2026 Scuderia Ferrari HP F1 Team

[Farnborough]

I really enjoyed seeing LH pace and car hustling attacking driving around Hungoraring circuit. Cementing the reality that he plus the Ferrari's technical team have pulled themselves into the competitive zone needed to be podium comtending, genuinely and consistently this year.

However, that was an absolutely surgically accurate pass by MV and surprisingly LH really wasn't prepared, given they'd just out manoeuvred the RB group through that undercut pitstop.
Let's face it he "picked" LH pocket with such sublime move that LH was probably checking his watch wasn't taken too there's absolutely no contention here, fully legitimate pass expertly executed.

The jump start in Silverstone, the pit lane speed in Hungary, the impeeding in Q Hungary (the most significant loss this last GP) leading to moving back on grid, have wasted quite some effort and points. Collectively, they've got to really concentrate if they are to bring the challenge closer to Antonelli this year.
The opportunity is so temptingly close, albeit with not quite the pace that AK & Merc are able to deploy. It needs a massive effort to drag this one to the true battle between the two that would result.

LH certainly having a wildly better year than last, but needs everything thrown into mistake reduction to build against the Mercs.

[PlatinumZealot]

"Diving in" is actually mentioned by the FIA driving guidelines, but only as a point of having the car not fully under control.

A. Overtaking on the INSIDE of a corner
To be entitled to be given room when overtaking on the INSIDE, the overtaking car must:
i) Have its front axle AT LEAST ALONGSIDE THE MIRROR of the other car PRIOR TO AND AT THE
APEX
ii) Be driven in a fully controlled manner particularly from entry to apex and not have “dived in”.
iii) In the Stewards’ estimation, have taken a reasonable racing line and been able to complete the
move whilst remaining within track limits.

If Lewis would have closed the door at that late moment (Max was already alongside prior to the corner, let alone apex), it would be totally on Lewis.

Your point is moot if you look at the parts in bold and if there was a collision.

Anyway. Enough of this topic.

It's the usual Max Divebomb. Sometimes they work. Sometimes they don't.

Actually his point is pretty much valid. As long as the overtaker is capable of turning in the car and gets to the apex first, it's fine by the FIA.

My first comment on this matches what the FIA says. You'all just like to oppose me for the fun of it.

[mzso]

My first comment on this matches what the FIA says. You'all just like to oppose me for the fun of it.

When you make stuff up, for sure.

[PlatinumZealot]

My first comment on this matches what the FIA says. You'all just like to oppose me for the fun of it.

When you make stuff up, for sure.

How so?

[venkyhere]

I really enjoyed seeing LH pace and car hustling attacking driving around Hungoraring circuit. Cementing the reality that he plus the Ferrari's technical team have pulled themselves into the competitive zone needed to be podium comtending, genuinely and consistently this year.

However, that was an absolutely surgically accurate pass by MV and surprisingly LH really wasn't prepared, given they'd just out manoeuvred the RB group through that undercut pitstop.
Let's face it he "picked" LH pocket with such sublime move that LH was probably checking his watch wasn't taken too there's absolutely no contention here, fully legitimate pass expertly executed.

The jump start in Silverstone, the pit lane speed in Hungary, the impeeding in Q Hungary (the most significant loss this last GP) leading to moving back on grid, have wasted quite some effort and points. Collectively, they've got to really concentrate if they are to bring the challenge closer to Antonelli this year.
The opportunity is so temptingly close, albeit with not quite the pace that AK & Merc are able to deploy. It needs a massive effort to drag this one to the true battle between the two that would result.

LH certainly having a wildly better year than last, but needs everything thrown into mistake reduction to build against the Mercs.

I fully concur.
I would like to add that something peculiar is going on :
- on tracks where they werent' expected to do well, they did really well - Silverstone, Spa
- on tracks where they are expected to do really well, they didn't - Monaco, Hungary
not talking about where they finished in those races, talking about outright pace w.r.t rest of the field. That tells me two things :
a) the PU has never been 'that bad' compared to the Merc (even less so after the ADUO update). By saying 'PU' I include the gearbox, the ratios as well.
b) the 'chassis' isn't 'that great' compared to the Merc/Mclaren
in other words, the 'margin' of deficit/advantage that was being talked about was blown up to a higher proportion than what it actually is.

[woocasz]

I really enjoyed seeing LH pace and car hustling attacking driving around Hungoraring circuit. Cementing the reality that he plus the Ferrari's technical team have pulled themselves into the competitive zone needed to be podium comtending, genuinely and consistently this year.

However, that was an absolutely surgically accurate pass by MV and surprisingly LH really wasn't prepared, given they'd just out manoeuvred the RB group through that undercut pitstop.
Let's face it he "picked" LH pocket with such sublime move that LH was probably checking his watch wasn't taken too there's absolutely no contention here, fully legitimate pass expertly executed.

The jump start in Silverstone, the pit lane speed in Hungary, the impeeding in Q Hungary (the most significant loss this last GP) leading to moving back on grid, have wasted quite some effort and points. Collectively, they've got to really concentrate if they are to bring the challenge closer to Antonelli this year.
The opportunity is so temptingly close, albeit with not quite the pace that AK & Merc are able to deploy. It needs a massive effort to drag this one to the true battle between the two that would result.

LH certainly having a wildly better year than last, but needs everything thrown into mistake reduction to build against the Mercs.

I fully concur.
I would like to add that something peculiar is going on :
- on tracks where they werent' expected to do well, they did really well - Silverstone, Spa
- on tracks where they are expected to do really well, they didn't - Monaco, Hungary
not talking about where they finished in those races, talking about outright pace w.r.t rest of the field. That tells me two things :
a) the PU has never been 'that bad' compared to the Merc (even less so after the ADUO update). By saying 'PU' I include the gearbox, the ratios as well.
b) the 'chassis' isn't 'that great' compared to the Merc/Mclaren
in other words, the 'margin' of deficit/advantage that was being talked about was blown up to a higher proportion than what it actually is.

It’s strange that no one has mentioned this yet.
Ferrari had reliability issues, so they had to change the set-up, which led to a significant drop in performance.
(The sudden failure at the end of the FP1 session.)
This may be linked to the suspension and gearbox issue. Perhaps the team used settings that were too extreme (a car with a low ride height?), which may have caused damage to internal components, including the gearbox.
"The mechanical problem Leclerc faced on Friday had already cropped up during testing in Bahrain and had left the team in a dilemma. A source very close to Ferrari revealed ahead of the weekend that the team was confident of victory in Hungary."

In terms of chassis, SF-26 is the best car.

As for poor performance in Monaco, if Charles hadn’t had that Brembo saga, he would have won that race. He has a 0,2-0,3s advantage over the rest on that track.

[hollus]

People don’t like it when I take out the warning hammer. PZ, you are the first to question that, so I’ll try something else:

PZ: The moment you ended your argument with “Full stop.”, you stopped having a discussion and started playing pigeon chess. That was asking for the troll comments.
Pigeon chess often earns a warning.

To everyone else: if you think a user is a troll, stop the feeding, FFS. There might also be warnings that way.

And now back to civilized discussion, please?

[deadhead]

Need Leclerc back to 100% in second half because the first half felt like 80% or worse

[Fakepivot]

2024 2nd half level Charles would be great. he out scored max and lando 2nd half in 2024, but its all about consistency, Ferrari as a whole seem to lack that..

[PlatinumZealot]

Unusual of Leclerc to keep talking about what suits his driving style. Even in the Madring preview he brought it up.

[catent]

Unusual of Leclerc to keep talking about what suits his driving style. Even in the Madring preview he brought it up.

Are you a close follower of Leclerc who knows what is “usual” for him? When was his most recent mention of driving style, and can you provide a source?

Perhaps Leclerc (and other drivers) are spending a lot of time talking about the driving style these cars require because it’s highly unusual compared to previous formula.

[PlatinumZealot]

Unusual of Leclerc to keep talking about what suits his driving style. Even in the Madring preview he brought it up.

Are you a close follower of Leclerc who knows what is “usual” for him? When was his most recent mention of driving style, and can you provide a source?

Perhaps Leclerc (and other drivers) are spending a lot of time talking about the driving style these cars require because it’s highly unusual compared to previous formula.

Yes. I am a close follower of Leclerc since debut. I started the Leclerc thread in 2020.

Driver threads no longer allowed tho.

[AR3-GP]

I fully concur.
I would like to add that something peculiar is going on :
- on tracks where they werent' expected to do well, they did really well - Silverstone, Spa
- on tracks where they are expected to do really well, they didn't - Monaco, Hungary
not talking about where they finished in those races, talking about outright pace w.r.t rest of the field. That tells me two things :
a) the PU has never been 'that bad' compared to the Merc (even less so after the ADUO update). By saying 'PU' I include the gearbox, the ratios as well.

According to a statement from Frederick Vassuer, the PU gap is 1-2 tenths.

Fred Vasseur: “ADUO will help us reduce the gap, but there's no guarantee it will close it.”

“When you look at Mercedes and Red Bull, we're talking about a 0.1-0.2 second difference per lap in the engine. In any case, it's not a huge advantage to make up.”

[gearboxtrouble]

The engine gap isn't big for overall laptime in quali because it seems to manage harvesting and deployment better than the RBPT while being more drivable but it is evident in races on power circuits where they struggle to pass or defend against the RBPT and Mercedes engine which always seem to have more on the straights.

[AR3-GP]

The engine gap isn't big for overall laptime in quali because it seems to manage harvesting and deployment better than the RBPT while being more drivable but it is evident in races on power circuits where they struggle to pass or defend against the RBPT and Mercedes engine which always seem to have more on the straights.

It has been hinted at that Ferrari have more drag and that the exhaust blowing solution cost hp. Certain aspects of the car are creating an illusion. If Ferrari had the gap that people think they do, they would never have been competitive in Silverstone and Spa. They didn't dominate Monaco or Hungary. Maybe there is something to conclude from this.