Ferrari’s cornering-speed performance during the opening 11 rounds of the 2026 Formula 1 season suggests that the SF-26 is already close to the Mercedes W17 in several important areas. The data also underlines why the ADUO 2 development step and further aerodynamic upgrades could be decisive if the Maranello team is to reduce its deficit and maintain realistic hopes of fighting for the championships.
Formula 1 has reached the halfway point of the season ahead of the mandatory two-week summer shutdown imposed by the FIA. From the opening rounds, it has been clear that the Ferrari SF-26 is a highly capable car through corners, even though Mercedes’ dominant W17 has converted its overall performance advantage into eight victories from the first 11 events.
The comparison offers an important perspective on Ferrari’s season. The Scuderia has not consistently matched Mercedes across an entire lap, but its deficit cannot simply be explained by a lack of cornering ability. In fact, the figures support the view that the SF-26’s main limitation is not insufficient downforce.
Ferrari cornering-speed analysis after 11 Formula 1 rounds
One of the most interesting projects dedicated to analysing Formula 1 driver performance through cornering segments was created by Cort Smith, founder of the tracksims.com platform. This assessment is based on Cort Smith’s study of every driver’s cornering performance during the first half of the 2026 season.
The analysis uses FastF1, an open-source Python package designed to access and process official Formula 1 information. The available material includes lap times, car telemetry, session results and weather data. FastF1 is widely used by data scientists, programmers and motorsport enthusiasts to produce performance visualisations, compare drivers and cars, and build predictive models.
To make the results more representative of genuine racing performance, several categories of laps were excluded from the calculations.
- The opening lap and any restart completed from a standing start were removed because those laps are not particularly representative of normal cornering speeds.
- Any lap during which the car entered the pit lane was excluded.
- Laps completed entirely behind the safety car or under virtual safety car conditions were removed.
- Any lap time more than 13 per cent slower than the fastest race lap recorded by the individual driver was excluded.
These filters help remove laps affected by traffic management, pit entry, neutralised racing conditions or unusually slow running. The objective is to focus more accurately on the speeds the drivers and cars were capable of sustaining under representative racing conditions.
How Formula 1 corners were divided by speed
The corners were grouped into three categories according to the actual speed recorded through each section. Slow corners were defined as those taken at less than 115 kilometres per hour. Medium-speed corners covered the range between 115 and 185 kilometres per hour, while high-speed corners were classified as those taken at 185 kilometres per hour or more.
The reference measurement was the speed at the apex of the corner. In this context, apex speed represents the lowest speed registered within the analysed cornering segment rather than the car’s entry or exit speed.
An average was then calculated for every driver across the three corner categories at each Grand Prix and over the opening 11 races as a whole. When the comparison is restricted to drivers representing the leading teams, the results highlight the underlying quality of Ferrari’s aerodynamic and mechanical concept.
Ferrari close to Kimi Antonelli in medium and high-speed corners
Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc are extremely close to the benchmark established by Kimi Antonelli in medium and high-speed corners. That finding indicates that Ferrari’s chassis and aerodynamic package can generate strong performance once the SF-26 enters faster changes of direction.
The picture becomes even more encouraging in slow corners, where Lewis Hamilton leads the comparison. The seven-time world champion’s average performance in sections below 115 kilometres per hour places him ahead of the other drivers included in the leading-team analysis.
The results help explain why Ferrari has appeared particularly competitive at circuits dominated by demanding cornering sequences. However, that strength has not always been transformed into victories or maximum points. A combination of circumstances prevented the Scuderia from capitalising at two events where the SF-26 had been viewed as a potential car to beat: the Monaco Grand Prix and the recent Hungarian Grand Prix.
The Hungaroring was a particularly clear example. The car demonstrated substantial potential, but Ferrari ultimately finished outside the podium with both drivers. The outcome formed part of a wider pattern of missed opportunities examined in the Hungarian Grand Prix recap.
Even more striking is the advantage Mercedes and Ferrari hold over McLaren and Red Bull in high-speed corners taken above 185 kilometres per hour. The scale of that difference confirms that the SF-26 remains one of the strongest cars in the fastest sections, despite the overall championship advantage built by Mercedes.
Mercedes builds most of its Ferrari advantage on the straights
The cornering analysis indicates that almost all of Mercedes’ competitive advantage over Ferrari is generated through straight-line sections. While the SF-26 can remain close to the W17 through many corners, the Mercedes package creates a meaningful separation when the cars accelerate along the straights.
This publicly available analysis cannot match the depth of the data available inside Formula 1 teams. Mercedes, Ferrari and their rivals have access to far more sophisticated and accurate tools capable of identifying performance differences, separating aerodynamic drag from power-unit output and estimating where improvements can produce the greatest lap-time gain.
Nevertheless, the figures provide a useful indication of the broader trend. Ferrari does not appear to require a complete change of technical direction. The immediate challenge is to improve absolute performance in the areas where Mercedes is strongest without weakening the cornering qualities that already make the SF-26 competitive.
That balance is central to Ferrari’s wider development strategy. Charles Leclerc has already emphasised the need for the team to remain aggressive in the 2026 Formula 1 upgrade race, particularly as the championship moves into its second half.
Why Ferrari needs ADUO 2 as soon as possible
Ferrari’s remaining title ambitions inevitably depend on the second homologation opportunity permitted under the ADUO framework, together with further aerodynamic updates. Those developments must reduce the deficit to Mercedes in the sections where the W17 is creating a substantial advantage over the rest of the field in both qualifying and race conditions.
The Maranello team is already carrying out extensive work ahead of its planned second engine development. Ferrari has intensified its reliability programme for the expected Monza power-unit upgrade, with the objective of gaining performance without sacrificing one of the current specification’s strengths.
Additional aerodynamic development will also be required. Reducing drag and improving efficiency could help Ferrari recover speed on the straights, but any changes must preserve the stability, load generation and cornering performance demonstrated by the SF-26 during the first 11 events.
The task is therefore more complex than simply producing a higher top speed. Ferrari must identify upgrades that improve the complete lap, allowing Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc to retain their competitiveness through slow, medium and fast corners while losing less time to the Mercedes W17 during acceleration and along full-throttle sections.
The championship fight cannot yet be considered an impossible objective. However, Ferrari’s prospects depend on the next technical developments unlocking additional absolute performance while protecting the qualities that have already emerged from the SF-26 project. As Fred Vasseur acknowledged in his mid-season assessment, the progress achieved so far is encouraging but remains insufficient for Ferrari’s ambitions.
The cornering figures demonstrate that the fundamental concept has genuine strengths. The decisive question for the second half of the season is whether ADUO 2 and the next aerodynamic packages can address Ferrari’s straight-line deficit quickly enough to turn those strengths into more victories and a sustained challenge against Mercedes.
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