when I temporarily moved from hand drawn art to using a stylus and digital pad... The friction on the stylus just didn't feel controllable.

[madsonit]

Yes, he actually said it will be a very good time to use the sim now and load up Canada to see exactly where the correlation is wrong as he’s got fresh memory of how the car behaved in real life.

[Seanspeed]

Everyone does really, anything short of a front row lockout and a 1-2 would be a bit of a disappointing result given how much Monaco plays into Ferrari's hands.

Mercedes ICE power advantage is still going to be relevant for Monaco. Mclaren and Mercedes could easily still be threats. Verstappen can always pull out surprises, too.