A good starting point
As already shown in the pre-season, Ferrari also in the free practice of the Australian Grand Prix showed that they have a good car in their hands. The SF-26 seems to be a decent starting base on which to build a season in which developments will be more fundamental than ever. For Charles Leclerc, Mercedes is the car to beat and only tomorrow in qualifying will we find out if that is actually the case and how much the Silver Arrows’ advantage over the competition will be.
Meanwhile, free practice concluded with fourth place for Lewis Hamilton and fifth for Charles Leclerc, a positive note for the Englishman, who had finished 2025 in a truly negative way.
Read more Mercedes scares Leclerc: “They are really very strong, more than I would have liked”
Vasseur’s analysis of free practice
Speaking to Sky Italia, Frederic Vasseur commented on the Friday on track for the two Ferraris in Melbourne: “Overall it was a good starting point, certainly we still have a lot to learn about this new car, for example with the energy delivery. But it’s the same for the other teams. We saw large performance swings from one session to another and even from one lap to another. This means we will have to look at the data tonight to try to get back on track even stronger tomorrow. But overall it was a good day.”
Read more Russell: “We need to take a step forward if we want to fight for pole”
Vasseur then spoke about Hamilton: “Does he seem more in tune? Yes, but it’s quite normal given that he is in his second year in the team and has been part of the development all winter. I think it’s much easier for him than last year“. Finally, a comment on the many unknowns of this start of 2026: “We are still in the early stages with this generation of cars and we cannot expect to be at last year’s level. We must keep a completely open mind, learning every day and improving more and more.”
Read more Antonelli is already 2nd: “But we all learn on every lap, tomorrow could be a different story”
