The beginning of 2026 has seen Mercedes establish themselves as the fastest team, with only Ferrari emerging as potential challengers. In both Australia and China, the SF-26 managed to give the W17 some headaches – even if Mercedes ultimately had enough pace in hand.
From an aerodynamic perspective, Ferrari have developed a very strong package. In fact, the SF-26 has shown the best performance in low and even medium-speed corners to start the season.
Mercedes, however, predominantly create and maintain their advantage in a straight line. The W17’s power unit gives Toto Wolff’s team a big enough cushion to counteract the efficiency of Ferrari’s chassis.
To combat this, Fred Vasseur’s technical team are working to bring a massive set of upgrades in the upcoming rounds.
Vasseur and Ferrari commit to bold upgrades
Before the season began, Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur was crystal clear in his approach for 2026:
“It won’t be all about the classification in Australia. It will be a lot about the capacity for quick development.
“The season won’t be over in Australia for sure, it doesn’t matter if we are P1 or P10. But it will be a long way until the end, it will be a long way for everybody.”
By extension, the Frenchman has spoken extensively about the importance of being assured and confident when introducing upgrades.
The 2022 regulations, perhaps more than ever before in F1 history, saw teams bringing upgrades to the circuit that were either ineffective or even counter-productive.
Inaccurate data correlation between the factory and circuit therefore became a massive weakness in the last regulation set.
Conscious of this, Ferrari opted to start the 2026 with a relatively basic version of the SF-26. More aggressive and ambitious components are incoming, with the intention of increasing downforce and improving drivability.
Unlike last year’s package, Ferrari’s current package is kind to the drivers. Both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc have been extremely complimentary of the SF-26 and its handling.
Moreover, from pre-season testing to the Chinese GP, the engineers in Maranello have been satisfied with the accuracy of correlation data.
The predicted behaviours and characteristics from the wind tunnel are materialising on track with very little deviation.
In short, the conditions have been met for Ferrari to implement sweeping new upgrades. Vasseur’s technical team have had updates in the pipeline for several weeks – and they are now in the production stage.
As reported by it.motorsport, a major upgrade package is scheduled for the fourth round of the season in Miami.
Ferrari were always planning to bring a substantial set of improvements to the first US race of the season. However, due to the cancellations of the Grand Prix in Jeddah and Bahrain, there will be a one-month gap between Japan and Miami.
The Italian outfit are taking this as an opportunity to be even more aggressive with development. The changes being planned are expected to see significant revisions across numerous areas of the SF-26.
Given the early Mercedes advantage, Fred Vasseur believes this philosophy is necessary:
“Of course, we are still a long way off Mercedes and we need to work very hard in the coming weeks. (cont. on next page)