The upheaval on the horizon, Miami, there’s a shift coming to the leaderboards and it might spell doom for the current leaderboard rankings. Scuderia Ferrari, as they stand, may fall as far as 15th. While they have hidden the flaws of the SF-26 well, the car is still severely underpowered.
Please do not misunderstand: this year’s engine comprises two parts. Now let’s talk about the traditional engine. The recent Grand Prix in Japan has brought to light how massively underpowered the engines themselves are. Beyond the point where Lewis Hamilton locked up and went wide, let’s look at his chase behind Oscar Piastri. In Corners 8 and 9 of the Suzuka circuit, McLaren had a much higher exiting speed, creating a very apparent gap.
Charles Leclerc has advanced, yes, but it was through a mixture of factors: teamwork, cornering, and fighting through dirty air. Somewhere within the race, Scuderia Ferrari’s drivers had to swallow their pride to achieve 200 MPH even with the boost activated. Throughout the match, there were complaints about the car not engaging as they would like.
So, is it the lag in the battery takeover from the engine? Maybe it is the engine itself, or is it that the batteries themselves aren’t powerful enough? But why is the ratio so unbalanced—what have they done?
Let’s paint a whole new picture. Aston Martin Racing deployed a slipstream from the back of the pack, and the only thing they improved on was their time.
