2026 F1 Dutch GP tyre data puts Ferrari fastest on hard and medium compounds

Ferrari emerged as the quickest team on both the hard and medium compounds in race-pace analysis from the 2026 Dutch Grand Prix, underlining just how competitive the SF-26 was across the longer-running tyre options at Zandvoort. Mercedes held a different advantage, combining the lowest wear on the harder compounds with the strongest outright pace on the soft, while McLaren remained firmly in the leading performance group.

The most significant Ferrari takeaway is that its pace was not confined to one narrow tyre window. The Maranello team ranked first on both the hard and medium compounds, ahead of Mercedes in each case. That gives a much clearer picture of Ferrari’s underlying race potential and suggests that the leading three teams were operating within a very similar overall performance range rather than one car enjoying a decisive advantage throughout the Grand Prix.

Ferrari leads Dutch GP tyre pace on hard and medium compounds

The compound-by-compound comparison places Ferrari at the top on the two harder tyres. On the hard, the Scuderia led Mercedes and McLaren. The same basic hierarchy remained at the front on the medium, with Ferrari again first and Mercedes second, although Red Bull moved into third place in that particular comparison.

That pattern is particularly relevant for Ferrari because the harder compounds generally provide the larger sample for sustained race running. Ferrari’s advantage was therefore not simply based on a short burst of performance. At the same time, outright pace and tyre degradation were not identical strengths: Mercedes produced the lower wear on the harder compounds even though Ferrari was faster.

In practical terms, that creates an interesting trade-off. The SF-26 appears to have extracted more immediate performance from the hard and medium tyres, while Mercedes was better at limiting the rate at which performance fell away. The data alone does not establish why those differences existed, so conclusions involving car set-up, tyre temperatures or mechanical characteristics would go beyond what can be demonstrated from the available numbers.

Mercedes reverses the order on the soft tyre

The soft compound produced almost the opposite picture. Mercedes moved to the top of the pace ranking, with McLaren second and Ferrari third. Red Bull was substantially further away from the leading three on the red-walled tyre.

However, Mercedes’ additional soft-tyre speed came with a clear compromise: wear was worse. That contrasts with the German team’s behaviour on the harder compounds, where its degradation performance had been a particular strength. Ferrari, meanwhile, gave up some outright ranking on the soft compared with its hard and medium performance.

The overall degradation progression also shows why the hard tyre was such a robust race compound. Its fuel-corrected lap times remained relatively controlled deep into its usable life, whereas the soft displayed a much steeper deterioration during longer running. The medium sat between the two in terms of stint length but did not deliver the strongest overall performance.

The lap-time values above represent approximate ranges across the analysed fuel-corrected race samples rather than a single team’s performance. They are therefore most useful for understanding the behaviour of each compound over increasing tyre age rather than for making direct car-to-car comparisons.

Medium tyre emerges as the unexpected weak point

One of the more unusual findings concerns the medium. Across the overall compound comparison, the medium produced worse performance than both the hard and soft tyres. That means the expected middle ground between outright speed and durability did not translate into the strongest race performance at Zandvoort.

Ferrari nevertheless ranked as the quickest team on that compound, making its medium-tyre performance particularly notable. The Scuderia was able to lead a tyre category that, across the field as a whole, was less effective than either alternative. Mercedes remained second, while Red Bull’s third-place ranking represented its strongest position across the three compound comparisons supplied.

Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren had remarkably similar overall potential

Once the strengths and weaknesses of each compound are combined, the separation between Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren becomes much less clear-cut. Ferrari held the advantage on hard and medium pace. Mercedes combined strong pace with particularly low wear on the harder tyres before becoming the fastest team on softs. McLaren was competitive enough to rank inside the top three on both the hard and soft.

The resulting picture is one of three teams with broadly comparable overall potential. On the basis of the tyre-performance comparison alone, Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren all possessed a performance profile capable of putting them in contention at the front. Rather than one car dominating every tyre, the advantage changed depending on compound and whether outright speed or degradation was prioritised.

For Ferrari, that is arguably the most important conclusion. The SF-26’s Zandvoort performance was strong enough to top two of the three tyre categories, including both of the harder compounds, while remaining within the leading group on the soft. The Dutch Grand Prix therefore offered further evidence of genuine underlying pace, even if the exact competitive balance changed significantly with tyre choice and stint characteristics.