2026 Scuderia Ferrari HP F1 Team

[dans79]

Those who suddenly praise Ham, remember he had a few years beaten by his teammates recently! So if he can recover, why is Leclerc suddenly doomed?

This has been covered before, bit it seems it needs to be repeated.

Lewis's Vs the corners. He brakes very late and very hard in a strait line, this causes an extreme weight transfer to the front axle, that ensures as much front grip as possible. He then turns in and releases the brakes in a controlled fashion (aka trail braking). People like to say this makes the car rotate faster, and that is true in laymen terms. technically speaking when everything goes perfectly it increases the cars slip angle, if it doesn't he gets little micro oversteer snaps. On exit he straitens out the car, and applies power as quickly as possible.

This style didn't work with the GE cars, because it aerodynamically unsettled the car. To get maximum performance out of the GE cars you needed to be buttery smooth, and minimize changing the cars pitch under braking.


Charles Us the corners. He breaks late like Lewis (not sure he is as late though) and turns in very aggressively but he doesn't trail brake like Lewis does. He gets off the brakes earlier and carries more speed through the apex on average. This is one of the reasons why Charles looks like he is on the razors edge on hot laps. Like Lewis, he gets little micro oversteer snaps when everything doesn't go perfectly.

this style is a little more adaptable, and worked very well for him in the GE error.


My hypothesis is that right now (with regards to the formula) over the course of a race distance Lewis's style is a little better on average. If he breaks later than Charles he hits a little higher speed down the straits, and can recharge a little more via super clipping and standard harvesting. It also allows him to keep more heat in the brakes (not always a good thing).

This effect could become more severe or it could become less severe, depending on how the team and the sport as a whole develop through the current regulation set. Charles might also adapt to some extent, and negate the difference. I'm sure the shifting to a 60/40 split over the next few years will also make the issue less severe.

[Farnborough]

Just thinking about this weekend, before setting off down to Silverstone this afternoon, the Maggots Becketts complex is not going to be flat out in these cars, so I expect to see everyone super-clipping through there.

Then big braking into Stowe. Save energy on the run down to Vale, another braking zone, then round onto the Hamilton Straight. Then next proper braking zone is into The Loop. I think that section and the run down into Copse are going to be the problem areas for deployment.

Hopefully they get the tyres switched on and can get good traction out of the preceding corners to keep faster cars behind...

Stowe should be a big harvesting opportunity, there would be a big time slot through there to capitalise upon.

[deadhead]

1 time is a fluke.
2 times is a concern.
3 times is a problem.
4 times is a disaster.
I am honestly shocked at the drop off from Chuck. If he does not get it right in Silverstone, it has to be asked what has happened. Commenting that 4 adolescent accidents is driver yin-yang is based. This is the highest paid driver pairing, likely by many miles, and if one of them does something like this, repeatedly/consecutively, it’s worthy of accounting in the team thread. Chuck needs to pull his $#it together. The end. No more excuses. A driver worthy of a championship should be able to adjust to any decent car without a lot of mistakes just like Max does…especially at the pay grade Chuck is enjoying (Didn’t he just upgrade his yacht again?).

There is absolutely no light at the end of the tunnel. He is just extremely slow and doesn’t know why as he said so himself in the interviews. Both him and Ferrari should have decided to part away at the end of 2025. At least Leclerc got a massive salary, Ferrari is completely ---, but it’s also on them not being able to help Leclerc. Now they have to rely on Hamilton who as i said looks ok only because Leclerc current abysmal level. Good luck to Ferrari for the rest of the season and next year. If they want to fire Leclerc they will have to give him like 150M.

Let's be fair and balanced. Let's give Charles some time to find his feet again. He's young and near his prime so let's not give him a full year? Maybe a half a season is reasonable. I'm sure he will be back very strong.

Leclerc has been struggling with braking performance since Canada.

What happened? Only Ferrari know what they changed.

Leclerc’s inability to adapt suggests a big problem in background.

[aMessageToCharlie]

Great opportunity for you guys to put a large sum on HAM to outqualify LEC this Saturday then. Will you?

[sucof]

Great opportunity for you guys to put a large sum on HAM to outqualify LEC this Saturday then. Will you?

Is this some kind of betting manipulation here???

[Just_a_fan]

Great opportunity for you guys to put a large sum on HAM to outqualify LEC this Saturday then. Will you?

These regs, and this circuit, feels more "carry speed" than rotate under brakes. That suggests Charles not Lewis.

[Farnborough]

That area of performance, right at the far margin of high speed llateral loading, betwixt & between under and oversteer, with the chassis brought to sublime balance in percentage of yaw, where CL displayed the difference he can make above many others, has been "stolen"by the ghostly energy recovery algorithm thats now in place.

The chassis running in yaw almost unnoticed to the casual observer, reducing steering lock while still turning a perfect arc, largely missing now.

The knife edge torque response to throttle has become blunted in binary code, not being acted apon quickly enough to follow his ultimate command in that situation to give repeatability and match the cadence of his synapses just where he could before make the difference.

Right now, its not there in this (possibly most) of the PU in these regulation, at least with the experience they currently have in adapting them from engineering and programming team.

Looks like we're watching bland algorithm simply blunt a driver that can operate in that rarefied area, possibly making some others look better too.

Verstappen is absolutely correct on this, it kills the exceptional and takes away some significant areas where a driver like CL can excell.

[deadhead]

LEC has always been able to rotate the car nicely as well expect now for whatever mysterious reason

[Brahmal]

Looks like we're watching bland algorithm simply blunt a driver that can operate in that rarefied area, possibly making dome others look better too.

Yes, Charles and Lewis are very interesting to compare as drivers responding to the nature of the regulations over the years.

Lewis has been through at least 3 different PU regimes in his career, which is probably why this new one doesn't bother him so much. However, he had only been through 1 handling regime (flat floor) until the ground effect cars came in and threw him for a loop. Most of Lewis' special skills are handling/braking based, and the GE cars broke many of those skills.

Charles OTOH has been through 2 different handling regimes and encountered the GE cars when he was still relatively young and malleable. However he's only ever used the 1 turbo-hybrid PU regime and has built many of his special skills around power delivery and throttle control, which has now been broken by these new PUs. Perhaps the eventual change to 60:40 power split will allow him to get back to his best, but it's not guaranteed.

These two drivers are mirror images of one another in many ways, which makes this all quite fascinating to watch.

[venkyhere]

Nice discussion. The sort that I always hoped to see here, rather than driver-fan fights.

LeClerc is a driver who has thrived on a large amount of throttle-brake-steering overlap (as he comes off the brakes with steering lock still applied to help shift back the weight rearwards, he also adds throttle, much more and much earlier than anyone I have seen, inorder to "use" the resulting instability, to rotate the car - it's a skill that is in the 'gifted' category) especially in slow and medium speed corners. Not so much in high speed corners as the flexing front wing used to take car of dynamically shifting balance rearwards. It's the same skill that lands him in trouble with so many crashes, because the car doesn't have enough downforce or they tyres dont have enough adhesion with the tarmac. LeClerc thrives on driving dangerously.

I am sure he has to sacrifice some of this, in this new PU regset that has an algorithm which expects pedal application to strictly (narrow time window) predetermined timing. The driver focus is more on repeatability and consistency, rather than his 'dynamic feel' in predicting/sensing varying grip (from rubbering in / from worn tyres / from falling raindrops / from shifting track temps) lap after lap. In other words, driver is 'yet another tool' whose predictive skills of grip is not required, only his reactive skills are. The 'human element' of driving on the limit has been largely sidelined by this new PU regset, because any 'variance' will throw it off the energy management cycle.

Every driver has to unlearn and relearn to adapt to this, just that it's taking LeClerc longer. That's what I feel.

[Chuckjr]

Thoughts about Ferrari and their drivers from Peter Windsor. Starts at 44:45.

Uhh... not Peter Windsor...
He has history for sure, but he has a painful favouritism and he always have some agenda... Sorry... he is not an objective journalist or expert.

Not an expert?!? Peter has forgotten more about F1 than many know here, including myself. You may not like his biases or delivery, but welcome to F1 punditry.

His F1 bio is exceptional and spans decades since he was a teen affording an experienced, valuable opinion. His insights in the video are outstanding, imo.

Windsor Bio:
* Around 1969 (age 17): Became Press Officer for the Australian Automobile Racing Club (AARC).
* 1975 – 1985: Appointed Sports Editor (motorsport editor) of the British weekly Autocar. He earned acclaim for his Grand Prix reports and won five international awards for his writing, including Sports Reporter of the Year and Feature Writer of the Year.
* From 1978: Worked with Frank Williams (helping develop new Saudi sponsorship) and drivers Carlos Reutemann and Nigel Mansell on a consultancy/part-time basis. (Reutemann finished runner-up in the 1981 World Championship; Mansell won the title in 1992.)
* 1985 – ~1989: Joined Williams full-time as Manager of Sponsorship and Public Affairs.
* 1989 – 1990: General Manager of Ferrari’s UK F1 facility (Guildford Technical Office / GTO Ltd), overseeing chassis and suspension departments. The team achieved race wins in 1990 with Alain Prost and Jean Alesi.
* 1991 – 1992: Returned to Williams as Race and Test Team Manager. The team dominated, winning both the Constructors’ and Drivers’ World Championships in 1992 with Nigel Mansell (and Renault engines).
* 1993 – 1997: Pit-lane reporting and on-location coverage for Sky Sports.
* 1997 – 2009: Served as Grand Prix Editor of F1 Racing magazine (and remains its Senior Feature Writer and Columnist, notably for “The Racer’s Edge” section). He has also written for the BRDC Bulletin and Autosport (Japan).
* From 1998 – 2009: F1 specialist for Fox Sports Net and other networks under News Corp (Speedvision, SpeedTV, HD1 Australia, FOM TV).
* Several seasons (until mid-2009, returned later that year): Moderator of Formula 1 post-qualifying and post-race press conferences.
* Early 2009: Co-founded (with engineer Ken Anderson) the ambitious US F1 project, aiming to bring an all-American team to F1 for 2010. The FIA accepted their entry in June 2009. Windsor served as Sporting Director/Executive Vice President, handling team management, driver development, and selection.
* 2013: Awarded the Gold Medal of Imola by the Lorenzo Bandini Trophy Committee for services to motor sport.
Notes on overlaps:
* The five writing awards are tied to his Autocar period (1975–1985).
* His work with Frank Williams began part-time in 1978 and continued into his full-time roles at the team.
* TV work (Sky + Fox) and magazine editing (F1 Racing) overlapped significantly in the late 1990s and 2000s.
* The press conference moderator role ended temporarily in mid-2009 due to the US F1 project

[FW17]

Windsor Bio:
* Around 1969 (age 17): Became Press Officer for the Australian Automobile Racing Club (AARC).
* 1975 – 1985: Appointed Sports Editor (motorsport editor) of the British weekly Autocar. He earned acclaim for his Grand Prix reports and won five international awards for his writing, including Sports Reporter of the Year and Feature Writer of the Year.
* From 1978: Worked with Frank Williams (helping develop new Saudi sponsorship) and drivers Carlos Reutemann and Nigel Mansell on a consultancy/part-time basis. (Reutemann finished runner-up in the 1981 World Championship; Mansell won the title in 1992.)
* 1985 – ~1989: Joined Williams full-time as Manager of Sponsorship and Public Affairs.
* 1989 – 1990: General Manager of Ferrari’s UK F1 facility (Guildford Technical Office / GTO Ltd), overseeing chassis and suspension departments. The team achieved race wins in 1990 with Alain Prost and Jean Alesi.
* 1991 – 1992: Returned to Williams as Race and Test Team Manager. The team dominated, winning both the Constructors’ and Drivers’ World Championships in 1992 with Nigel Mansell (and Renault engines).
* 1993 – 1997: Pit-lane reporting and on-location coverage for Sky Sports.
* 1997 – 2009: Served as Grand Prix Editor of F1 Racing magazine (and remains its Senior Feature Writer and Columnist, notably for “The Racer’s Edge” section). He has also written for the BRDC Bulletin and Autosport (Japan).
* From 1998 – 2009: F1 specialist for Fox Sports Net and other networks under News Corp (Speedvision, SpeedTV, HD1 Australia, FOM TV).
* Several seasons (until mid-2009, returned later that year): Moderator of Formula 1 post-qualifying and post-race press conferences.
* Early 2009: Co-founded (with engineer Ken Anderson) the ambitious US F1 project, aiming to bring an all-American team to F1 for 2010. The FIA accepted their entry in June 2009. Windsor served as Sporting Director/Executive Vice President, handling team management, driver development, and selection.
* 2013: Awarded the Gold Medal of Imola by the Lorenzo Bandini Trophy Committee for services to motor sport.
Notes on overlaps:
* The five writing awards are tied to his Autocar period (1975–1985).
* His work with Frank Williams began part-time in 1978 and continued into his full-time roles at the team.
* TV work (Sky + Fox) and magazine editing (F1 Racing) overlapped significantly in the late 1990s and 2000s.
* The press conference moderator role ended temporarily in mid-2009 due to the US F1 project

All talk on the internet. No body calls him on anything after US F1. With the CV like that you would think he is some sought of an expert, but truth is he was from an era when F1 teams were 10-20 people and the team bosses chauffeur was given a fancy title.

[CMSMJ1]

Let's get on topic eh?

Driver ying yang very tedious...
Peter Windsor has forgotten more than many have ever known but he's not a current member of this Ferrari team.

Thanks

[Luscion]

Hamilton set to continue with Ferrari in 2027 and even beyond. Theres also "two important upgrades" coming to the SF-26 further down the line, most likely one of them is the engine upgrade after summer break is my guess. https://autoracer.it/hamilton-ferrari-s ... -un-passo/

Hamilton is reportedly now close to extending his contract with the Scuderia through 2027. This would be based on an option already included in the agreement signed with Ferrari, the economic and sporting terms of which are said to have been defined right from when the contract was signed.
The decisive factor remains the season's performance. Hamilton currently holds a position among the top three in the Drivers' Championship and is ahead of teammate Charles Leclerc in the standings. With this situation confirmed through the summer break, activating the option would become an almost automatic step between the parties, with formalization expected by the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. On-track performance also reinforces this outlook. Hamilton is not only among the protagonists of the Drivers' Championship, but is also driving what is currently the second car in the Constructors' Championship, contributing significantly to Ferrari's position in the standings reserved for teams. This is a factor that matters just as much as results, especially in a season where greater confidence and consistency are proving decisive.

After the win in Barcelona and the disappointing outing in Spielberg, Silverstone will above all serve as a technical testing ground to verify the SF-26's real level of competitiveness. The British circuit, among the most demanding in terms of aerodynamics and energy management, will provide significant indications of the level the car has reached, while awaiting "two important upgrades" further down the line.

[erudite450]

Hamilton set to continue with Ferrari in 2027 and even beyond. Theres also "two important upgrades" coming to the SF-26 further down the line, most likely one of them is the engine upgrade after summer break is my guess. https://autoracer.it/hamilton-ferrari-s ... -un-passo/

Hamilton is reportedly now close to extending his contract with the Scuderia through 2027. This would be based on an option already included in the agreement signed with Ferrari, the economic and sporting terms of which are said to have been defined right from when the contract was signed.
The decisive factor remains the season's performance. Hamilton currently holds a position among the top three in the Drivers' Championship and is ahead of teammate Charles Leclerc in the standings. With this situation confirmed through the summer break, activating the option would become an almost automatic step between the parties, with formalization expected by the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. On-track performance also reinforces this outlook. Hamilton is not only among the protagonists of the Drivers' Championship, but is also driving what is currently the second car in the Constructors' Championship, contributing significantly to Ferrari's position in the standings reserved for teams. This is a factor that matters just as much as results, especially in a season where greater confidence and consistency are proving decisive.

After the win in Barcelona and the disappointing outing in Spielberg, Silverstone will above all serve as a technical testing ground to verify the SF-26's real level of competitiveness. The British circuit, among the most demanding in terms of aerodynamics and energy management, will provide significant indications of the level the car has reached, while awaiting "two important upgrades" further down the line.

Hopefully the partnership yields more wins and a championship or two.