2026 Scuderia Ferrari HP F1 Team

[dans79]

I am surprised Ferrari never thought of this. Maybe they were conservative due to the whole 2019 fiasco.

The rumor is they are running steel cylinder heads this year. That would help them maintain a higher compression ratio when the engine warms up. However it would also be heavier. As I said lots of tradeoffs.

[ryaan2904]

Actually any compression ratio tricks can deliver big gains. You produce more power, the engine is more efficient so you need less fuel (weight savings) and you might also need less cooling. The benefits compound

Only in the hypothetical world.

The teams are very limited when it comes to the materials they can use on ICE components. For example for connecting rods they can use titanium of steel. Steel has a higher coefficient of thermal expansion, but it's also substantially heavier. Teams have used titanium connecting rods for a long time because they can be made ~20% to 25% lighter than a steal equivalent rod.

Just to be clear you want the connecting rods to be as light as possible, because heavier rods increases reciprocating mass. That hinders acceleration at all times, puts additional stress on the crankshaft, and increase wear.

Multiple Restrictions and tradeoffs exist for every single part of the ICE, that's why its show shocking that people believe what the press is pulling out of their back side. If it was so easy the the f1 press could figure it all out, the teams would all be doing it already.

I don't think we should focus on just one part of the engine. Alongside the connecting rod, the piston head as well as the cylinder walls surrounding it get hot enough to expand. Another fact is that you dont actually need too much expansion to reach the 18:1 combustion ratio. I've heard several claims of total expansion just needing to be 0.4-0.5 mm to reach the target ratio.

What I am saying is that there are too many variables at play here. If the titanium rods expand by even say 0.1 mm and the piston head expands some more and you play with the cylinder walls surrounding the piston, its not actually farfetched to think that f1 team can do this.

All my complaints with Mercs aside, they are the ones who may actually do it

[ryaan2904]

I am surprised Ferrari never thought of this. Maybe they were conservative due to the whole 2019 fiasco.

The rumor is they are running steel cylinder heads this year. That would help them maintain a higher compression ratio when the engine warms up. However it would also be heavier. As I said lots of tradeoffs.

I wouldn't worry about steel/weight, Ferrari has used steel pistons many times before in f1. Also the teams 3d print their pistons so they can hollow out certain sections for optimal weight. I think its optimistic for us if Ferrari can reach the trick as well

[AR3-GP]

I am surprised Ferrari never thought of this. Maybe they were conservative due to the whole 2019 fiasco.

The rumor is they are running steel cylinder heads this year. That would help them maintain a higher compression ratio when the engine warms up. However it would also be heavier. As I said lots of tradeoffs.

Pat Symonds suggested that using a steel cylinder head would enable the compression ratio trick. The steel won't expand as much as the aluminum block. I found it odd that Ferrari focused on a new steel cylinder head, but were not able to exploit the benefits to the compression ratio.

[Matt2725]

I am surprised Ferrari never thought of this. Maybe they were conservative due to the whole 2019 fiasco.

The rumor is they are running steel cylinder heads this year. That would help them maintain a higher compression ratio when the engine warms up. However it would also be heavier. As I said lots of tradeoffs.

Pat Symonds suggested that using a steel cylinder head would enable the compression ratio trick. The steel won't expand as much as the aluminum block. I found it odd that Ferrari focused on a new steel cylinder head, but were not able to exploit the benefits to the compression ratio.

Mercedes doesn't use a steel cylinder head to my knowledge.

[AR3-GP]

The rumor is they are running steel cylinder heads this year. That would help them maintain a higher compression ratio when the engine warms up. However it would also be heavier. As I said lots of tradeoffs.

Pat Symonds suggested that using a steel cylinder head would enable the compression ratio trick. The steel won't expand as much as the aluminum block. I found it odd that Ferrari focused on a new steel cylinder head, but were not able to exploit the benefits to the compression ratio.

Mercedes doesn't use a steel cylinder head to my knowledge.

Mercedes is probably doing something different. I think there are different approaches. Ferrari might have it sitting right under their nose, but they've missed a trick by not taking advantage of their own engine architecture. Having a steel head and an aluminum block should create differences in thermal expansion that can be exploited. I'm not sure why Ferrari did not see this when they've made a big deal about using a steel head.

[LM10]

Pat Symonds suggested that using a steel cylinder head would enable the compression ratio trick. The steel won't expand as much as the aluminum block. I found it odd that Ferrari focused on a new steel cylinder head, but were not able to exploit the benefits to the compression ratio.

Mercedes doesn't use a steel cylinder head to my knowledge.

Mercedes is probably doing something different. I think there are different approaches. Ferrari might have it sitting right under their nose, but they've missed a trick by not taking advantage of their own engine architecture. Having a steel head and an aluminum block should create differences in thermal expansion that can be exploited. I'm not sure why Ferrari did not see this when they've made a big deal about using a steel head.

My best guess is that they wanted their PU to comply with the rules.

[PlatinumZealot]

No one is doing the compression ratio trick. This would been done years ago in Formula 1 as there was nothing stopping them from doing it!

[chrstphrln]

Mercedes doesn't use a steel cylinder head to my knowledge.

Mercedes is probably doing something different. I think there are different approaches. Ferrari might have it sitting right under their nose, but they've missed a trick by not taking advantage of their own engine architecture. Having a steel head and an aluminum block should create differences in thermal expansion that can be exploited. I'm not sure why Ferrari did not see this when they've made a big deal about using a steel head.

My best guess is that they wanted their PU to comply with the rules.

This!

[brakeboosted]

Pat Symonds suggested that using a steel cylinder head would enable the compression ratio trick. The steel won't expand as much as the aluminum block. I found it odd that Ferrari focused on a new steel cylinder head, but were not able to exploit the benefits to the compression ratio.

Mercedes doesn't use a steel cylinder head to my knowledge.

Mercedes is probably doing something different. I think there are different approaches. Ferrari might have it sitting right under their nose, but they've missed a trick by not taking advantage of their own engine architecture. Having a steel head and an aluminum block should create differences in thermal expansion that can be exploited. I'm not sure why Ferrari did not see this when they've made a big deal about using a steel head.

I don't think we should be using “they” or “their” when the sole person reporting this to be the case is Franco Nugnes.

[sucof]

And also keep in mind: This can be just smoke and mirrors!!

I think it is quite plausible this ""scandal"" would help hiding some real trick, or is just there to steal the time and effort of competitors away from useful development.

[venkyhere]

To what end?

easy.
So that other people fighting for pole don't practice 'successful risks' and find more laptime.

I don’t follow what “successful risks” means but I think it’s a total fallacy that any team is not striving to find as much lap time as they can at all times. No one is sitting there saying “oh, looks like the others aren’t fast, so we won’t bother trying to find the last bit of lap time”. That’s not the way F1 works.

I don’t believe for a second that anyone does this kind of micro sector sandbagging nor do I believe that any of the teams don’t know exactly where they stand. It’s not as if teams make a slower car because they’re lulled into a false sense of security - again, that’s a fallacy.

What teams do is avoid using high engine or deployment modes unless needed. That means not over stressing them in practice and sometimes only running them when higher on fuel during pre season.

watch abu dhabi 2025 qualifying sector3 times for Verstappen from q1->q2->q3. There was no engine mode change or a car setup change it was pure driver. He did that inorder to ensure the Mclaren guys didn't 'try more risks' in sector3 because they were comfortably the best all weekend, including qualifying. In the end Verstappen ended up qualifying on pole, purely on the basis of better s1 and s2 (which even mclaren drivers knew) because he was able to 'match' the mclaren drivers in s3 in Q3 (which he faked to be incapable of doing, in Q1).

[Space-heat]

https://x.com/SmilexTech/status/2019723600601944559

Rumour is a static hot test. It's unclear whether this will impact Merc Engine at all; the advantage might only show up while running, but it is good that something is happening instead of just allowing the advantage for a year before banning. TP talk during the preseason testing will probably confirm or deny whether this new process is of any use in limiting Merc's "potential" engine advantage.

Regardless of whether Ferrari is a frontrunner, it would be good to have some degree of competition among engine manufacturers. Max vs Mcl was good last year, but races with potential winners for 3/4 teams would be great.

[sucof]

https://x.com/SmilexTech/status/2019723600601944559

Rumour is a static hot test. It's unclear whether this will impact Merc Engine at all; the advantage might only show up while running, but it is good that something is happening instead of just allowing the advantage for a year before banning. TP talk during the preseason testing will probably confirm or deny whether this new process is of any use in limiting Merc's "potential" engine advantage.

Regardless of whether Ferrari is a frontrunner, it would be good to have some degree of competition among engine manufacturers. Max vs Mcl was good last year, but races with potential winners for 3/4 teams would be great.

So this tweet is about a rumour that RB switched sides and now only Mercedes who is for protecting the alleged trick.
This could change the situation.
This could also mean that RB does not use this or to just a lot less degree.

Update: Just read at a more credible source that this working group already accepted new measuring methods and gave their suggestions towards the FIA, who is not willing to make changes.

[dans79]

I don't think we should focus on just one part of the engine. Alongside the connecting rod, the piston head as well as the cylinder walls surrounding it get hot enough to expand. Another fact is that you dont actually need too much expansion to reach the 18:1 combustion ratio.

in simple terms If everything expands you are just increasing displacement, not compression ratio. In the real world you would have to run 3d thermal dynamic simulations to determine what changes and by how much. as multiple materials are at play, they have complex geometries and have different methods of being cooled.

Another fact is that you dont actually need too much expansion to reach the 18:1 combustion ratio. I've heard several claims of total expansion just needing to be 0.4-0.5 mm to reach the target ratio.

What I am saying is that there are too many variables at play here. If the titanium rods expand by even say 0.1 mm and the piston head expands some more and you play with the cylinder walls surrounding the piston, its not actually farfetched to think that f1 team can do this.

In thermal terms 0.5mm is a hell of a lot of thermal growth. As I said in my previous post, they would have to run heavier steel rods to get more growth compared to other teams. As I showed a few pages back, even if they used an exotic stainless steel with a high coefficient of expansion allow the rod has to be ~78°C hotter than the surrounding components to grow 0.1mm longer than their competition running titanium rods. To get to 0.5mm, the rod would have to be ~390°C hotter.

Let the magnitude of that number sink in.

Additionally you don't want the piston and the block expanding, you want them kept in a very specific temperature range. The blocks are aluminum, and the pistons are all steels. The rules mandate the pistons must be made from one of the following alloys, AMS 6487, 15cdv6, 42CrMo4, X38CrMoV5-3. Depending on the alloys you are comparing aluminum can expand at twice the rate of steel.

As you might know, the engines have to be warmed up to between 80°C and 90°C, before starting or else they will be instantaneously destroyed. The primary reason for this is because they are holding very very tight tolerances between the piston and the cylinder. They are so tight that at standard temperatures they are effectively seized together.

In other words, if you want your engines to last, you are going to limit their thermal expansion, and keep them in a tight temperature window.

So, of all the components that matter, the heads, rods, and cranks are the only ones you will see some benefit from. The heads expanding decreases the completion ratio, so you want to keep them as cool as possible to minimize expansion. The crank growing would increase displacement and effect the compression ratio. The rods growing would increase the compression ratio.

The problem is how do you get the rods and crank to run several hundred degrees Celsius hotter than in the past, without degrading the oil or causing some other kind of issue. You are talking about doubling or tripling the engine oils operating temperature compared to last year.