Ralf Schumacher has labelled Ferrari’s reported approach to its F1 2026 car a “disaster”, claiming the team is developing separate concepts to individually suit Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.
According to Schumacher, pursuing different development paths undermines Ferrari’s F1 2026 project, describing the idea as “a disaster from the outset”.
Ralf Schumacher’s warning to Ferrari
Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trust
Last season, Ferrari stopped developing its SF-25 early in the championship to focus on 2026 with its all-new cars and power units.
It was a frustrating situation for Hamilton and Leclerc as Ferrari fell further away from the front-runners as the season progressed, and dropped from second to fourth in the Constructors’ standings in the final eight races.
Initially overhauled by Mercedes, Ferrari also fell behind Red Bull in a campaign in which it scored less than half the points of championship winners McLaren.
The team is hoping the decision to swap to 2026 early on will pay dividends this season as Hamilton seeks a record-breaking eighth World title, and Leclerc chases his first.
Finishing fourth in the Constructors’ standings last year means Ferrari has more time than McLaren, Mercedes and Red Bull on F1’s sliding scale of aerodynamic testing restrictions.
But according to Schumacher, Ferrari has chosen a convoluted path with its 2026 challenger as it works to develop cars to suit Hamilton and Leclerc.
F1 2026: Formula 1’s season of change
F1 2026 uncovered: Next-gen cars, new tyres, and design decisions
F1 2025 v F1 2026: Nine key questions ahead of huge regulation changes
“As for Ferrari, disaster already seems to be looming again, at least reading between the lines,” he told Sky Deutschland’s Backstage Boxengasse podcast.
“That’s what stands out the most.
“They appear to be developing two different cars. I can almost imagine that it’s because Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton have completely different opinions on the car.
“If that’s the case, it’s a disaster from the outset.
“I’ve always said you can’t develop two cars and Fred Vasseur has hinted at it himself as well, so it all seems far from ideal.”
Ferrari explain reasoning behind ‘spec A’ car for F1 2026
Ferrari team principal Vasseur explained the team’s development early F1 2026 approach during his end-of-season press conference last year.
The Frenchman revealed Ferrari will hit the track in Barcelona for the behind-closed-door test in January with a basic car design, “Spec A”, with the intention of putting mileage on the car, and would then build on performance and aerodynamics in the latter two tests.
It’s an approach he believes the rest of the grid will also adopt.
“I think everybody will do it,” he said.
“In this situation, the most important is to get mileage. It’s not to chase performance. It’s to get mileage to validate the technical choice on the car in terms of reliability. And then to get performance.
“It means that I think everybody will come in Barcelona with, not a mule car, but let’s say a Spec A.
“We are not used to having nine test days anymore. The last four or five seasons, we did three [days]. It’s an advantage, but it’s also a completely different programme. It means that the first target in this kind of season is to get the reliability.
“The first races [in 2014’s engine overhaul] you had a huge percentage of DNFs.
“It means that the first focus in Barcelona will be to get mileage with the car, to understand the reliability of the car, where we have to improve and what we have to react. Because if you understand something in Bahrain, by the second test, you won’t have time to react for Australia.”
The Scuderia will unveil its F1 2026 challenger on 23 January, before completing a shakedown run at the team’s private Fiorano test track.
Vasseur revealed the team will be working on the Spec A car right up until the night before the launch.
“This will be aggressive for sure, because we will finish the assembly of the car the day before the launch,” he said.
“The launch will be the 23rd of January in Maranello. It means that we’ll finish the car on the 22nd. And this is aggressive, but everybody will do the same.”
Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.
You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!
Read next: First listen: Ferrari’s ‘revolutionary’ F1 2026 engine in action