Ferrari’s hybrid system remains a concern at the Belgian Grand Prix, despite the team making a strong start on setup work with a stable SF-26 that appears capable of making the difference through its chassis. However, the familiar limitation remains: Ferrari’s ability to recover and deploy energy is not yet at the required level. That is why the team needed to work on making its deployment strategy more efficient during the second free practice session at Spa-Francorchamps.
The challenge is particularly significant at a circuit where energy management can have a major influence on lap time. As explained in our analysis of the FIA’s Spa energy-management challenge, the Belgian Grand Prix places considerable demands on the power unit and MGU-K systems.
Ferrari tests a different hybrid deployment strategy
Without wasting any time, both SF-26 cars headed out as soon as the pit-lane light turned green. As in the first practice session, Ferrari selected the yellow-walled Pirelli Medium tyres to continue studying the car and maximise its handling. Conditions were favourable, with unchanged wind and track temperatures four degrees lower than in FP1.
After the usual preparation work to bring the tyres into their operating window, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton began their first flying laps. The first notable detail concerned the engine: in several areas of the circuit, the drivers were shifting up earlier and lifting slightly from the throttle. The reason was clear: to recover energy without sacrificing too much overall performance.
During the cool-down laps, Ferrari’s engineers provided the usual guidance on racing lines, corner-entry speed and minimum speed through the turns. They also advised the drivers on when and where to use the steering-wheel toggles to activate pre-mapped settings and improve rotation. After cooling the tyres, both Ferrari drivers set off again.
The following attempt broadly mirrored the first. Compared with FP1, however, there was a more obvious difference in power-unit behaviour. Ferrari appeared to have altered the distribution of hybrid energy, sacrificing performance in sector two in an effort to avoid losing too much time in the other two sectors. The experiments were clearly ongoing, with the team still trying to solve a complex puzzle and find the most efficient balance.
Ferrari understands the SF-26 hybrid difficulties
It is worth noting that neither Ferrari driver managed to complete a clean lap on the Medium tyres. Traffic and a few small mistakes affected the times, which should still be treated with caution at this stage. There was also another clear observation: particularly with Lewis Hamilton, the SF-26 was visibly scraping the track surface through the important compression and elevation change at Eau Rouge.
That did not appear to concern Lewis Hamilton, who nevertheless felt that the car was very stable. Even so, Ferrari will need to monitor plank wear closely, especially with the race in mind. Excessive wear could lead to a penalty, making it an important issue for the team to control across the weekend.
After a brief stop in the garage, the two Ferraris returned to the circuit on Soft tyres. The balance of the Italian car remained very good, but the energy-discharge phase in the first sector was still noticeable. Ferrari’s race engineers themselves highlighted the issue over the radio, explaining that the SF-26 was losing more than two tenths in sector two during the deployment phase.
The setup is clearly working well, but some problems emerge when the drivers push to the maximum. There was oversteer at Turn 15, for example. When the available performance is limited, drivers naturally try to extract everything possible, but pushing harder than necessary on corner entry and through the middle of the turn brings them extremely close to the car’s limit.
That means near-perfect driving is required to avoid small errors and prevent the loss of time the driver is trying to recover. In many ways, that is Ferrari’s “drama” at Spa: the SF-26 can be strong through the corners, but its drivers must take greater risks to compensate for time lost elsewhere. Ferrari’s chassis potential had already been a key theme in the latest Belgian GP technical analysis from the Spa pit lane.
Ferrari’s Spa deficit is likely to remain throughout the weekend
Once the second qualifying-style run was completed, attention turned to high-fuel testing. Both Ferrari drivers fitted Medium tyres for their race-simulation work, but the programme was interrupted almost immediately. Pierre Gasly’s Alpine crashed at Turn 13, sustaining heavy damage, although the French driver was fortunately unharmed.
There was substantial debris on the circuit, and it was clear that several minutes would be needed to restore safe conditions on both the track and the barriers. As expected, the session resumed with fewer than two minutes remaining, leaving teams with only enough time to complete practice starts, which are always useful at a circuit such as Spa-Francorchamps.
Ferrari’s expectations now need to be assessed in the context of the circuit. At Silverstone, where there are also fast sections but a greater concentration of corners, the SF-26 was able to conceal its weakness in the battery discharge phase more effectively. At Spa, however, the nature of the layout gives Ferrari far less opportunity to hide the deficit.
The team has tested different hybrid approaches, but the Belgian circuit is unforgiving. Ferrari cannot make the issue disappear in the same way it could in Britain, and that could significantly compromise the team throughout the weekend. The risk becomes even more relevant if changing conditions affect the programme, with rain still threatening an unpredictable Belgian Grand Prix weekend.
Ferrari will therefore rely on the SF-26’s strong stability and chassis performance, while continuing to search for a deployment solution that limits the damage on Spa’s power-sensitive sections. The team’s energy-management concerns add further context to Ferrari’s latest SF-26 development test at Spa, where the car’s overall potential faces one of its most demanding examinations of the 2026 season.
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