Ferrari chases Mercedes
Three victories including two one-twos, three pole positions in three races and a lead in the two standings that is becoming wider and wider: it certainly cannot be said that Mercedes did not start the 2026 season in the best way, although some small technical difficulties encountered by George Russell between Shanghai and Suzuka made the dominance less extensive than it could have been. According to former Mercedes and Ferrari engineer Jock Clear, however, the gap is by no means unrecoverable for the pursuers and, indeed, it is almost natural to expect that the teams trying to catch up will have the time and means to succeed, contrary to what was seen at the beginning of the regulatory cycle with the turbo hybrid power units in 2014.
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Jock Clear’s opinion
“There is a new regulation and Mercedes – explains Jock Clear to Ignition Casino – has come out slightly advantaged, just like in 2014, but it is not at all the dominance that, in my opinion, we saw at the time. I was working at Mercedes at that time and in the first races we didn’t even push in qualifying because it wasn’t necessary. Now, however, they have to give their all, with Ferrari close enough to be able to beat them. And, of course, they know that at the start Ferrari will probably overtake them at the first corner, so they absolutely have to start on the front row. They are trying with all their might, but I don’t think they have anything else to pull out of the hat, which means we are talking about an advantage of about three tenths of a second”.
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Clear believes, however, that this gap is by no means unrecoverable: “In a normal year we would be talking about almost a season of development but, with the regulations as they are and the small changes underway, teams will certainly continue to fine-tune from one race to the next and will learn a lot. I predict that those three tenths will disappear quickly. Someone will make steps forward in development during the season and this will reduce the gap on the grid, while I don’t see Mercedes being able to turn those three tenths into six tenths. I am much more confident that Ferrari and perhaps Red Bull can take steps forward and reduce the gap from Mercedes. With the break after Japan, there is a chance that this will become an exciting F1 championship, with teams having the time to evaluate what they have available and develop it”.
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