Encouraging start despite complex conditions
The first day of free practice at the Australian Grand Prix offered Ferrari an encouraging working base, despite the challenging conditions at Albert Park. Amid traffic, a constantly evolving track, and a brand-new car to understand, the team completed most of the planned program. Sporting director Diego Ioverno summarized the day as particularly useful for gathering data and preparing for the rest of the weekend.
According to Diego Ioverno, the work completed in both sessions was generally positive from an operational perspective. “I think it was a solid day, so we ran both sessions with both cars without major issues, and we almost managed to complete our planned runs.” The SF-26 therefore accumulated valuable kilometres during a phase in which the main objective remains understanding the car and analyzing the data collected on track. “There’s a lot to do, a lot of data to analyse, but it was a fairly solid day.”
Ferrari working in an uncertain weekend context
Ferrari’s work comes amid an unpredictable weekend. In the first session, the team showed encouraging signs, with both cars at the top of the timesheets, while the second session highlighted the Mercedes-powered cars, as both Mercedes and McLaren revealed more of their pace.
Positive driver feedback, but still much to learn
Diego Ioverno explained how both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton perceived the day as demanding, particularly due to the characteristics of the Australian circuit and the many variables present on track. “They found both sessions challenging and intense, with a lot to learn, because this is new for everyone here.” Albert Park remains a unique track: short, with many cars on track and rapidly changing conditions. “Historically it’s always a challenge: the track is short, 22 cars, traffic, evolving conditions.”
Despite these difficulties, the drivers completed the planned programs: “They completed the runs, so they are satisfied with the day, but there is still a long way to go to continue analyzing and try to improve for tomorrow.” During the second session in particular, Ferrari tried some more aggressive setup configurations, with results that were not always convincing, showing that technical exploration is still ongoing.
No major surprises, typical Albert Park challenges
The Ferrari sporting director also noted that there were no significant technical surprises, but the day was influenced by the usual conditions of a street-style circuit. “We didn’t have major surprises, we didn’t do everything we wanted because of the conditions and the traffic.” On a track like Melbourne, completing clean laps is difficult: “It’s quite hard for everyone to have a clean run here. Sometimes you get stuck behind someone, you lose the car, there are changes in wind and track dirt.” According to Diego Ioverno, this is almost inevitable, especially during the first weekend of the season: “You never have a perfect day, even less likely at the first race of the season with a new car. On this, I don’t think we can complain.”
Overall positive, but work remains
The overall assessment remains positive, with the awareness that there is still much work to do. “Overall, we are satisfied with today’s work, happy, but it’s a long weekend and a long season. I hope there will be time to be happy; for now, we are just focused.”
Diego Ioverno’s assessment of Ferrari’s Friday in Melbourne paints a picture of a team meticulously building its foundation for the 2026 season while navigating the chaotic nature of the Albert Park circuit. While the SF-26 showed reliability and solid pace, the focus now shifts to refining the “aggressive” setup directions explored in FP2 to ensure Leclerc and Hamilton can challenge the surging Mercedes-powered cars in Saturday’s qualifying.
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