Ferrari heads into the Bahrain Grand Prix at Sepang with rear tyre management emerging as one of the central technical factors that could shape its race. Red Bull has confirmed that it is firmly in contention, but the balance of performance seen over one lap may change considerably once the focus shifts to long-run pace, tyre degradation and strategy.
The Bahrain GP being held at the Malaysian circuit is expected to revolve heavily around strategy and the need to minimise tyre degradation, which has proved decisive throughout the weekend. Every team has clearly placed significant emphasis on race preparation, particularly given the difficulty of controlling tyre overheating and the relative ease of overtaking at Sepang.
The different technical characteristics of each car mean that some teams may have suffered this compromise more than others, with its effects particularly visible over a single qualifying lap. Ferrari’s own challenge centres heavily on the rear axle and whether the balance found with the SF-26 can become more effective over the race distance.
Ferrari searches for the right rear balance at Sepang
Ferrari has appeared particularly vulnerable at recent events whenever management of rear tyre temperatures has become decisive. That connects with the broader technical trend of the Scuderia using a relatively stiff setup in an attempt to keep its aerodynamic platform as stable as possible.
At Sepang, the nature of the circuit appears to reward that compromise more effectively, helping to explain why the Italian package has looked particularly competitive through the faster sections. The characteristics of the Malaysian circuit and its tyre demands had already made this an intriguing weekend for the SF-26, especially given why Pirelli’s Sepang compounds may suit Ferrari better than Baku.
During Friday running, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc initially followed different setup directions before converging overnight after work in the simulator. As was also observed in Hungary, both Ferrari drivers tend to use more throttle during the various mid-corner phases than their rivals, particularly in medium-to-slow corners such as Turns 7, 11 and 14.
That characteristic reinforces the impression of a stiffer platform. The consequence is that the drivers need to use the available torque more aggressively to help rotate the car through the corner.
Brake components add another layer to Ferrari’s rear tyre challenge
One factor that has received less attention since the summer is Ferrari’s use of Carbone Industrie brake discs and pads while retaining Brembo brake calipers.
On paper, the Carbone Industrie components should offer an advantage over the Italian alternative at higher temperature ranges. On the SF-26, however, that change appears to have made thermal management of the rear axle more complex.
Combining that characteristic with the substantial torque delivered when the car accelerates out of corners creates a particularly difficult mix to manage. At the end of qualifying, Charles Leclerc explained that the rear of his car had begun to struggle after the first sector, highlighting just how narrow the balance window can become in that area.
The situation ultimately favoured the cleaner driving style produced by Lewis Hamilton during the decisive qualifying runs.
Why Charles Leclerc’s qualifying issue may not hurt Ferrari in the race
As Charles Leclerc indicated, however, the rear-end difficulty should not necessarily become a disadvantage in the race. The Monegasque had been searching for the limit of the SF-26 by changing the front-wing incidence rather than altering the underlying setup choices.
The combination of an aggressive approach through the first sector and a balance leaning further towards oversteer did not help him during qualifying. Over a longer race stint, however, the demands on the tyres and the car will change substantially.
The SF-26’s advantage was particularly evident on Lewis Hamilton’s lap whenever outright grip was required across a broad range of braking and mid-corner phases. Red Bull was well set up, but it did not appear to enjoy the same broad operating window as Ferrari through all these situations.
The comparison between the two Maranello drivers can also be followed through the Charles Leclerc vs Lewis Hamilton F1 head-to-head statistics.
Ferrari still pays heavily for its energy deficit
Energy remains an expensive weakness for Ferrari. The deficit accumulated by Max Verstappen in the power-limited zones compared with the SF-26 approached three to four tenths in the opposite direction once Red Bull’s energy advantage was taken into account.
Unfortunately, the absence of State of Charge data for the middle sector makes it difficult to isolate performance through the fastest corners, particularly Turns 5 and 6. In that section, the FIA allows an exception to the power-limited pending period, making the amount of available energy especially important.
During Lewis Hamilton’s second Q3 attempt, the British driver was 5 km/h slower on the straight towards Turn 15 than on his first run of the session. Compared with Charles Leclerc, the difference reached 14 km/h.
That was not the result of a technical problem. On his best lap, Lewis Hamilton appears to have been more aggressive with the throttle in several areas than during the first run, which led to a different energy-management profile being optimised in real time by the car’s software.
The straight-line differences throughout the weekend can be explored further through the ScuderiaFans F1 Top Speed Comparison.
FP3 offered encouraging signs for Ferrari’s race tyre management
During FP3, both Ferrari drivers completed two push runs on the same sets of Soft tyres, as did the rest of the field, remaining around three tenths away from the benchmark previously established.
At the end of his run, Lewis Hamilton highlighted over the radio how good the lap had felt. More importantly for the race, his stint suggested potentially better thermal management than some rivals, particularly at the rear axle.
There was still a compromise at the front of the car. In the first sector, under braking for Turn 1, Lewis Hamilton lost time to Max Verstappen in one of the relatively few grip-limited areas where the Dutch driver held an advantage.
Pirelli technician Simone Berra had already pointed out that teams were likely to favour setups biased towards rear stability in order to protect the rear tyres from the high degradation expected during the race.
That approach can leave the front axle slightly outside its ideal operating window through Turns 1, 2 and 3 because of the two preceding straights. This also connects with the decision by Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton to progressively add clicks of front wing as the session developed. While that is a normal adjustment during practice and qualifying, its significance needs to be understood within the specific thermal conditions at Sepang.
The race should provide a much clearer answer. The compound behaviour and stint evolution can also be followed through the ScuderiaFans F1 Tyre & Stint Analysis.
Red Bull improves its balance after latest upgrades
Red Bull appears to have taken an important step forward in drivability following the updates introduced across Baku and Sepang. The RB22 remains extremely efficient on the straights, following a development philosophy that in some respects resembles Mercedes.
The car’s operating window now appears easier for the drivers to manage, even if it still does not deliver its maximum performance across every corner-speed range.
In the slow sections, with the exception of the approaches to Turns 1 and 14, Max Verstappen had not looked particularly incisive earlier in the weekend. That weakness became less visible in qualifying, partly because the additional grip provided by the Soft tyre helped mask any underlying mechanical limitation.
Mercedes struggles to understand its major update
Mercedes, meanwhile, is still struggling to find the correct balance after introducing its major update package. The revised W17 shifts the centre of pressure towards the rear, producing understeer that troubled the team throughout much of the weekend and making the car particularly reluctant to rotate through Sepang’s slower sections.
During the overnight work at Brackley, engineers explored several different adjustments. By Saturday morning, the balance had moved far enough in the opposite direction for the car to suffer excessive oversteer instead.
Following George Russell’s comments on Friday, it would not be surprising if the engineers had reduced some aerodynamic load in an attempt to combat tyre overheating, which was inevitably masking some of the progress brought by the extra downforce.
Kimi Antonelli explained the difficulty particularly clearly, highlighting how complicated it is to identify the ideal operating window of a new package in conditions such as those encountered in Malaysia, combining abrasive asphalt with unusual temperatures.
The Italian driver could still become a factor during the race, helped by a rear end that has remained extremely stable. Mercedes’ losses, however, also extend to aerodynamic efficiency, with the additional downforce inevitably producing increased induced drag.
Strategy and energy management could transform the Sepang race
The Bahrain Grand Prix therefore promises to be particularly interesting from a strategic perspective. The maximum recharge limit per lap will increase to 8.5 MJ from the 7.5 MJ permitted in qualifying, requiring a more controlled approach to energy management.
Running in clean air will also be important because tyre overheating should be relatively easy to trigger when following another car. That makes track position and the ability to control temperatures potentially decisive factors for Ferrari, Red Bull and the other leading teams.
The strategic options remain numerous, with uncertainty still surrounding whether the optimum race will require one stop or two. For Ferrari, the key question is whether the SF-26’s rear balance and broader grip window can become an advantage once the race shifts the focus away from pure qualifying performance and towards tyre preservation, energy management and long-run consistency.
More technical coverage of the SF-26 and Ferrari’s evolving setup characteristics is available in the Ferrari technical analysis section.
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