F1, Ferrari SF-26: Loic Serra clarifies development plans and Version B rumours. Ferrari unveils the SF-26 ahead of Barcelona testing.

Ferrari has unveiled the first version of the SF-26 and confirmed its development plans, but Loïc Serra has played down expectations regarding the scale of the changes to come.

The new Ferrari SF-26 has been born and is already ready for the Barcelona tests: Loïc Serra has downplayed the possibility of a true “Spec-B” for Melbourne. The car will go through an important evolutionary process leading up to the first race of the season in Australia. Many details will be modified, as already confirmed by Frédéric Vasseur. It could be misleading, however, to talk about a genuine second version of the single-seater.

At Fiorano, the Ferrari SF-26 has taken its first steps, as a direct product of Formula 1’s new technical regulations. It is an ambitious car, one that the Prancing Horse hopes can compete with the very best from the opening race of the new season. The objective of the winter development programme was to lay down solid foundations, on which a progressively competitive and ultimately winning development path can be built.

This is the hope of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, both of whom were on track on Friday morning and will return to the cockpit of the Ferrari in Barcelona. Maranello’s programme does not include participation on the first day of the collective shakedown. To see the SF-26 back on track, it will be necessary to wait until Tuesday 27 January. It is a strategy that mirrors McLaren’s approach, with the Woking team also absent on Monday.

Serra: “There will certainly be evolutions”

An initial analysis of the Ferrari SF-26 already provides some interesting indications. It will be necessary to wait for Barcelona, and then Bahrain, to see a more definitive and certainly more extreme version of the car’s aerodynamic package. On the eve of the presentation, there had been talk of the possibility of a “Version B” of the car, already ready to be taken to the track in Melbourne.

Loïc Serra, Ferrari’s Technical Director, wanted to better explain the developments that lie ahead: “There will certainly be evolutions on the car. Development does not stop at the start of the season, but will continue throughout the entire winter testing period. Whether there will be major changes? I cannot say that, but there will certainly be progress.”