Traditionally, Ferrari attract more headlines than any other team in Formula 1. The Italian team’s rich history, in combination with recent failures, create an ideal hotbed for discussion and analysis.
The noise around Ferrari can be particularly noticeable in pre-season, when speculation about development for the upcoming season often runs wild.
It was only in 2023 that Ferrari’s CEO described the team’s challenger as “unprecedented in terms of speed” at their car launch. Of course, the SF-23 was ultimately a bystander as Red Bull went on to dominate the season.
Moving forward, the Scuderia want to avoid this kind of narrative from emerging – and Fred Vasseur can be satisfied his team are succeeding in this respect.
Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, Singapore GP, Ferrari Media Gallery.
Ferrari will keep their cards close to their chest
Due to the challenges presented by the 2026 regulations (and the intense 24-race calendar) the winter break feels shorter than ever.
Audi became the first team to test a 2026 car in Barcelona yesterday, completing a 200km filming day in preparation for the first pre-season tests.
Barely one month after last season’s finale, there is already plenty to assess heading into the new regulations.
With car presentations and more shakedowns due in the coming weeks, stories will continue to emerge.
Until now, Mercedes have been the main talking point during the winter break. Even before the end of 2025, Mercedes engines were already being tipped to become the benchmark for ’26.
This narrative has come into greater focus since the German manufacturer’s compression ratio trick was revealed.
Unsurprisingly, Mercedes’ creative exploit of the regulations (which the FIA deem legal for the time being) has reinforced the idea they are favourites for this year.
Whether this is accurate or not, frankly, is none of Ferrari’s concern.
Fred Vasseur much prefers for his team to be overlooked in F1 headlines – rather than regularly featuring in them.
The Ferrari team principal insists that even when the Championship commences, it would be unwise to draw conclusions:
“Next year it won’t be about the first picture of the season,” he told Autosport.
“It won’t be all about the classification of 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.”
Fred Vasseur, Scuderia Ferrari team principal, Ferrari Media Gallery.
Ferrari stick to their principles
Slowly but surely, more details are emerging about the progress behind the scenes ahead of 2026. Red Bull, for example, are expected to have a hyper-aggressive philosophy to their testing programme.
Whilst other teams will be relatively cautious, bidding their time and establishing foundations (likely bringing very basic specifications to start testing) the Austrian team are set to take the opposite approach.
Of course, Red Bull also need to achieve some level of certainty in terms of reliability and correlation between the circuit and factory.
Still, a relatively sophisticated version of Red Bull’s 2026 challenger is expected to debut in Barcelona.
The basic theory is that by taking a risk early, engineers can progress more quickly with upgrades waiting in the pipeline and press ahead with a swift development programme.