George Russell claimed his first Formula One sprint race win at the 2026 Chinese Grand Prix, maintaining his perfect start to the season after a closely fought contest that highlighted both Mercedes’ strengths and the evolving competitive order under the 2026 regulations.
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Real gap between McLaren and Ferrari today was 0.5s as Norris completely --- up the last corner, losing 0.3s.
McLaren has now a superior aero package compared to Ferrari, but this was clear for who actually watched the races, despite some people talking about world champion . Moreover, this is the first time in many years that Ferrari has not a top driver pairing. Leclerc is undeperforming massively compared to 2025 or 2024, but he is still more or less on pace with Hamilton in terms of pure speed. Terrible.
Ferrari went one step further and fitted Hamilton’s car with an engine even BEFORE Aduo-1 (this guy is THAT fast)
In an interview after qualifying, Vasseur himself confirmed that Charles was losing out to Hamilton on every straight due to his engine’s older specification
It´s always like that for the Ferrari´s fans(actually, their driver´s fans), isn´t it?! Always a big hope for pole and always a big let down. But that´s what happens when you have very hyped qualifiers
Well the issue is that a lot of these guys aren’t Ferrari fans - they would have been in the Mercedes thread a few years ago. It’s definitely getting very boring
Mercedes thread used to have way more pages than Ferrari´s up untill 2025. Since then, Ferrari is only second to AM Honda. This place was destined to become toxic....
Moreover, this is the first time in many years that Ferrari has not a top driver pairing. Leclerc is undeperforming massively compared to 2025 or 2024, but he is still more or less on pace with Hamilton in terms of pure speed. Terrible.
Yeah. Leclerc is overated and appears to be hindered by the new cars and his team mate was just never quick enough, regardless of age or regulation
Leclerc was not overrated. He has been the second best driver of the grid by a massive margin from 2022 to 2025. This season he is massively undeperforming compared to previous years.
Hamilton is not better as he is only 36 points ahead despite 3 zero points finish. Absolutely awful.
i would say best in 2025 were : 1 Max 2 Lando 3 Piastri and 4th was between Leclerc and Russell, ain't no way that he was second best driver of the grid by a massive margin from 2022 to 2025....
if Max did a lap like Lando yesterday ppl will just say he had a dog car and he's the best ever but when it's Lando it's the best car not the driver
Last edited by tatius on 13 Sep 2026, 11:57, edited 1 time in total.
i would say best in 2025 were : 1 Max 2 Lando 3 Piastri and 4th was between Leclerc and Russell, ain't no way that he was second best driver of the grid by a massive margin from 2022 to 2025....
if Max did a lap like Lando yesterday ppl will just say he had a dog car and he's the best ever but when it's Lando it's the best car not the driver
Norris and Piastri significantly undeperformed the car last year. Piastri was able to lose 100 points in less than half of the season, something i've never seen in F1 modern era.
Ferrari could attempt a more aggressive strategy today than the relatively conservative options suggested by Pirelli, potentially starting on the Soft before switching to M–M, or adapting the subsequent stints around any SC/VSC intervention.
There are several interesting clues pointing in that direction. First, Hamilton and Leclerc have both saved one brand-new set of Softs, having used the Medium in Q1 and then extracted a lot of running from the same Soft set in Q2. This leaves Ferrari with a strategic option that the other front-running teams do not have.
Starting on the Soft could provide more than just extra grip off the line. It could give Ferrari an opportunity to gain track position early and get into free air. This seems particularly important for the SF-26: at Zandvoort, as well as at other races, Ferrari showed considerably stronger race pace in free air, suggesting that track position can be almost as important as tyre choice when it comes to extracting the car’s true potential.
There would also be another benefit to starting on Soft. During the opening stint, Ferrari could observe how the Medium and Hard actually behave on rival cars under race conditions before deciding which compound to use for stint two. On a completely new circuit, with several drivers describing degradation as very high, and with the F2/F3 races suggesting a significant probability of SC/VSC interruptions, that strategic flexibility could be extremely valuable.
There is also an interesting technical clue. At both Zandvoort and Madrid, Ferrari required two preparation laps before a qualifying push lap; in Madrid, the same patternappeared on both the Medium and the Soft. This could suggest a slower and more progressive rate of energy input into the tyres. That is clearly a disadvantage in qualifying, but it could potentially become an advantage over a race stint if it helps Ferrari control tyre temperatures and degradation.
However, this should not be confused with Ferrari having no traction-related weakness. The SF-26 still appears to have a limitation in terms of rear mechanical grip and wheelspin, particularly through slow corners. Madrid’s S3 is interesting in this respect: Leclerc managed P2 in the sector, only 0.100s off the absolute best, whereas Hamilton was P6. So the potential is clearly there, but the operating window seems relatively narrow. According to paddock information, this is precisely one of the areas expected to be addressed by a rear-end/rear-suspension upgrade at Austin.
The most interesting precedent may be Budapest: high temperatures, a very twisty circuit with significant demands on rear traction, and Ferrari was the front-running team that chose to start on the Soft and showed that it could use that compound competitively. Madrid’s Soft is actually a harder compound, the C4, while the estimated performance delta to the Medium is around 0.5s per lap.
For that reason, S–M–M does not look like an unrealistic Ferrari strategy at all. The Soft could buy them positions at the start and, crucially, clean air; the Medium could then be used to maximise their underlying race pace. S–M–S would be the more opportunistic alternative, particularly if a SC/VSC creates a short final stint.
So there may be an interesting paradox here: one of Ferrari’s qualifying weaknesses — its slower tyre warm-up — could potentially conceal a race-day advantage. If the SF-26 can combine that more progressive tyre-energy build-up with sufficient control of rear wheelspin, the fresh Soft saved by Hamilton and Leclerc could become a genuine strategic weapon rather than simply a spare set of tyres.
i would say best in 2025 were : 1 Max 2 Lando 3 Piastri and 4th was between Leclerc and Russell, ain't no way that he was second best driver of the grid by a massive margin from 2022 to 2025....
Norris almost handed the title to Verstappen, with McLaren clearly being the fastest car on the grid in 90% of the races. Meanwhile, Piastri simply disappeared in the second half. A collapse I'd never seen happen before with a driver fighting for the championship. He still hasn't managed to recover the form he had at the beginning of that season.
I wouldn't say by a huge margin, but I'd place Leclerc as the second-best driver of 2025, which, for me, was one of his best seasons. Unfortunately, he didn't have a good enough car to capitalize on his good performance.
Last edited by edu2703 on 13 Sep 2026, 14:45, edited 1 time in total.
In all 14 races, the Mercedes PU secured pole position.
That pretty much sums up the season so far.
In addition, Mercedes will be able to make use of ADUO this season
Anyone who thinks Ferrari is in the fight for the WCC or WDC... think again.
I feel like today's race is going to be either a Spanish Monaco or complete chaos.
The strategy is to get a clean start, gain as many positions as possible, and get through the first lap unscathed. From there, it's just a matter of staying on the track and adjusting strategy for any potential safety car periods. We won't see many overtakes today.
you want to spoil the coping!
