Ferrari

Pre-season baseline — fastest overall, innovative traction solutions

Leclerc set the fastest time of all pre-season testing at 1:31.992 (PlanetF1, F1.com), 0.811s clear of Antonelli. Ferrari's innovative smaller turbocharger design and rotating active rear wing gave 'significant advantage in traction and standing starts' (PlanetF1 technical analysis). Car started inconsistent with lack of rear grip but showed steady dynamic improvement throughout testing (The Race ranking). 1,318 total laps with no major reliability issues. Leclerc 328 km/h at Bahrain speed trap — decent but not top tier for straight-line. traction rated highest at 7.5 and qualiPace at 7.5 reflecting the headline single-lap pace and noted traction advantage. Race sims showed Leclerc +3.17s behind Piastri (The Race), hence racePace slightly behind qualiPace. Ferrari was one of three manufacturers (with Audi and Honda) who co-signed the joint letter to the FIA protesting Mercedes' compression ratio loophole, suggesting Ferrari believes its own PU is at a structural disadvantage to Mercedes.

Round 1 baseline — fastest race pace, dominant starts via small turbo concept

Ferrari had the FASTEST team race pace (83.498 median), edging Mercedes by 0.038s. Leclerc P3, Hamilton P4. Small turbo concept vindicated: Leclerc launched P4→P1 on lap 1, Hamilton P7→P3. Vasseur 'very surprised by long tyre life' — avg deg -0.0565, best on grid. Hamilton 317.8 km/h race speed trap (2nd fastest). qualiPace drops: Leclerc P4 (+0.809), Hamilton P7 (+0.960) — strong but not matching Mercedes' single-lap dominance. Understeer noted by Antonelli observing Leclerc. Both cars finished reliably — best reliability of any front-runner. Sources: The Race, FIA speed trap PDFs, ScuderiaFans, Pirelli tyre analysis.

Round 2 — second-row lockout, halo winglet upgrade, energy gap to Mercedes confirmed

Ferrari locked out the second row (Hamilton P3, Leclerc P4) — stronger qualifying than Melbourne R1. Halo winglet upgrade provides marginal aero benefit. Hamilton explicitly complained about battery power deficit vs Mercedes during race, confirming energy recovery gap. Leclerc surged P6→P2 in sprint, showcasing traction advantage. Race pace solid at 0.642s off Mercedes but not threatening. Sources: Formula1.com, Motorsport.com, Sky Sports.

Round 3 — best tyre deg on grid, lowest top speed but smallest clipping delta, floor stay fairing upgrade

Best result of season: Leclerc P3, Hamilton P6. Best tyre degradation on grid (-0.0106). Leclerc set fastest S1 through the Esses, both Ferrari drivers strong in high-speed. But lowest speed trap on grid (320 km/h, -13 km/h vs fastest) — both drivers complained about power deficit. Smallest energy clipping delta (-48 km/h) suggests conservative deployment philosophy rather than raw PU weakness. Upgrades: revised front brake duct exit + front floor stay fairing. Sources: Formula1.com, ScuderiaFans speed trap analysis, FastF1 race pace data.

Round 6 (Miami) — 11-piece upgrade deployed but rear-tyre overheating exposed in race

Largest upgrade package on the grid (11 components incl. front wing endplate, floor/keel, rear suspension fairings, diffuser, exhaust wing, rear wing). Leclerc led briefly in GP but +20s track-limits penalty + late spin dropped him to P8 classified. Hamilton P6 race / P7 sprint, stable. Vasseur + Leclerc both cited rear-tyre overheating post-SC; FastF1 race deg +0.0473/lap (worst of the front-runners by a clear margin). tyreDegradation -0.2 reflects this multi-source signal. peakDownforce +0.1 modest credit for the new floor element. PlanetF1: package 'failed to have the desired effect' in race trim. Sources: ScuderiaFans, PlanetF1, FastF1 race-pace data.

Round 7 (Canada) — HAM career-best Ferrari result, no upgrades brought

Ferrari brought NO upgrades to Canada (package held for Spain). HAM P5 quali → P2 race (10.768s behind ANT), called it 'happiest day at Ferrari so far.' LEC P8 quali → P4 race, complained about brakes and tyres. Strong straight-line speed across all sessions: HAM 2nd in qualifying speed trap at 328.1 km/h and FP1 leader at 334.3 km/h. Stint pace MEDIUM: HAM 75.179, LEC 75.875 (vs ANT 75.019, VER 75.465). straightLineSpeed +0.2 is the only car-DNA move — Ferrari pace baselines will be re-derived by the publish pipeline. No other attribute moves warranted off one strong weekend.

Round 8 (Monaco) - grid-fastest race-pace median, HAM P2 on merit; no genuine upgrade (held for Spain)

Ferrari had the fastest team race-pace median (76.797); HAM P3 quali -> P2 race, LEC P4 quali. LEC retired from a final-corner crash (L64) caused by the track asphalt breaking up - classified track-condition, NOT driver error, no car-rating impact. Ferrari brought only minor circuit-specific parts to Monaco; the genuine 8-part new-floor/diffuser package is the Barcelona (R9) upgrade, so NO upgrade-aware attribute move here. lowSpeedCorners +0.1 is a modest reinforcement from observed slow-corner race pace alone (the model already predicted Ferrari race-pace #1 at Monaco). traction left at 8.5 (already grid-best, validated). straightLine/highSpeed/activeAero unreadable (active-aero ban). Pace re-derived by pipeline. Sources: FastF1 round-08 race pace; The Race / Motorsport Week (upgrade timing).

Round 9 (Barcelona) - 8-part upgrade raced and decisive: HAM first Ferrari win + fastest lap, fastest race-pace median; LEC hydraulics DNF

The held-back 8-part package (front wing footplate/vanes/endplate diveplane, revised nose, floor body/board/edge, diffuser re-profile) plus BBS ventilated wheels + wheel-cover slits was registered AND raced on both cars - confirmed effective (Wolff: 'monster'; class-leading cornering per The Race). Upgrade-aware exception: peakDownforce +0.4, highSpeedCorners +0.3 at the grid's highest-HSC track. tyreDegradation +0.2 (best front-runner deg narrative + wheel/brake-heat package; softened because raw stint deg had McLaren marginally ahead). straightLineSpeed -0.2 (draggy per The Race; HAM slightly below RUS in the f1i trap fragments) and energyRecovery -0.2 (deployment deficit vs Mercedes/RBPT; FIA measure per The Race ranks RBPT above Ferrari). Reliability: LEC hydraulics/power-steering failure L62 = first Ferrari mechanical DNF of 2026, first-failure cap -0.3, monitoring; net -0.1 after re-center. Grid reliability re-center +0.2 applied to all 11 teams (incident penalties pushed the grid reliability average to 4.33, breaching the +/-0.5 band; re-centered to 4.53, relative gaps preserved). Pipeline re-derives qualiPace/racePace from committed raw round-09; no manual pace override (dry, representative weekend). Sources: FastF1 round-09; The Race; RacingNews365; Formula1.com.

Round 10 (Austria) - front row but race collapse: severe rear thermal deg, 3-stop races; trap-speed deficit quantified

LEC P2 (+0.236) / HAM P3 (+0.295) in qualifying, but P5/P8 in the race at +26.4s/+45.7s. tyreDegradation -0.3: severe rear thermal deg in 51C track temps - worst front-runner race deg (0.0595 avg), HAM opening stint 0.206 deg/lap, both cars forced to 3 stops vs the leaders' 2, corroborated by tyre-overheating coverage (The Race, scuderiafans); largely unwinds R9's +0.2 wheel-package credit, which Austria's harder evidence supersedes. straightLineSpeed -0.1: quantified trap deficit (319.3 km/h vs Mercedes 334.5; LEC 20th through the trap, ahead of only the Astons); coverage attributes it to excessive drag and engine deficit, i.e. partly car DNA - incremental only because R9 already took -0.2 for the same trait. PU upgrade (first ICE evolution + new Shell fuel, third PU) deployed but debut fell flat - no energyRecovery credit. Reliability: clean weekend after R9's first mechanical (monitoring stays); +0.2 is the grid re-center only. Grid reliability re-center +0.2 applied to all 11 teams (R10 incident penalties pushed the grid reliability average to 4.36, breaching the +/-0.5 band; re-centered to 4.56, relative gaps preserved). Pipeline re-derives qualiPace/racePace from committed raw round-10; no manual pace override (dry, representative weekend). Sources: FastF1 round-10; f1i.com; scuderiafans; The Race; F1.com.

Round 11 (Silverstone) - LEC wins Ferrari's 250th; straight-line/deployment turnaround confirmed by traps

LEC race win from P2 (Ferrari's 250th GP win, finished under SC) + HAM P3; SQ pole (HAM 1:28.376); P2/P3 in Q. straightLineSpeed +0.3: fastest traps in BOTH sessions (HAM 323 / LEC 321 km/h P1-P2 in SQ; HAM 317.9 P1 in Q, ~15 km/h clear of Mercedes) with the revised rear-corner cooling/efficiency package confirmed deployed - trap-sourced per rules, upgrade-aware sizing. energyRecovery +0.3: multi-source consensus that Ferrari could stay flat longer while maximizing harvesting at the calendar's most clipping-critical track ('super-clipping'); recovery from the rated weakness, sized on upgrade + multi-source basis. tyreDegradation +0.2: best race deg in the field (team avg +0.008; both cars near-zero over 23-25-lap hard stints) - partially reverses R10's -0.3 rear-thermal concern (HAM early front-left graining noted). highSpeedCorners +0.1: front-row pace at the highSpeedDemand-9.0 circuit, 0.175 off pole. HAM false start (5s) + yellow-flag reprimand - driver error, no car impact. Reliability clean; +0.1 is the grid re-center only. Grid reliability re-center +0.1 applied to all 11 teams (R11 incident penalties pushed the grid reliability average to 4.45, breaching the +/-0.5 band; re-centered to 4.55, relative gaps preserved). Sources: FastF1 round-11; F1.com; FIA; Scuderia Fans; f1i.com; The Race.