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BERNIE COLLINS spots Ferrari’s wide-open cooling louvres in Mexico

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October 30, 2026

GRRL! SUMMARY:

  • BERNIE COLLINS, Sky Sports F1 analyst, flagged Ferrari’s SF-26 running unusually wide cooling louvres at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez ahead of FP1.
  • Collins explained high altitude reduces air density, making thermal management harder and forcing teams to prioritise cooling over aerodynamic efficiency early in the weekend.
  • “Every louver is a loss of downforce,” COLLINS noted, framing FP1 as a data-gathering exercise to determine whether Ferrari can safely close the openings later.
  • The open configuration is a conservative starting point, not confirmation of a cooling crisis — Ferrari’s SF-26 may recover downforce if temperature data allows tighter bodywork.

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GRRL! summary based upon reporting by David Carter originally appearing on scuderiafans.com