2026 Scuderia Ferrari HP F1 Team

[Badger]

The new rear wing needs to be there in Jeddah as it's the first power circuit

Australia is the first power circuit

[venkyhere]

This is from Bahrain day 3, but if the data is good, Lewis sure looks happy late breaking in this car.

This looks like from Bahrain test1, not test2 which is latest and where LeClerc was fastest on day3.

[dans79]

This is from Bahrain day 3, but if the data is good, Lewis sure looks happy late breaking in this car.

This looks like from Bahrain test1, not test2 which is latest and where LeClerc was fastest on day3.

It is that's why I said Bahrain day 3, the final day would be day 6.

[venkyhere]

This is from Bahrain day 3, but if the data is good, Lewis sure looks happy late breaking in this car.

This looks like from Bahrain test1, not test2 which is latest and where LeClerc was fastest on day3.

It is that's why I said Bahrain day 3, the final day would be day 6.

oops, (test1 d1-2-3 & test2 d1-2-3) vs (test d-1-2-3-4-5-6) , naming convention difference

[f1Follower]

The new rear wing needs to be there in Jeddah as it's the first power circuit

Australia is the first power circuit

It will be too early as the rear wing is still at concept level. Better test it at Bahrain GP weekend to bring refined version in Jeddah

[f1316]

Is it possible that Ferrari has a lot of ICE power on tap, given they claim to have used a single PU for at least 14 race distances, and potentially later on for all of pre-season testing? 14 race distances is more than the lifetime of a 2025 engine, and if they used it for all of pre-season testing, it would be something like 18 race distances. 18 race distances with an engine anywhere near peak performance would be ridiculously reliable. Meanwhile the Mercedes powered teams appear to all have gone through several PUs, or at least Mercedes did, and that is supposedly with a massively detuned engine.

So is it possible that the Ferrari reliability indicates a very detuned engine that they may match, or at least be closer to the Mercedes PU? Or can you not compromise reliability for more power as much as I think?

Every engine does more distance than what it is rated for in terms of races. You have three hours of practice, quali, sprints, etc. Not to mention they wouldn't be running the engine in its proper race mode for a lot of that testing time.

Yeah, I'm well aware. I'm just saying that the distance covered is massive for a new engine. Mercedes appear to have had significantly more PU reliability issues than Ferrari, despite allegedly running an even more detuned engine than Ferrari are. I'm just saying that the seemingly bulletproof engine could indicate that it is running further from its peak potential than we think, while Mercedes might be struggling to actually unlock all of the power they have available due to poor reliability.

It’s a fair point - 14 races is unnecessarily reliable. So you’d think they would try to run it harder, given it only needs to last about 8 races.

That said, I wonder if that’s part of what they were doing test 2 (and might explain why there were a few more minor issues).

[f1316]

The new rear wing needs to be there in Jeddah as it's the first power circuit

Australia is the first power circuit

It will be too early as the rear wing is still at concept level. Better test it at Bahrain GP weekend to bring refined version in Jeddah

You know what I don’t understand: why is it a test item/concept level? Looks to me fully functional.

I get a few of the possible reasons (maybe just gathering the data with a higher weight version, maybe needs correlation/tuning etc) but part of me also wonders if that’s them playing it down - ie they’ve totally got it ready for Oz and just want to keep their powder dry by not showing the impact on their long runs etc.

[sucof]

I might add, Ham is thinking this type of cars will suit him, while there is a lot more to these new cars he will not handle well... the continuous playing with recharge and battery management will not be his strong side, imho. And this will make him even more sad and disappointed.
Future telling OFF.

You know Lewis and Alonso both have extensive experience with cars like this right? Prior to 2014 drivers had to decide when to deploy kers, and they had to do it manually. DRS was similar during qualifying in 2011 & 2012, drivers could manually use it whenever they wanted for as long as they wanted.

Cars like this? There were never before such cars like these...
You have a new way of planning and managing battery charge, boost deployment, rpm, where and how you break, how you change gears back unnaturally and play with throttle, etc...

[sucof]

I might add, Ham is thinking this type of cars will suit him, while there is a lot more to these new cars he will not handle well... the continuous playing with recharge and battery management will not be his strong side, imho.

Is there some reason you believe Lewis will not handle this aspect well?

Yes, if you look at how he could not learn and or acclimatise to the ground effect cars, and how he talked about this, or just to mention learning Italian, you will get a hunch he will not like to learn all these new management of these systems, methods.

[Mosin123]

I might add, Ham is thinking this type of cars will suit him, while there is a lot more to these new cars he will not handle well... the continuous playing with recharge and battery management will not be his strong side, imho.

Is there some reason you believe Lewis will not handle this aspect well?

Yes, if you look at how he could not learn and or acclimatise to the ground effect cars, and how he talked about this, or just to mention learning Italian, you will get a hunch he will not like to learn all these new management of these systems, methods.

managing battery charge is not that complicated, for what reason do you think managing his battery will be harder for LH than every other driver on the grid?

Race management and car management is one of LH's biggest strengths, So im struggling to understand why you think battery management is going to be a struggle for him more than any other driver, would love to hear why?

[sucof]

Is there some reason you believe Lewis will not handle this aspect well?

Yes, if you look at how he could not learn and or acclimatise to the ground effect cars, and how he talked about this, or just to mention learning Italian, you will get a hunch he will not like to learn all these new management of these systems, methods.

managing battery charge is not that complicated, for what reason do you think managing his battery will be harder for LH than every other driver on the grid?

Race management and car management is one of LH's biggest strengths, So im struggling to understand why you think battery management is going to be a struggle for him more than any other driver, would love to hear why?

Then how we see LH differs. It's not a problem

[Seanspeed]

I might add, Ham is thinking this type of cars will suit him, while there is a lot more to these new cars he will not handle well... the continuous playing with recharge and battery management will not be his strong side, imho.

Is there some reason you believe Lewis will not handle this aspect well?

Yes, if you look at how he could not learn and or acclimatise to the ground effect cars, and how he talked about this, or just to mention learning Italian, you will get a hunch he will not like to learn all these new management of these systems, methods.

What is it about ground effect cars and any troubles he speculatively might have had with them, will somehow translate to this energy restricted era? What's the crossover where this is making sense in your mind, exactly?

[Brahmal]

To partially quote a Red Bull fan who posts on the forum. Lewis will want revenge/ justice (can’t quite remember their post word for word) for 2021.

He’s not playing rear gunner till he’s mathematically out of contention

Is it not Ferrari tradition that whoever has the points lead by Monza gets No. 1 status the rest of the year? I think Lewis would have enough respect for the Ferrari institution and Fred to go along with that.

[sucof]

Is there some reason you believe Lewis will not handle this aspect well?

Yes, if you look at how he could not learn and or acclimatise to the ground effect cars, and how he talked about this, or just to mention learning Italian, you will get a hunch he will not like to learn all these new management of these systems, methods.

What is it about ground effect cars and any troubles he speculatively might have had with them, will somehow translate to this energy restricted era? What's the crossover where this is making sense in your mind, exactly?

My observation is that he simply has problems adapting nowadays to new cars or systems. Hence he was slower with ground effect cars than his team mates. My observation is not only based on his driving but the many interviews he gave and people in F1 have said. And I suspect this will be similar to the new ways you have to drive the new cars.
I think we talked about this too much, I just shared my opinion, we will see.

[CHT]

Yes, if you look at how he could not learn and or acclimatise to the ground effect cars, and how he talked about this, or just to mention learning Italian, you will get a hunch he will not like to learn all these new management of these systems, methods.

What is it about ground effect cars and any troubles he speculatively might have had with them, will somehow translate to this energy restricted era? What's the crossover where this is making sense in your mind, exactly?

My observation is that he simply has problems adapting nowadays to new cars or systems. Hence he was slower with ground effect cars than his team mates. My observation is not only based on his driving but the many interviews he gave and people in F1 have said. And I suspect this will be similar to the new ways you have to drive the new cars.
I think we talked about this too much, I just shared my opinion, we will see.

2026 cars will be worst than 2025 because every new circuit will be a brand new challenge and learning curve which is not related to driving because 2026 PU require drivers to deal with battery recharging strategy, not pushing the cars and tires to the limit.

For Bahrain test, teams and drivers have a good 6 days and hundreds of laps to get it right, but when it comes to race weekend, there is only FP1 FP2 and FP3 before qualifying. I am expecting many drivers will become very frustrated when their cars runs out of battery power to push.