Scuderia Ferrari used Free Practice 2 at the Australian Grand Prix to test an extreme energy-management strategy on the SF-26, minimising MGU-K deployment through the technical third sector to preserve battery charge for Albert Park’s straights.
The session left both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc fighting balance issues, but race engineer Carlo Santi confirmed via team radio that the deployment mapping hit its targets. The trade-off was clearly planned.
Why Albert Park forces the compromise
Albert Park is one of the toughest circuits on the F1 calendar for energy recovery. Under the new 350kW hybrid regulations, the most efficient way to recharge the battery is under heavy braking. Melbourne offers little of it: drivers spend roughly 11% of the lap on the brakes, compared to around 17% in Bahrain. The main recovery points are limited to Turn 3 and Turn 11.
That deficit forces teams to rely more on “clipping,” where up to 250kW of power is diverted from the internal combustion engine to the battery during straights. At the maximum charging rate of 350kW, a battery can go from empty to full in about 11 seconds. When relying on clipping rather than braking, that duration stretches, forcing teams into strategic sacrifices.
Ferrari’s solution in FP2 went further: reduce electrical assistance through the medium-speed direction changes of Sector 3 and use extended lift-and-coast to bank energy for the pit straight and the run to Turn 1.
The SF-26 became difficult to manage
With less electrical torque through the final sector, the SF-26 became difficult to manage. Hamilton reported understeer in the technical sequence of bends, compounded by tyres that had not reached their operating window on the hard compound, which Ferrari was running for the first time this weekend.
Leclerc experienced oversteer in both the first and final sectors, running wide onto the grass at Turn 1 during his initial soft-tyre run. Engineers also noted a mild oversteer on corner entry with the hard compound. Heavy traffic at Albert Park made clean laps hard to come by, further complicating the data-gathering exercise.
The session began with a focus on engine braking settings, a parameter critical for calculating how much hybrid energy the MGU-K stores. Observations indicated engine revs were slightly higher than in FP1, and the clipping effect, the visible drop in top speed at the end of straights as the battery harvests energy, was less pronounced than earlier in the day.
Ferrari’s assessment of the session remained unchanged. Santi confirmed that Hamilton’s final lap attempt was completed with the correct level of energy deployment, meaning the SF-26 stayed within its battery state-of-charge limits without sacrificing speed in the zones Ferrari had prioritised.
Engineer Bryan Bozzi, working on Leclerc’s car, focused on managing track position to allow clean runs, though traffic remained a persistent issue.
The deployment data hit its targets. Whether that translates to race-day performance will depend on how well Ferrari can manage the same energy balancing act over a full stint.
We’ll find out more tomorrow.
