2026 Scuderia Ferrari HP F1 Team

[AR3-GP]

Lando Norris: "Will it be different in China? No. They're not going to change 50 seconds from one race to another."
"The Ferraris in low-speed corners are insane, even better than the Mercedes. Although the Mercedes are strong everywhere."

[Seanspeed]

At circuits with limited overtakes like Monaco or Singapore, Ferrari can use their start advantage to jump the Mercs and maintain position.

The big advantage Ferrari have at the start seems to come in the 2nd phase. Meaning there needs to be some at least moderate length to the 1st corner to really take advantage of it. So dont expect Ferrari to be able to exploit the advantage somewhere like Monaco where you could spit from the startline to the 1st corner. lol

Getting blocked out will always be possible as well - as soon as one has to lift for any reason, the whole advantage disappears. Which means that if Mclaren or Red Bull start getting in front during quali, it's gonna make it a lot more difficult to navigate through to the front without getting held up by somebody in the process.

And ultimately, I see it maybe being more useful in a sprint race, cuz in a full distance, the Mercs simply have too much pace to not get by either on-track or with some basic strategy.

[AR3-GP]

The big advantage Ferrari have at the start seems to come in the 2nd phase. Meaning there needs to be some at least moderate length to the 1st corner to really take advantage of it. So dont expect Ferrari to be able to exploit the advantage somewhere like Monaco where you could spit from the startline to the 1st corner. lol

The 2nd phase had more to do with Mercedes and Red Bull not having properly charged battery on formation lap. Ferrari's start advantage is not what people are saying. This has turned into an early season boogeyman. Only the factory Mercedes team has bad starts. Mclaren, Red Bull, and Ferrari are very similar in principle. Very similar 1st phase, and 2nd phase only decided by wrong battery levels in Melbourne.

I hope we can put this to bed once and for all in China (Mercedes = bad, Mclaren/RBR/Ferrari = on par).

[Seanspeed]

The big advantage Ferrari have at the start seems to come in the 2nd phase. Meaning there needs to be some at least moderate length to the 1st corner to really take advantage of it. So dont expect Ferrari to be able to exploit the advantage somewhere like Monaco where you could spit from the startline to the 1st corner. lol

The 2nd phase had more to do with Mercedes and Red Bull not having properly charged battery on formation lap. Ferrari's start advantage is not as big as people are saying. This has really turned into an early season myth. Only the factory Mercedes team has bad starts. Mclaren, Red Bull, and Ferrari are very similar.

So why didn't Norris have a monster start as well? Did literally everybody except Ferrari just coincidentally happen to not be able to handle the entirely practiced procedure of charging their battery? :/

Seems like most evidence points to Ferrari indeed having an advantage with only like one sparing video during testing showing any sign that anybody else(the one with Norris) being at a similar level overall.

[AR3-GP]

The big advantage Ferrari have at the start seems to come in the 2nd phase. Meaning there needs to be some at least moderate length to the 1st corner to really take advantage of it. So dont expect Ferrari to be able to exploit the advantage somewhere like Monaco where you could spit from the startline to the 1st corner. lol

The 2nd phase had more to do with Mercedes and Red Bull not having properly charged battery on formation lap. Ferrari's start advantage is not as big as people are saying. This has really turned into an early season myth. Only the factory Mercedes team has bad starts. Mclaren, Red Bull, and Ferrari are very similar.

So why didn't Norris have a monster start as well? Did literally everybody except Ferrari just coincidentally happen to not be able to handle the entirely practiced procedure of charging their battery? :/

Seems like most evidence points to Ferrari indeed having an advantage with only like one sparing video during testing showing any sign that anybody else(the one with Norris) being at a similar level overall.

See this overhead:



(1) Norris starts is on par with Ferrari, but he lifts and lose momentum. Norris always lose place on start because he's cautious and lifts.
(2) Hamilton had no one in front of him, so didn't have to switch lanes and lose traction
(3) Hadjar was as good as Ferraris, but then his battery was empty and he dropped back.
(4) Antonelli and Russell have awful starts, and Russell also runs out of battery

Yes, RBR and Mercedes made mistakes with the software charging the battery. It happens. It's the first grid start of the season on this track. The PU is incredibly complicated and getting the battery into the right place on the formation lap for the first time, while driver is using the energy to warm the tires? They made mistakes.

[Xyz22]

Goodness, despite being on 14 older tires, Andrea Antonelli increased his gap over Leclerc. Mercedes is head and shoulders ahead with their "suspicious" engine.

Vasseur said the real gap to MB was 0.5s, which is realistic. Melbourne was the second worst track of the calendar for Ferrari engine, which looks to be the worsr (outside Honda) in recharging through super clipping (which was crucial in this track).

[sucof]

Telemetry feed was so poor this weekend, but this is 4 laps of Leclerc on 20L-old mediums vs. Russell on basically fresh hards.

Faster in all high speed corners on ~20 laps older tires.
Gained 1s only over 32 laps on Russell, despite 13-laps fresher tires.

The "magic" of the Mercedes "deployment" lol

https://i.imgur.com/H543MGJ.png

Sorry but this telemetry does not prove anything about your argument.
In fact you provide zero proof of your idea that it is not the recovery/deployment where they are doing well.
Yet Mclaren people said their car is not that slower and the engine shall be the same, hence what is left is the software and its settings.
And again: try think more long term and see the bigger picture: This was the very first race with this huge rule change.
The biggest unknown and variable in this rule change is how you use your hardware, namely software. You think there could not be 1% to be gained for other teams there???
I develop software, as well as some electric hardware, trust me, there can be way more to gain still than 1% overall by doing this side better. Merc probably is ahead in this, but clever engineers looking at good telemetry will be able to figure out in 1-2 months a lot and provide software that is a lot closer in performance.
IF nothing changes in like 3 months, then maybe their engine provides those extra horsepower, let's see.

[Xyz22]

Goodness, despite being on 14 older tires, Andrea Antonelli increased his gap over Leclerc. Mercedes is head and shoulders ahead with their "suspicious" engine.

Vasseur said the real gap to MB was 0.5s, which is realistic. Melbourne was the second worst track of the calendar for Ferrari engine, which looks to be the worst (outside Honda) in recharging through super clipping (which was crucial in this track).

This is why Ferrari would benefit massively from Macarena Wing and a reduction of total electric output, which would make recharging through super clipping less critical.

[subfire91]

Goodness, despite being on 14 older tires, Andrea Antonelli increased his gap over Leclerc. Mercedes is head and shoulders ahead with their "suspicious" engine.

Vasseur said the real gap to MB was 0.5s, which is realistic. Melbourne was the second worst track of the calendar for Ferrari engine, which looks to be the worst (outside Honda) in recharging through super clipping (which was crucial in this track).

This is why Ferrari would benefit massively from Macarena Wing and a reduction of total electric output, which would make recharging through super clipping less critical.

how can this be improved though ? engine upgrade or software ?

[Xyz22]

Goodness, despite being on 14 older tires, Andrea Antonelli increased his gap over Leclerc. Mercedes is head and shoulders ahead with their "suspicious" engine.

Vasseur said the real gap to MB was 0.5s, which is realistic. Melbourne was the second worst track of the calendar for Ferrari engine, which looks to be the worst (outside Honda) in recharging through super clipping (which was crucial in this track).

This is why Ferrari would benefit massively from Macarena Wing and a reduction of total electric output, which would make recharging through super clipping less critical.

how can this be improved though ? engine upgrade or software ?

Both, but currently the gap is massive. We’ll see what is going to happen with ADUO as well.

[bluechris]

Vasseur said the real gap to MB was 0.5s, which is realistic. Melbourne was the second worst track of the calendar for Ferrari engine, which looks to be the worst (outside Honda) in recharging through super clipping (which was crucial in this track).

This is why Ferrari would benefit massively from Macarena Wing and a reduction of total electric output, which would make recharging through super clipping less critical.

how can this be improved though ? engine upgrade or software ?

Both, but currently the gap is massive. We’ll see what is going to happen with ADUO as well.

To get ADUO preference, you need to be some percentage slower right? so you all here think that MB will not control this to just be faster but under this percentage?

[Space-heat]

I think GPS estimates are quite reliable. Or atleast there are other ways by which the teams can actually know whether there is a 5/10/15 hp difference. Thats how it has been in the past. I think 15 hp was the 2% difference needed for ADUO this year

FIA has a torque meter on the drive shafts. No one can hide anything.

Do we know how they calculate the magnitudes? Is it the average over an entire race, or is it a single Q3 best lap?

Essentially, what options are open to Merc to limit the % difference to Ferrari/others?

And if Bahrain and Jeddah are cancelled, is the ADUO for Race 6 shifted back?

[AR3-GP]

I think GPS estimates are quite reliable. Or atleast there are other ways by which the teams can actually know whether there is a 5/10/15 hp difference. Thats how it has been in the past. I think 15 hp was the 2% difference needed for ADUO this year

FIA has a torque meter on the drive shafts. No one can hide anything.

Do we know how they calculate the magnitudes? Is it the average over an entire race, or is it a single Q3 best lap?

Essentially, what options are open to Merc to limit the % difference to Ferrari/others?

And if Bahrain and Jeddah are cancelled, is the ADUO for Race 6 shifted back?

These are good questions. Unfortunately I don't know the answers

If I could speculate, I don't think the ADUO would get pushed back. There is nothing in the regulations which says that is possible.

[nico5]

Telemetry feed was so poor this weekend, but this is 4 laps of Leclerc on 20L-old mediums vs. Russell on basically fresh hards.

Faster in all high speed corners on ~20 laps older tires.
Gained 1s only over 32 laps on Russell, despite 13-laps fresher tires.

The "magic" of the Mercedes "deployment" lol

https://i.imgur.com/H543MGJ.png

Sorry but this telemetry does not prove anything about your argument.
In fact you provide zero proof of your idea that it is not the recovery/deployment where they are doing well.
Yet Mclaren people said their car is not that slower and the engine shall be the same, hence what is left is the software and its settings.
And again: try think more long term and see the bigger picture: This was the very first race with this huge rule change.
The biggest unknown and variable in this rule change is how you use your hardware, namely software. You think there could not be 1% to be gained for other teams there???
I develop software, as well as some electric hardware, trust me, there can be way more to gain still than 1% overall by doing this side better. Merc probably is ahead in this, but clever engineers looking at good telemetry will be able to figure out in 1-2 months a lot and provide software that is a lot closer in performance.
IF nothing changes in like 3 months, then maybe their engine provides those extra horsepower, let's see.

Beside the fact you're mixing two points together (the telemetry was only meant to hint at how Ferrari's chassis is clearly the best by comparing it to Merc in highly unfavorable tire conditions),
1MJ out of a maximum harvestable allowed of 7.5MJ and of a total deployable amount of 11.5MJ is not 1%.

It's so easy for teams to plot "normal" engine braking torque vs speed per gear and then replicate it with a software managing positive ICE and negative K torque mid-corner.
This is not optimization territory, this is a material difference.

Even in 2014, when Merc had more deployment available it was bc they had a considerably larger turbine than their competitors, so when they were feeding H-to-K in race/neutral deployment they were miles ahead. Once again, a material difference turned into a deployment difference.

Stella pretty much just said the same about not being put in a level playing field by Merc HPP.

[FittingMechanics]

how can this be improved though ? engine upgrade or software ?

Both, but currently the gap is massive. We’ll see what is going to happen with ADUO as well.

To get ADUO preference, you need to be some percentage slower right? so you all here think that MB will not control this to just be faster but under this percentage?

I'd love for someone to clarify this but I would assume ADUO is not determined according to race results but by dynoing the engine (ICE). Otherwise you could end up giving more engine development time to the engine that is already the strongest (if their chassis is bad).