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Ferstappen: “Ferrari is very close to us”

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Ferstappen: “Ferrari is very close to us”

Max Ferstappen confirmed Ferrari’s readiness to be directly competitive this season due to the very small difference with Red Bull Racing in the last free tests.

Max Ferstappen and Christian Horner have different views on Ferrari – the Dutchman says he is very close and the latter is superior to the RBR – but agree that the Scuderia is back at the top of Formula 1.

The opening of this year’s Formula 1 championship with the Free Trials of the Bahrain GP was no different from the Winter Trials: Ferrari was the protagonist again – and in this case Charles Leclerc approached Max Ferstappen with 87 milliseconds, which was the first year day marked of the year.

Although free testing does not allow any firm conclusions as to each team’s capacity as each car’s fuel quantity and engine mode remains unknown, the two RBR leaders are now confident that Ferrari has entered the battle for the top spot this year.

We see that Ferrari are pushing very hard and are very close, but that’s also very exciting“said Ferstappen. He added that his RB18 is in very good condition:
Things are looking good. I am very happy with our car. It made me feel good. We tried a few things and everything seemed to work fine“.

At the same time, the champion is undeterred by Mercedes’ bad times, even though the W13 was one of the slowest cars on Shakir’s track top odometer. Due to this fact, the Dutchman believes that last year’s big opponent didn’t have the strongest engine mode today.

We’ll have to wait until we see the engine modes from all the teams tomorrow to find out where we are. I don’t think everyone is in qualifying yet so we’ll have to see what happens tomorrow when everyone turns their engines to full power‘ he said explicitly.

Back at Ferrari, RBR director Christian Horner sees the Scuderia not only close to Red Bull, but a step ahead: “I think Ferrari was very, very fast. You could see that with both drivers today. “All winter long they seemed impressive going out on the track,” said the Brit.

And he continued: “It’s not that important to me who our opponents will be. It’s great to see Ferrari back in action. He’d been a sleeping giant for the past two years, and the time would come when things would be all right. You started this program very early and presented a great car. And I’m very happy for our people. After last year’s intensity, they managed to build a remarkable car that we can continue to develop throughout the season“.

At the same time, Sergio Perez’s poor recent performance seems to run counter to Ferstappen and the team’s optimism for the new RB18, but Horner clarified that Max’s gap of more than a second to the Mexican was due to him trying some different and mechanical components .

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Red Bull finally decides on Verstappen’s team

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Red Bull finally decides on Verstappen’s team

After several significant personnel changes in the team, Max Verstappen has finally learned who he will be working with in the Red Bull pits for the new season.

At the end of last year, it became known that three key members of the four-time world champion’s headquarters had left. According to De Telegraaf, Jeff Ayton replaced Verstappen’s vehicle control engineer Michael Manning, who left the team after the 2025 season. He has previously worked with other Red Bull drivers and worked temporarily with Verstappen in Manning’s absence last year.

Verstappen’s former engine mechanic David Mart has moved to Audi and his replacement at Red Bull has not yet been determined. Performance engineer Tom Hart is also leaving the team; He will join Williams but will continue to work with the Milton Keynes-based team for a while.

Changes also occurred among mechanics. After Matt Culler moved to the position of Audi’s chief mechanic, Verstappen was replaced as his first mechanic by his twin brother John Culler. He is well known to Max, who has previously held a similar position on the other side of the Red Bull pits, working alongside Sergio Perez, Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda.

Despite rumors about the winter break, Gianpiero Lambiase will remain Verstappen’s race engineer for another season.

Source: Sport UA

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Ferrari will have a red-white livery. Images of the Scuderia jersey have been revealed

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Ferrari will have a red-white livery. Images of the Scuderia jersey have been revealed

Photos of the allegedly leaked Ferrari F1 team jerseys for the 2026 season have appeared on the internet.

The published photos show a red T-shirt with white inserts.

Ferrari will officially announce its color on January 23. At the same time, some sources reported that the design of the 2026 car should be “pleasantly surprising”.

Given that Ferrari and other teams have used darker shades of their primary colors (red in the Scuderia’s case) in recent years, the introduction of red and white team uniforms could signal a move towards a lighter color scheme.

The same idea is put forward in a video published on the Scuderia’s official account.

Source: Sport UA

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F1 champion: “We may see a complete surprise in the championship fight this year”

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F1 champion: “We may see a complete surprise in the championship fight this year”

Former Formula 1 champion Damon Hill has warned fans that the winner of the 2026 season could be a real surprise.

The current large-scale changes to the regulations are among the biggest in the history of the sport. They are expected to change the balance of power in the starting grid for a long time.

Hill is confident that the pundits have no idea who will start the new season with the best cars because the cars will be completely different, even in terms of handling.

Particular attention of the expert is drawn to Aston Martin, which was able to make a leap from the middle of the table after signing Adrian Newey from Red Bull.

Hill noted the following about Lando Norris’ chances of defending his title:

“All bets are off for this year. We don’t know who will be in uniform. You can’t automatically assume that pilots who performed well under previous regulations can now do it again.”

The cars are completely different. “50% of engine power is now provided by the electric battery, and this affects the way cars are controlled, their aerodynamics and their design.”

Hill added that the season could be a complete surprise:

“Yes, you can [ожидать смену эпохи в Ф1 в этом году]. We may see a complete surprise. It’s like Jenson Button beating Brown; Everyone was surprised because they understood the rules better.

“And the master of understanding the rules is Adrian Newey, who went to Aston Martin. He left Red Bull and Max Verstappen, Christian Horner also left that team. But he went to Aston Martin.”

“So we’re waiting for him to wave his magic wand over Aston Martin. And it could happen.”

Source: Sport UA

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