2026 Scuderia Ferrari HP F1 Team

[f1316]

The only concern I had with Ferrari is based on:

(1) initial rumour that this engine is an evolution of the old hybrid (hence known quantity, hence reliable)
(2) the real 2026 engine (again based on rumour) wasn’t reliable enough, hence shelved for later
(3) when they introduce the proper engine - especially if fast tracked - will the concerns that caused them to shelve it initially really be fixed?

Huge amount of ifs and buts - hey, I’m a Ferrari fan and used to there always being something that goes wrong, so probably paranoid!

This kind of thinking is not logical. Just because something was delayed before because it was not working properly, the new and fixed version can still be 100% reliable.
Reliability has nothing to do with previous states of a device, only with how well the engineering team can and will understand when it is reliable.
Meaning, no conclusions can be drawn.

The current engine is one of the most reliable in the field, this can be a hint that they can make something reliable and can understand when is something finished to race.

But rumours are mixed... isn't the steel piston engine what they currently have already a new one? They did not use that before, and is a huge change "already". So the rumour that this is just the developed old engine is not very logical either... according to rumours then they had 2 new engines...

It’s not entirely illogical. If a concept is just too ambitious, it can be that it is just fundamentally flawed and inherently unreliable. It’s not as if Ferrari did not have a lot of time to work on the 26 engine and - at least according to rumours - couldn’t get their concept to be reliable enough (don’t forget also that the original architects left Maranello). Moreover, if it’s true that this is being fast tracked for Austria, there’s even more reason to believe that there’s an element of risk being taken vs the original plan.

That said, I do agree/admit that there is a big dose of experience bias mixed in here - I (and every Ferrari fan) has been burned before by a promising situation where an update should push us over the top but fails to deliver - think the engine reliability issues in 2022 (following a lot of aggressive winter development) or the 2024 Spain floor update. That certainly does not mean the same will happen again here but it does cause one to be a little cautious against the optimism that the situation appears to offer.

Bottom line is, we’ll see, but I for one am trying not to get too carried away too soon.

[f1316]

only 5 ? i was expecting around 10-15

https://x.com/Scuderiascoop/status/2067201204170486216

The second upgrade, presumably Monza, is where they plan for the big performance upgrade

Yeah I thought more than 10 - I had read elsewhere the first step was supposed to halve the gap, so a bit surprising. That said, you wonder if it’s just top line bhp and not also things like amount of deployment per lap that are being addressed here. If the latter, it can have a bigger impact than just pure horsepower would indicate.

[CMC]

Redacted

[PlatinumZealot]

Any comments on the brakes from Charles?

[f1316]

Any comments on the brakes from Charles?

I think on Friday he said the issue had been “solved” (or words to that effect) but I don’t think he elaborated further. I’m sure he has to be VERY careful now tbh…

[catent]

Leclerc mechanical failure…..

Which he likely caused when he crashed the car AGAIN yesterday. The front needed a rebuild and that’s where the competent that failed sits (incredibly rare for that to fail under normal conditions too).

Crashed the car “AGAIN” … as if the Monaco incident was driver error? That’s nonsense.

[djones]

Leclerc mechanical failure…..

Which he likely caused when he crashed the car AGAIN yesterday. The front needed a rebuild and that’s where the competent that failed sits (incredibly rare for that to fail under normal conditions too).

Crashed the car “AGAIN” … as if the Monaco incident was driver error? That’s nonsense.

He hit the wall in the Monaco race and nearly took the front wheel off earlier. I think he may have done something in one of the FP sessions too, but I can’t fully remember. I do recall three wall hits though.

His teammate took the corner (he finally DNFd at) in an identical car just fine. On cold tyres he got on the wrong part of the track and understeered off like a rookie.

So yeah, Monaco he made multiple driver errors that nearly took him out and then did take him out.

[MattLightBlue]

Leclerc mechanical failure…..

Which he likely caused when he crashed the car AGAIN yesterday. The front needed a rebuild and that’s where the competent that failed sits (incredibly rare for that to fail under normal conditions too).

Crashed the car “AGAIN” … as if the Monaco incident was driver error? That’s nonsense.

He hit the wall in the Monaco race and nearly took the front wheel off earlier. I think he may have done something in one of the FP sessions too, but I can’t fully remember. I do recall three wall hits though.

His teammate took the corner (he finally DNFd at) in an identical car just fine. On cold tyres he got on the wrong part of the track and understeered off like a rookie.

So yeah, Monaco he made multiple driver errors that nearly took him out and then did take him out.

In a way, and with the best possible intentions, Ferrari sabotaged Leclerc again. Monaco could have been pole position and Montreal a lot better with the brakes he had in Spain.

[sucof]

Leclerc mechanical failure…..

Which he likely caused when he crashed the car AGAIN yesterday. The front needed a rebuild and that’s where the competent that failed sits (incredibly rare for that to fail under normal conditions too).

Crashed the car “AGAIN” … as if the Monaco incident was driver error? That’s nonsense.

He hit the wall in the Monaco race and nearly took the front wheel off earlier. I think he may have done something in one of the FP sessions too, but I can’t fully remember. I do recall three wall hits though.

His teammate took the corner (he finally DNFd at) in an identical car just fine. On cold tyres he got on the wrong part of the track and understeered off like a rookie.

So yeah, Monaco he made multiple driver errors that nearly took him out and then did take him out.

This is a badly simplistic view of how things work in general.... Probably also influenced by driver preference...

[basti313]

Cool, this is Merc thread 2.0

[PlatinumZealot]

Leclerc mechanical failure…..

Which he likely caused when he crashed the car AGAIN yesterday. The front needed a rebuild and that’s where the competent that failed sits (incredibly rare for that to fail under normal conditions too).

Crashed the car “AGAIN” … as if the Monaco incident was driver error? That’s nonsense.

Technically it was driver error induced though. Brakes warm-up is down to the driver isn't it?

[bluechris]

Leclerc mechanical failure…..

Which he likely caused when he crashed the car AGAIN yesterday. The front needed a rebuild and that’s where the competent that failed sits (incredibly rare for that to fail under normal conditions too).

Crashed the car “AGAIN” … as if the Monaco incident was driver error? That’s nonsense.

Technically it was driver error induced though. Brakes warm-up is down to the driver isn't it?

Yes and NO, Lewis a whole year was moaning that he cannot brake correctly. So yes, a driver can drive super cautiously and never hit or touch anything like Lewis, or a driver can try to surpass the problem with tricks but sometimes ends up in walls.
Choose your poison.

[dans79]

Crashed the car “AGAIN” … as if the Monaco incident was driver error? That’s nonsense.

He hit the wall in the Monaco race and nearly took the front wheel off earlier. I think he may have done something in one of the FP sessions too, but I can’t fully remember. I do recall three wall hits though.

His teammate took the corner (he finally DNFd at) in an identical car just fine. On cold tyres he got on the wrong part of the track and understeered off like a rookie.

So yeah, Monaco he made multiple driver errors that nearly took him out and then did take him out.

In a way, and with the best possible intentions, Ferrari sabotaged Leclerc again. Monaco could have been pole position and Montreal a lot better with the brakes he had in Spain.

He choose not to run them in Moncaco.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/arti ... wkf6pQVy5N

Asked about the chances of an improvement in this area for next weekend’s Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, Leclerc added: “We have a fix. We have different configurations between [the Ferrari] cars, and I think we’ve found a solution, so that is positive.

“I didn’t really want to change this weekend, and for that maybe I am to blame in a way that I thought on a track like this, in Monaco, it was good to start with brakes that I knew.

“Considering the issues I’ve dealt with, and that there are no solutions on a track like this, there’s not much to say.”

[amr]

Leclerc mechanical failure…..

Which he likely caused when he crashed the car AGAIN yesterday. The front needed a rebuild and that’s where the competent that failed sits (incredibly rare for that to fail under normal conditions too).

Crashed the car “AGAIN” … as if the Monaco incident was driver error? That’s nonsense.

Technically it was driver error induced though. Brakes warm-up is down to the driver isn't it?

I'm surprised how confidently people are making these statements, like they actuality have facts and data and they have seen full internal team reports of the incident. And this goes in both driver direction.

Blame is the easiest thing to assign. Watch :
Brakes warm-up -> Drivers fault
Brake setup that can't be warmed-up during safety car -> Performance engineer fault
Not informing driver of derbies and poor grip before final corner -> Race operation fault
Allowing drivers to have different perormance system on the car -> Team principal
Taking more than a year to switch supplier of parts at team request -> Team CEO
Making the Luce car -> European regulation for emission compliance

And merits are very easy to assigns as well. Watch:
Charles does the simulator work to start from a good setup in Barcelona for Hamilton's win -> Hamilton's merit
Charles improves setup in FP3 and Hamilton's copies it -> Hamilton's merit
Charles has a good drive setting himself for 2 stops making Merc questioning who to cover ->Hamilton's merit
Good strategy from the strategy team -> Hamilton's merit
Good pit stops ->Hamilton's merit
Aston martin brilliant car stopping on track -> Hamilton's merit
Merc's fighting amongst themself ->Hamilton's merit

I guess what I want to underline that, while there are some big personalities in the sport, F1 is still a teams sport, and, like in other sport luck plays a big enough part.

Now, for my "statement" based on no data and pure gut feel.
Monaco crash happens because the brake blending/regen strategy of Ferrari is not that good...yet. After running behind the safety car the battery was full in preparation for the restart and so no regen was available. The brake blending strategy however assumed that the car will be slowdown to some extend by the MGU-K and to prioritized the energy recovery it delayed the brake pads application.
This aligns what what Charles was saying the front left was working (no regen on front axle so full application) front right was half working (fully working but wheel was unloaded due to right hand corner) and the rear brakes were not working (no regen available but the brakes application was delay as normally are)

[catent]

Leclerc mechanical failure…..

Which he likely caused when he crashed the car AGAIN yesterday. The front needed a rebuild and that’s where the competent that failed sits (incredibly rare for that to fail under normal conditions too).

Crashed the car “AGAIN” … as if the Monaco incident was driver error? That’s nonsense.

He hit the wall in the Monaco race and nearly took the front wheel off earlier. I think he may have done something in one of the FP sessions too, but I can’t fully remember. I do recall three wall hits though.

His teammate took the corner (he finally DNFd at) in an identical car just fine. On cold tyres he got on the wrong part of the track and understeered off like a rookie.

So yeah, Monaco he made multiple driver errors that nearly took him out and then did take him out.

There is absolutely no reasonable discussion to be had if you’re of the opinion that Leclerc’s Monaco DNF was driver error. The rear brakes did not function - unless you believe both the team and Leclerc are lying about this. And this after dealing with the same rear brake issues the race prior, in Canada.

Hamilton negotiated the same corner fine? Right, and he was using different brake discs, ones Leclerc is now using and was comfortable with at Spain.

Brushing the wall is part of the deal at Monaco. I don’t suppose you were likely praising Verstappen for doing the same in 2023.