2026 Scuderia Ferrari HP F1 Team

[Peter Ian Staker]

I think at this point it really doesn’t matter what Fred says.
Binotto got the same treatment towards the end where every single thing he said was interpreted in the most unflattering way possible. Ever since they almost got rid of him mid season Fred has entered the same phase.
Maybe all these team principals do deserve this but after seeing so many come and go with the same results I can’t help but feel like the problems go far deeper than that…

[AR3-GP]

Rarely does anything change. In 2009, 2014, and 2022, the championship was fought amongst those teams on the podium in the first race.

Toyota fought for championship in 2009? Must've missed that one.
Mclaren fought for championship in 2014? Must've missed that one.

The point is that those cars that don't compete for the podium on merit, never fight for the championship. It's fundamental.

2009 - The Toyota wasn't on the podium on merit. Vettel/RBR qualified P3 and was running P2 before colliding with Kubica at the end of the race.

2014 - Mercedes 1st, no car off podium contended.

2022 - Ferrari and Red Bull.


It's a byproduct of big regulation changes. We see the biggest differences between the cars in that first year. That makes it harder to copy the leading concepts. The fundamental architecture changes can only be done in the offseason.

[aMessageToCharlie]

As long as Ferrari keeps employing the worst race engineers on the grid, Fred deserves all the criticism that's coming IMO.

I still cringe at the "must be the water" and numerous other occasions this past season. It's the easiest fix with a huge potential upside and yet they keep taking the L's.

[Xyz22]

As long as Ferrari keeps employing the worst race engineers on the grid, Fred deserves all the criticism that's coming IMO.

I still cringe at the "must be the water" and numerous other occasions this past season. It's the easiest fix with a huge potential upside and yet they keep taking the L's.

Race engineers are not the problem. Stop believing mainstream meme/propaganda. When Bozzi said "must be water" he meant the drink system. He and Adami are two very good engineers.

The real issue within Ferrari is the technical leadership, which is not good enough. Having good leaders is absolutely paramount when the final output is the result of the input of around 1,000 employees. You can have the best in the world, but if the project leaders are not good enough, results will never be great.

McLaren is a phenomenal example of this. They were in the trenches 3 years ago and with minimal changes made to the technical leadership (Stella, Prodromou, Rob Marshal having more power in a nutshell) they went to become the best team in Formula 1. The employees are exactly the same as 3 years ago, minus the usual turnovers within F1 teams.

Ferrari technical team is probably one of the weakest in Formula 1 at the moment, at least on paper. They appointed Loic Serra who has 0 experience as a Technical Director. He doesn't know the car as a whole, coming from a "cinematic" background (tyres and suspensions), he has almost no on track experience as well, etc. How can you compete when the others have Newey or Rob Marshal? The difference in their CVs is immense.

[sucof]

I think you are just negative.
Fred did not say they will start slow or they will be P10 at the start... And of course he does not know either.
He said, correctly, that the cars will develop the fastest since many seasons... So the one who will be able the best in that catching up and developing race, might be the winner in 2026, where he is completely right.
Even if you win the first race, with that car you will be probably the last at the end of the season with no development.

Teams will see tons of solutions on other cars that is new to them, and they will first see truly how their car works in real race situations. So Fred is 100% correct.

Rarely does anything change. In 2009, 2014, and 2022, the championship was fought amongst those teams on the podium in the first race. The first race in a new regulation set has a great significance, contrary to what Frederick Vasseur claims. That is when each team's concept is put to the test and that is when those teams who understand the regulations reveal themselves, and the same for those who do not.

Those teams who arrive with a good car in the first weekend are already showing that they have understood the regulations. That also means they are best placed to understand how to develop the car. Those teams that arrive with bad concepts in Melbourne are unlikely to overturn a performance deficit because if you have misunderstood the regulations from the outset, how can you out develop a team that understands them?

Again, misinterpretation: Bad concept does not equal 10th place. You can have the best concept with some details to be ironed out still.
I am not sure if you ever developed any product, I did many times. Fred is correct, when so many things changes, it takes time for everyone to get out the max of their concept and develop on them.

[ScuderiaLeo]

As long as Ferrari keeps employing the worst race engineers on the grid, Fred deserves all the criticism that's coming IMO.

I still cringe at the "must be the water" and numerous other occasions this past season. It's the easiest fix with a huge potential upside and yet they keep taking the L's.

The phrasing was funny but he was very obviously talking about the drink system and Leclerc knew that. There was no confusion on Leclerc's part or anything that impacted the race.. Remember both Leclerc and Bozzi speak English as a second or even third language. Just because it sounds funny or can be turned into a joke doesn't mean it isn't understandable.

There are issues with Ferrari's communication but the race engineers are not the only or even the main part. Especially Bozzi who has proven to be a huge upgrade from the last one. I think Adami's problems are specific to Hamilton (difference in communication styles) so I hope the winter break helps them improve that relationship.

[AR3-GP]

Again, misinterpretation: Bad concept does not equal 10th place. You can have the best concept with some details to be ironed out still.
I am not sure if you ever developed any product, I did many times. Fred is correct, when so many things changes, it takes time for everyone to get out the max of their concept and develop on them.

You're right. We can't know anything until the season plays out. I am just jaded by Ferrari's troubled past but anything is possible. If they are going to win, they have to start somewhere.

[aMessageToCharlie]

As long as Ferrari keeps employing the worst race engineers on the grid, Fred deserves all the criticism that's coming IMO.

I still cringe at the "must be the water" and numerous other occasions this past season. It's the easiest fix with a huge potential upside and yet they keep taking the L's.

Race engineers are not the problem. Stop believing mainstream meme/propaganda. When Bozzi said "must be water" he meant the drink system. He and Adami are two very good engineers.

I don't know what you're talking about. I am believing my own eyes and ears not whatever red herring you're referring to.

It's obviously that the communication of both their engineers is uninspired and beside the point way too often. If you don't see this in direct comparison to Bono, GP, Laura Müller, Tom Stallard, etc, etc, I don't know what to tell you.

And yes, obviously technical leadership is essential, but that is a different topic of discussion all together.

Point is that there are quick wins to be had on improving the race engineering side and they fail doing it.

[Seanspeed]

As long as Ferrari keeps employing the worst race engineers on the grid, Fred deserves all the criticism that's coming IMO.

I still cringe at the "must be the water" and numerous other occasions this past season. It's the easiest fix with a huge potential upside and yet they keep taking the L's.

Ferrari's race strategies were pretty dang good in 2024.

I'm also pretty sure the drivers would demand a change if the situation was honestly that bad.

It's the car folks. The car needs to be better. A good car(especially a good Sunday car) makes race engineers look good.

[aMessageToCharlie]

As long as Ferrari keeps employing the worst race engineers on the grid, Fred deserves all the criticism that's coming IMO.

I still cringe at the "must be the water" and numerous other occasions this past season. It's the easiest fix with a huge potential upside and yet they keep taking the L's.

Ferrari's race strategies were pretty dang good in 2024.

I'm also pretty sure the drivers would demand a change if the situation was honestly that bad.

It's the car folks. The car needs to be better. A good car(especially a good Sunday car) makes race engineers look good.

Race engineers =/= strategy calls.

And going by that logic, then why's the car bad? LOL. Surely the drivers would have demanded to change the people if it was honestly that bad.

Obviously it's not that easy and the drivers dont hire and fire personell, hence why I'm blaming Fred.

Nobody is disagreeing that the car is the most important thing, but success in F1 is the sum of incremental improvements in all the different areas. Again - a quick win to be had on the race engineering part IMO.

Please make a mental list (or post) rating all the race engineers on the grid and tell me that Ferrari isn't on the bottom.

[Peter Ian Staker]

How many failed rebuilds will it take for people to understand the problem with Ferrari has always been above Adami's, Serra's or even Vasseur's pay grade?

[aMessageToCharlie]

How many failed rebuilds will it take for people to understand the problem with Ferrari has always been above Adami's, Serra's or even Vasseur's pay grade?

So what are you proposing the team to do? NOT improving anything that is not directly related to changing the whole political governance and power structure.

Sounds like a great plan. Why improve anything at all, from the engineering to the operations part. It's of no use anyways, right? Might as well quit F1 altogether.

[ScuderiaLeo]

How many failed rebuilds will it take for people to understand the problem with Ferrari has always been above Adami's, Serra's or even Vasseur's pay grade?

While some things are out of Serra and Vasseur's control, there's still many things well within their power to improve on. Communication between the team and drivers during races is an example of this.

That being said there's already been improvement in this area since Vasseur came on board.

[AR3-GP]

Ferrari technical team is probably one of the weakest in Formula 1 at the moment, at least on paper. They appointed Loic Serra who has 0 experience as a Technical Director. He doesn't know the car as a whole, coming from a "cinematic" background (tyres and suspensions), he has almost no on track experience as well, etc. How can you compete when the others have Newey or Rob Marshal? The difference in their CVs is immense.

Every engineer has to start somewhere.

[deadhead]

Ferrari technical team is probably one of the weakest in Formula 1 at the moment, at least on paper. They appointed Loic Serra who has 0 experience as a Technical Director. He doesn't know the car as a whole, coming from a "cinematic" background (tyres and suspensions), he has almost no on track experience as well, etc. How can you compete when the others have Newey or Rob Marshal? The difference in their CVs is immense.

Every engineer has to start somewhere.

Ferrari needs established engineers rather than ones in the making.

Not getting the current Aston Martin team principal was a huge mistake.