Luca di Montezemolo, the former Ferrari chairman, says the SF-26 is not a car capable of winning the F1 2026 championship due to the \u201cquite staggering\u201d deficit to Mercedes.<\/p>\n
It comes after Lewis Hamilton admitted at last weekend\u2019s Chinese Grand Prix that Ferrari is unlikely to catch Mercedes in the short term given the W17\u2019s \u201chuge gap\u201d at the front.<\/p>\n
Ferrari \u2018not capable\u2019 of F1 2026 title despite Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton podiums<\/p>\n
Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google<\/a> to your favourites list for news you can trust<\/p>\n Mercedes established itself as the team to beat across the first two rounds of F1 2026 with George Russell and Kimi Antonelli winning in Australia and China respectively.<\/p>\n Ferrari emerged as Mercedes\u2019 closest challenger at both rounds with Hamilton and teammate Charles Leclerc claiming a podium finish apiece so far this season.<\/p>\n Despite taking the lead at the start of both races held so far, Ferrari has struggled to match Mercedes\u2019 pace with Leclerc finishing 15 seconds behind Russell in Melbourne.<\/p>\n Hamilton, meanwhile, was more than 25 seconds adrift of Antonelli at the finish in Shanghai.<\/p>\n Analysis: Chinese Grand Prix<\/p>\n Chinese GP conclusions: Verstappen sabbatical fear, mixed Hamilton feelings, McLaren Powertrains<\/a><\/p>\n Winners and losers from the 2026 Chinese Grand Prix<\/a><\/p>\n Speaking ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix, Hamilton conceded that Mercedes has a \u201chuge\u201d advantage \u2013 estimated to be as much as 0.5 seconds per lap \u2013 over Ferrari in race conditions.<\/p>\n The seven-time world champion went on to address Ferrari\u2019s hopes of catching Mercedes over the course of the F1 2026 season, admitting \u201cit\u2019s not going to be a short thing.\u201d<\/p>\n Di Montezemolo, who resigned as Ferrari president and chairman in 2014 after several decades of service to the Scuderia, believes the team is unlikely to threaten Mercedes for the title in 2026.<\/p>\n He told Italian publication Corriere della Sera:\u00a0\u201cI\u2019m sorry to say, at least judging by what we\u2019ve seen so far this season, that they have a good car but not one capable of winning the World Championship.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat hurts me most is that in the last 10 years they\u2019ve never made it to the final race still in contention for the drivers\u2019 title.<\/p>\n \u201cIn my day, we lost 11 championships at the very last moment; I remember them as punches in the stomach, but at least we were there fighting for it.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked if Ferrari does have a glimmer of hope for 2026, he added: \u201cThe gap is quite staggering, but the teams chasing the leaders can improve and there will be long pit stops.<\/p>\n \u201cPerhaps it\u2019s not quite as cut-and-dried as it seems.\u201d<\/p>\n Di Montezemolo\u2019s comments come after he joined forces with Ferrari\u2019s historic rival McLaren in a surprise move in 2025.<\/p>\n The 78-year-old became a director of McLaren Group Holdings Limited<\/a>, which controls the road car-based McLaren Automotive business and holds a minority stake in the McLaren F1 team, last June.<\/p>\n As reported by PlanetF1.com on Wednesday<\/a>, Ferrari is set to hold a filming day during the extended April break following the cancellations of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian grands prix.<\/p>\n It is believed that Ferrari is yet to use any of its two permitted filming days in 2026, with the SF-26 car\u2019s post-launch shakedown at Fiorano in January officially classed as a so-called demonstration event.<\/p>\n As such, Ferrari is keen to hold a filming day in the coming weeks to produce more content for its commercial partners, with the team\u2019s current offering limited to post-launch material from January.<\/p>\n PlanetF1.com understands that Ferrari is still evaluating where to hold its planned filming day despite reports in Italy suggesting it will take place at Monza.<\/p>\n It has been speculated that Monza is Ferrari\u2019s preferred venue given the circuit\u2019s high demands in terms of energy management.<\/p>\n This would allow the team to further optimise its 2026 power unit in its bid to close the gap to Mercedes.<\/p>\n Hamilton identified Mercedes\u2019 deployment on the straights as a key factor behind its current advantage, declaring that Ferrari needs to work out how the team is achieving it.<\/p>\n Asked how Mercedes\u2019 pace advantage is manifesting itself on the track, he said: \u201cIt seems mostly on straight, so I think it would be at the moment everywhere on the straights.<\/p>\n \u201cIt seems more so when they open up the ESM \u2013 that\u2019s when they take a huge step, so whatever\u2019s going in that phase is an area we need to understand.<\/p>\n \u201cThey seem to have a little bit more deployment, so less de-rating at the end of the straights than some of us.<\/p>\n \u201cSo we\u2019ve just got to work on trying to see how we can eke out more from our engine.\u201d<\/p>\n Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp<\/a> to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.<\/p>\n You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel<\/a> for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!<\/p>\n