MARANELLO (MODENA) (ITALPRESS) – “The Chinese Grand Prix arrives immediately after Melbourne and represents a different challenge under many points of view. It is a Sprint weekend, so we will have very little time on the track to work on the cars and this will make even more important the preparation made to Maranello and the simulator”. With these words Ferrari’s main team, Frederic Vasseur, presents the second round of the Formula 1 World Championship.
A few days after the opening of the season in Melbourne, Formula 1 remains in the Asia-Pacific region for the China Grand Prix, the second round of the World Championship and the first Sprint weekend of the season. On the Shanghai circuit, the Ferrari team, like the other teams, will face a particularly significant challenge: in fact, the first time the teams will play a Sprint weekend with the new generation of cars, a format that leaves very little time to optimize the set-up of the single-seater. After the debut in Australia, the Chinese weekend is therefore a precious opportunity to continue to understand, on a track with different characteristics, the behaviour of the new cars, which have changed significantly in many areas, from aerodynamics to energy management.
With completely new single-seater and still limited data available, the ability to prepare the weekend for the simulator and to quickly exploit the information collected during the only free practice hour could make a significant difference. The Sprint format minimizes the time available on the track for free practice. On Friday there is only one 60-minute session starting at 11.30 local (4.30 Italian), followed in the afternoon at 15.30 (8.30) from Sprint Qual to establish the starting grid of the short race that will be on stage Saturday morning at 11 (4) on the distance of 19 laps (103,379 kilometers). On the same day the teams will then have time to work on their respective cars in view of the qualifying of the Grand Prix scheduled at 15 (8). Sunday the race will start at 15 (8) on the distance of 56 turns, pairs to 305,066 kilometers. With the 2026 single-seater, characterized by a very different balance between thermal and electrical power and active aerodynamic systems designed to reduce resistance on straights, energy management and phases of attack and defense will be one of the key elements of the weekend.
After only one race with the new cars, the competitive picture is still very open. In this context, each track session is an opportunity to collect data and improve the understanding of the car-power unit package. The Shanghai Sprint weekend, with its intense program, will therefore be an important opportunity to continue the work started in the pre-season testing sessions and the first race in Australia.
“We are only at the beginning of this new Formula 1: cars 2026 are very different from those we have known in recent years and each session allows us to learn something new about how to manage them, both from the point of view of the setup and the energy one – Vasseus added. In Australia we have seen encouraging signs, but we know that the level is very high and that there is still so much work to do. Our goal for Shanghai is to continue to progress, collect data, stay focused on ourselves and put together a clean weekend in all its stages.”.
– Photo IPA Agency –
(ITALPRESS).
