Ferrari tests Mercedes qualifying trick in Hungary

Ferrari trialled Mercedes’ “lift-off” qualifying trick during Hungarian Grand Prix practice with Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, then decided the Hungaroring offered too little gain to risk using it in qualifying.

Friday telemetry showed Leclerc briefly lifting off the throttle just before the timing line as Ferrari evaluated the same battery-deployment approach Mercedes has been using to carry maximum electrical power almost all the way to the end of a lap. Both Ferrari drivers tested it, but the team returned to a conventional full-throttle run to the line for Saturday because Hungary’s layout was judged too energy-rich to make the benefit worthwhile.

The method exploits a detail in the qualifying energy rules. Teams normally have to reduce MGU-K output progressively as the battery nears depletion, following a ramp-down rate of at least 50kW per second, which means the full 350kW cannot usually be held right to the line. Mercedes found that if the driver lifts off before the battery reaches zero, that ramp-down requirement no longer applies, allowing near-maximum deployment until the final moments of the lap.

Mercedes arrived at this version of the tactic after an earlier emergency MGU-K shutdown method was banned by the FIA after the Japanese Grand Prix. It then refined the lift-off approach in the simulator and built a warning-tone system in Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s earpiece to tell him exactly when to come off the throttle. Antonelli is reported to have used it to take pole at both Silverstone and Spa.

The attraction is obvious even if the gain is small. The trick is worth about 0.05 seconds, a margin that can decide grid positions in modern F1. In Hungary, Hamilton was only 0.012 seconds slower than Lando Norris’s pole time before receiving a three-place grid penalty for impeding Oscar Piastri.

That upside comes with a narrow margin for error. If the driver lifts too late and the battery has already hit zero, the lap risks becoming a breach of the ramp-down regulation, with disqualification a possible consequence.

Ferrari’s decision not to use the tactic at the Hungaroring underlined that it is not a universal solution. With a long run from the final corner to the line and strong regenerative potential, Hungary does not offer the same reward as more energy-limited tracks. The Scuderia’s test points instead to future use at faster circuits such as Silverstone, Spa or Melbourne, where the shorter run to the line can make those hundredths more valuable.