Daily News 19

Tag: Ferrari F1

  • Rivals Copying Ferrari’s F1 Aero Designs Is “a good reward” for Maranello

    Rivals Copying Ferrari’s F1 Aero Designs Is “a good reward” for Maranello

    Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur believes rival Formula 1 teams copying the SF-26’s innovative aerodynamic concepts is a “good reward” for the Maranello-based team.

    Ferrari entered the 2026 regulations cycle with a striking car featuring several notable areas of technical innovation. At winter testing in Bahrain, the team added a winglet to the structure behind the exhaust. Internally known as Flick Tail Mode (FTM), the device generates additional rear downforce at the cost of a small increase in drag.

    Ferrari introduced another concept the following day: a rotating wing nicknamed the Macarena wing, which flips 180 degrees between cornering and straight-line configurations.

    Ferrari’s exhaust wing copied by rivals

    The exhaust wing has been widely copied by Ferrari’s rivals, although the Scuderia’s design has proved difficult to fully reverse engineer because Ferrari developed parts of the rear of the SF-26 around the concept. The FIA has since banned the exhaust device for 2027 by closing the relevant loophole in the technical regulations, preventing similar designs from becoming increasingly extreme.

    Red Bull has also adopted the upside-down wing, while McLaren has tested its own version. McLaren began work on the project after seeing Ferrari’s design during testing, whereas Red Bull independently pursued a different concept.

    “We were disappointed not to pick that up as quickly as Ferrari did and then Red Bull,” said McLaren technical director Neil Houldey. “As soon as we saw it, we realised there was an opportunity there.”

    Speaking exclusively to Motorsport.com, Vasseur said Ferrari’s aerodynamicists and designers had received a boost from leading the development race. He has encouraged the team to embrace innovation and take greater risks.

    Asked whether rivals copying Ferrari’s exhaust wing and rear wing represented a compliment to Maranello, Vasseur replied: “I’m not there to have compliments. I’m there because I want to win. The best compliment for me is to go on the podium.

    “But yes, it’s true that for the guys in the team, to see Red Bull coming with the wing, and I think probably Red Bull started before seeing our wings, but the others starting to copy [it], or even the device on the exhaust, for the guys in the team who had the idea it’s a good reward.”

    Ferrari’s SF-26 emerges as a leading F1 chassis

    Despite Ferrari’s well-documented power unit weakness, the SF-26 can arguably be regarded as the strongest chassis in Formula 1. After a series of upgrades, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton have both won a grand prix, at Silverstone and Barcelona respectively, while Ferrari sits second in the championship standings.

    The SF-26 was the first Ferrari designed under technical director Loic Serra. He was signed in 2023 but joined the team from Mercedes only at the end of 2024 after an extended gardening leave period.

    Vasseur said Serra’s delayed arrival and the time required to develop the 2026 car illustrated why it takes so long to transform an F1 team.

    “The frustration that you can have sometimes in F1 is that on the technical side the process is mega long, because you have a lot of inertia,” he explained.

    “For example, we started to discuss [with Loic] mid ’23 and he joined the team at the end of 2024. Then he’s focused on the car of ’26, and he’s still recruiting people to help him. It means that this process is about years, when on the other hand we want to get results next week.

    “I’m very, very pleased with the choices that we made, with the set-up that we have, and the collaboration that we have in the team. The team is strong. The collaboration is mega strong.”

  • Ferrari Unveils Michael Schumacher-Inspired F1 Livery for Italian Grand Prix

    Ferrari Unveils Michael Schumacher-Inspired F1 Livery for Italian Grand Prix

    Ferrari will run a special Michael Schumacher tribute livery at its home Formula 1 race in Monza, marking the 30th anniversary of the German driver’s first season with the team.

    The Ferrari SF-26 driven by Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc will feature an even redder appearance, with the white section removed from the engine cover. Both drivers’ number decals will use a retro font, while Schumacher’s signature will appear between the numbers and title sponsor HP’s logo.

    The car will also feature gold detailing on the BBS wheel rims and Schumacher’s trademark white stars on its nose. Hamilton, Leclerc and Ferrari’s entire trackside team will wear specially designed clothing for the occasion.

    Ferrari to display Schumacher’s iconic cars at Monza

    The tribute livery draws inspiration from the F310 that Schumacher first raced for Ferrari in 1996. That car will be displayed throughout the Monza weekend alongside his final Ferrari, the 248 F1 from 2006, and the F2002, which became Schumacher’s and Ferrari’s most dominant car.

    Schumacher’s former team-mate Rubens Barrichello and close friend Sebastian Vettel, who also drove for Ferrari, will drive the F2002 around Monza on Saturday and Sunday for a lap of honour celebrating his legacy.

    “Michael’s time at Ferrari was about much more than just wins and titles: his relentless pursuit of perfection, attention to detail, discipline and ability to be a true team player helped create a culture that became one of the defining characteristics of the Scuderia,” the team stated.

    “Thirty years later, that culture remains part of the way Ferrari approaches competition today. Monza is therefore the ideal place to celebrate this legacy, not just by looking back at what was achieved, but by recognising values that remain part of Ferrari today.”

    Schumacher is Ferrari’s most experienced driver, having started 179 races for the team between 1996 and 2006. The 57-year-old German is also Ferrari’s most decorated driver, winning five of his seven world championships with the Maranello-based team between 2000 and 2004.

    During Ferrari’s highly successful era under Jean Todt and Ross Brawn, Schumacher recorded 72 wins and 58 pole positions for the team.

    Source: www.motorsport.com

  • Fred Vasseur Identifies Ferrari’s Next Target After “Stronger Than Mercedes” Zandvoort Pace

    Fred Vasseur Identifies Ferrari’s Next Target After “Stronger Than Mercedes” Zandvoort Pace

    Ferrari had the race pace to challenge Mercedes at the Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix, but a difficult qualifying session and imperfect race execution prevented the team from achieving the strongest possible result, according to team principal Fred Vasseur.

    Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc finished directly behind George Russell at Zandvoort. Vasseur believes Ferrari was faster than Mercedes over race distance, but both Ferrari drivers started outside the top two rows after qualifying, while slow execution during the race cost the team further opportunities.

    “I think the pace was strong, I think at least stronger than Mercedes,” the Frenchman told Sky Sports, “but it is like it is, that we have to now have a deep look on what we did and what we did wrong.”

    Ferrari lost ground through starts and pit strategy

    Leclerc also endured a slow getaway at the second start, allowing Oscar Piastri to pass him around the outside at Turn 1. The overtake was particularly notable because Piastri was running hard tyres while Leclerc had softs.

    Ferrari later made a slow pit stop with Leclerc and missed an opportunity to move ahead of Russell after Leclerc had cleared Piastri. Vasseur said the Ferrari’s performance was “not an issue” in the Netherlands, but the team failed to unlock its potential during Saturday’s qualifying session.

    “I think the pace this weekend was good, at least, in both races,” he noted, speaking to the media after the race. “If we missed something this weekend it’s more the quali first. Not in the sprint quali, but in the [main] quali, we had a poor preparation with an out-lap and so on.

    “And the execution [in the race] was not that good, because we had a very strong start in the first start, and in the second start we lost position with soft compared to some hard competitors, and this is unexpected. And then we had a poor pitstop and then it was difficult. But the pace itself was decent, it’s not an issue at all.”

    Tyre preparation hurt Ferrari in qualifying

    Leclerc qualified third for Friday’s sprint race, only 0.055 seconds behind Russell, while Hamilton was sixth, 0.624 seconds off pole position. However, both Ferrari drivers struggled to generate enough tyre temperature in Saturday’s qualifying session and ultimately qualified fifth and sixth.

    Ferrari had even used an additional preparation lap compared with its main rivals in Q3. Hamilton identified tyre performance as the key problem after qualifying.

    “I think the tyres were the biggest culprit today, just really struggling to get the tyres to work,” he commented after qualifying. “They’re not really in in the first sector, that’s where we lost most of our time, and then they get better through the lap. Just do an out-lap and a prep lap, and the tyres are still not ready for Turn 1, it’s just nuts.”

    Asked whether Ferrari should focus on upgrading the car or wait for its new power unit before targeting improvements in qualifying, Vasseur said the team first needed to understand how to prepare its tyres more effectively for flying laps.

    “For sure, it’s always better to have a better aero, better suspension, better engine, it’s always helping,” Vasseur said. “But I think if we miss something in quali… but it was not true all the season. We had some races like Spielberg where we did a better job in quali than in the race. We were in the first row, we were second and third and we struggled a bit more in the race.

    “The issue is that in quali, it’s a lot about the out-lap preparation, tyre management. But it’s a different approach of the tyre management in quali than in the race. You can be good on one side and not on the other one, from one weekend to the other. This weekend, I think we had a decent approach for the sprint quali, a bit more difficult [on Saturday] with cold conditions. And it’s so tight that on the sprint quali you have four cars in six-hundredths of seconds.

    “You saw Lewis on the first day. He had to slow down a little bit after Turn 10 [on his outlap], because he had two or three cars in front of him and he lost [time in] Turn 1. It cost him two or three tenths and in this case you are losing four positions and it’s becoming a poor quali. It’s true for us, but it’s true for everybody, that you have to put a lot of effort in the preparation of each lap.

    “If we have to learn something from the weekend, it’s not about the pure potential. It’s more about execution these two days. We were able to be there in terms of performance at some stages of the weekend, but we have to be there always.”

    Ferrari remains second in the standings

    Ferrari leaves Zandvoort second in the championship standings, 87 points behind Mercedes. McLaren has won the last two races with Lando Norris and reduced its deficit to Ferrari to 75 points ahead of the Italian Grand Prix.