**Ferrari’s New Engine Shakes Up the Grid as Mercedes and McLaren Battle for Pace**
Ferrari’s introduction of a new engine has immediately changed the competitive landscape, with rivals acknowledging a significant step forward. Lewis Hamilton noted that the engine is “an improvement” and expressed gratitude to the factory, but also pointed to lingering issues with car balance and energy deployment. Kimi Antonelli, who leads the championship by 59 points over Hamilton and Russell, observed that Ferrari’s straight-line speeds are now on par with the rest, making the fight for pole position “tight.” Despite Ferrari’s gains, it is unlikely they were running the engine at full performance on its first day, leaving room for further development.
Antonelli will start the race from the back due to a grid penalty for exceeding the permitted number of engine parts—a strategic choice by Mercedes to capitalize on the long straights for recovery. He was quickest in race-simulation runs, and his long-run pace on hard tyres was decisively faster than Russell, with McLaren’s Norris and Piastri roughly half a second down. Hamilton and Leclerc, on soft tyres, were less than 0.2 seconds off the Mercedes pace, while Verstappen on mediums was about 0.3 seconds adrift. These long-run comparisons suggest Mercedes and Ferrari are the leading contenders, though tyre compound differences make the picture inconclusive.
McLaren, meanwhile, expected a tougher weekend and have so far struggled for pace. Lando Norris admitted the car is “much trickier than the last few Fridays,” losing time in high-speed corners where they are normally strong, as well as on the straights compared to Mercedes. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, still winless this season, was only ninth fastest, behind Racing Bulls’ Arvid Lindblad and Haas’s Oliver Bearman—who benefits from the new Ferrari engine and an upgrade. With slipstreaming expected to play a major role in qualifying, drivers will be hunting for tows, potentially leading to a controversial session.
In other news, F1 has announced a three-day fan event in Milan from 18–20 February next year, featuring all 11 teams, drivers, music, and entertainment. As the weekend progresses, the true pecking order will emerge, but early signs point to a fierce battle between Mercedes and Ferrari, with McLaren and Red Bull searching for answers.
Ez a cikk a Neural News AI (V1) verziójával készült.
Forrás: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/articles/cgk5g0z26yxo.