2026 Scuderia Ferrari HP F1 Team

[PlatinumZealot]

Lewis' worse quali of the season, he was competitive in fp1 but now doesnt seem happy, complained of cold tires before the lap and said it was a completely different car in that session, after they put on the new floor. Wonder if he'll do a setup change before the sprint

I watched his onboard afterward. It's a tyre preparation issue. He complained of cold tyres then did some unusual pacing. Maybe a bit too slow? Then on his hot lap he got snaps of oversteer in turn 1 and two other turns in sector 2. And one big understeer in another turn.

I think Charles tends to be better at tyre preparation on softer tyres.

[bluechris]

I don't care really what will happen in Sprint. What i care is the data they will gather from the Sprint to be useful once for them and be better in the race. What this team lack's is the ability to learn the progress of the track during a weekend. All other make huge progress except us.

[Xyz22]

Not bad considering the soft tyres

[woocasz]

Confidence Charles is just different animal.
We need that one tenth.

[deadhead]

Not bad considering the soft tyres

Maybe the simulator at the factory does work after all?

[sucof]

Mercedes is also faster than McL in the straights though. It's not just the PU but their entire concept.
Of course, Ferrari has a terrible PU compared to MB.

Mercedes certainly has the best PU, but Ferrari is not terrible.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HQRForxWQAA ... =4096x4096

Ferrari is over 4% worse than MB in terms of pure ICE power, which makes its PU terrible in comparison.

Heheh since when do we believe such numbers? Only the teams know, and they are only to a certain degree.

[atanatizante]

The gap between the Ferraris and the Mercedes can be attributed to the straights: there is a difference of 0,3s to 0,4s between the SF-26 and the W-17 on the straights.


Monza cant come soon enough

If it is claimed that Ferrari is "faster in the corners", then it is because they have more downforce. More downforce = more drag. Drag is energy consumption. This is an eco-Formula. There are only 2 SM zones in Zandvoort. So Ferrari waste more energy around the lap. Its not a 3-4 tenths PU deficit. We have already discussed this. They have an air restrictor on their exhaust. They have more aerodynamic energy consumption.

I think we are broadly saying the same thing: the 0.3–0.4s lost on the straights cannot automatically be interpreted as a 0.3–0.4s PU deficit.

If Ferrari is running more downforce — or simply has a less aerodynamically efficient package — it will carry more drag outside the two Straight Mode activation zones. That increases the energy required to accelerate and maintain speed, and may also force Ferrari to deploy more electrical energy earlier in the lap. The lower terminal speed could therefore be a combination of drag and earlier ERS depletion/clipping, rather than evidence of substantially lower ICE power.

However, “more downforce = proportionally more drag” is not necessarily true, because aerodynamic efficiency matters. Public telemetry also cannot separate drag, ICE output, battery state at the start of the lap and ERS deployment strategy.

So I agree that this is unlikely to be a pure 3–4 tenths PU deficit, but I would not treat the graph as proof that it is entirely aerodynamic either. Monza should provide a much cleaner comparison.

[atanatizante]

Lewis' worse quali of the season, he was competitive in fp1 but now doesnt seem happy, complained of cold tires before the lap and said it was a completely different car in that session, after they put on the new floor. Wonder if he'll do a setup change before the sprint

I watched his onboard afterward. It's a tyre preparation issue. He complained of cold tyres then did some unusual pacing. Maybe a bit too slow? Then on his hot lap he got snaps of oversteer in turn 1 and two other turns in sector 2. And one big understeer in another turn.

I think Charles tends to be better at tyre preparation on softer tyres.

That sequence fits the telemetry and Hamilton’s radio message very well.

Cold tyres, followed by snap oversteer in T1 and in two corners in sector 2, plus significant understeer elsewhere, suggest that the tyres — and possibly the two axles — were not uniformly inside their operating window. That looks more like a tyre preparation issue than one fundamental setup imbalance.

Leclerc may indeed be better at bringing the softer compounds in quickly, helped by his more aggressive style and preference for a pointier front end. However, Hamilton’s preparation could also have been affected by traffic, the team’s prescribed warm-up procedure, tyre pressures and his setup.

Considering that the gap was only 0.140s in SQ1 and 0.255s in SQ2 on mediums, but increased to 0.569s in SQ3 on softs, tyre preparation is a much more convincing explanation than the new floor suddenly making Hamilton’s car fundamentally slower.

[search]

Both Ferrari saved a new soft for tomorrow, as far as I could see. But to win from 3rd row, it'll probably need more than that.

[Luscion]

Lewis staring at the timing screen in parc ferme, probably wondering where the hell Ferrari's pace went

apparently lewis struggled with tire temp which isnt surprising considering he was the last to do his lap with the rain falling and Charles said they tried a different engine strat and it make the engine unpredictable, not sure if Lewis also had this issue

[j_ste]

Need some miracles tomorrow. So much volatility with this package

Edit…the speed differences going from exit of 3 into 7 and the end of the lap are just too just big.

[Sevach]

Charles complaining about battery/deployment issues.

[Xyz22]

Embarrassing performance from everyone and race compromised now with the liability Piastri ahead lapping 1s slower than Norris

[PlatinumZealot]

I totally did not expect Lewis to outqualify Charles here. Anyway based on the sprint Charles will be harrying Lewis to get out of the way after a few laps.

[search]

apparently lewis struggled with tire temp which isnt surprising considering he was the last to do his lap with the rain falling

+ being the only team that needed to do two warmup laps