In Japan, a track with 18 major changes of direction, the SF-26s hope to exploit the better speed compared to the Mercedes. Reasons for cautious optimism. President Elkann to Exor shareholders: “Responsibility and determination to come back stronger”
“Formula 1 failed to achieve its ambitions. But Ferrari always understood that racing was as much about learning as winning. Ferrari’s founder, Enzo Ferrari, kept what he called a ‘museum of mistakes’, a collection of broken pieces collected in the pursuit of progress. This mentality remains essential today: responsibility and determination to come back stronger.” It is the passage dedicated to F1 in the letter to Exor shareholders from the president of the Cavallino, John Elkann, who is anxious to see the reds win again, perhaps already in Suzuka next weekend. The long fast, which has lasted since the 2024 Mexican GP, has reached 30 races without success, apart from Lewis Hamilton’s in the China Sprint last year. It’s not the worst streak (there have been four worse ones in the past), but it’s still important. Is there hope in Japan? On paper there are some reasons for cautious optimism.
agility
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The World Championship began in the name of Mercedes, who with George Russell and Kimi Antonelli won the Australian GP and the Chinese GP. The Stuttgart single-seaters currently have a clear advantage in terms of pure speed on the straights, thanks to the power of the power unit and a better distribution of energy over the lap. However, the Ferrari has characteristics that could be fearsome for the Silver Arrows in Suzuka. Let’s first talk about the best speed of the SF-26 in corners, including the best speed in getting back on the gas when exiting. George Russell admitted that the Italian car is currently the “fastest in corners” among the top teams. These agility skills could be enhanced on the Japanese track, whose characteristic figure-eight shape features eighteen curves, where the reds will try to shine.
shot
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The other advantage factor that the Ferraris will try to assert is the sprint at the start. The technical aspect is known: the SF-26s have a smaller turbo which allows for more immediate power delivery. This translates into a scorching starting ability, which has already allowed Leclerc and Hamilton to leap into the lead in the opening laps in Australia and China, before the Mercedes took over. On a track like Suzuka, defined as “old school”, narrow and without mercy for those who make mistakes, the track position obtained at the start is crucial. Unlike Shanghai, a circuit designed in 2004 to encourage overtaking, the Japanese track offers fewer opportunities for recovery: if the Ferraris were to take the lead at the end of the first sector, the Mercedes race could become more complicated.
macarena
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And then there is great anticipation for the use of the winger nicknamed “macarena”. If it is true that according to Leclerc it is not an element capable of overturning hierarchies, it is however true that its use should bring a double benefit: less resistance on the straight and consequent energy saving of the batteries, which can be used in other points of the track. The macarena, the profile on the rear wing that folds 270 degrees when the active aerodynamics are activated, reduces drag and generates a small lift of the rear end, increasing the expansion of the air flow exiting the diffuser. The effect is the increase of a few kilometers per hour in the maximum straight-line speed, with the same power delivered by the power unit. Will all this be enough to defeat Mercedes? In Maranello they are counting on us.
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