Mercedes engine case, Ferrari is on the sidelines
There Mercedes is still far away and, despite the reversal of the drivers compared to the result in Melbourne, it achieves the second double in a row in the 2026 World Championship. However, there is no lack of elements to make even Fred Vasseur and the Ferrari: the SF-26 it is certainly not yet able to duel on equal terms with the championship leaders, but it is not that far from the objective of doing so, even considering the technical innovations coming soon, the changes to the measurement of the compression ratio and the possibility of working on the horsepower of the engine with the long-awaited first intervention of the system ADUO (designed by the Federation to allow those who are behind to work to catch up on performance compared to the top of the class). The team principal is in fact confident that he can recoverbut at the same time he seems not to want to put too much pressure on the team in view of the next events.
Team principal Fred Vasseur speaks
“I think that, over the weekends as a whole, Mercedes is faster than Ferrari– explains the Cavallino team principal to the microphones Sky after the checkered flag of the Chinese GP – although it also depends on the sessions. But, on average, they are always 3, 4 or 5 tenths better than us. Then, in the race when you put yourself in overtaking mode we can survive for a few laps, stressing the tires a little more than them, but when the Mercedes has a clear track and clean air, we are a few tenths per lap slower as we also saw today. They have a clear advantage on the straight, we need to push on this aspect. We clearly know what we need to do and we need to continue working on developmentbut this is the current situation”.
The French manager, however, does not want to deceive the fans, apparently continuing the usual media tactic undertaken already this winter which prohibits him from making any kind of proclamation: “I don’t think we should expect too much from the new directive, but we need to understand when there will be the possibility of developing the engine (taking advantage of the system that the FIA calls ADUO, ed), and that’s where we expect a lot. Then obviously you don’t just have to work on the engine, but on everything. There is no magic wand that can fix the entire car, but many small individual details that we need to improve on. There are the tyres, the aerodynamics, the chassis, the suspension, everything. So we must maintain this mentality and continue developing the project“. “So far we have been ahead of McLaren and Red Bull, but they will also push and react, so we need to maintain this positive momentum”, concluded Fred Vasseur.
