Ferrari must avoid one crucial mistake in the 2026 F1 championship fight. Ferrari has emerged as Mercedes’ main rival in the 2026 Formula 1 title race.

With Lewis Hamilton’s victory in Spain, Ferrari has established itself as Mercedes’ main rival in the fight for the Formula 1 world championship. Even if the challenge still appears difficult, the 2026 season hides several potential pitfalls, particularly when it comes to reliability. Nobody knows how events will unfold over the coming months and, as we explained yesterday in the first article of this trilogy, the Prancing Horse should avoid repeating the same mistake McLaren made in 2024.

Focusing on Lewis Hamilton, given that he is 41 points behind Andrea Kimi Antonelli compared to Charles Leclerc’s 81-point deficit, is the most obvious option. However, if Ferrari chooses to take that route, it must do so with the right approach.

At the moment, Ferrari appears better positioned to challenge for the Constructors’ Championship than for the Drivers’ title. For that reason, the team’s priority should be ensuring that both drivers are always given the opportunity to achieve the best possible result available to them.

Never think you have everything under control

If Ferrari decides to place greater emphasis on Lewis Hamilton’s championship challenge, one mistake it absolutely cannot make is believing that every race situation can be controlled, particularly from a strategic standpoint. The team cannot start negotiating with its drivers from the opening laps of a Grand Prix or ask one driver to move aside simply because it is convinced the race will develop in a certain way. Situations like these have occurred several times in Formula 1 history.

That would be the wrong approach. A million things can happen during a Grand Prix. The lead driver could retire, suffer an accident or encounter an unexpected problem. If the team has already compromised the race of the other driver because of a single strategic call made earlier in the event, it could end up throwing away the chance of securing a strong result altogether.

Both drivers should be allowed to race freely. In other words, Ferrari should continue pursuing victory with both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc until only a few laps remain. Only if circumstances create a clear opportunity for a position swap that benefits the team should Ferrari consider favouring one driver over the other.

Ferrari’s attitude seems to be the right one

There are already encouraging signs in this respect, based on the way the pit wall and the drivers handled the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona.

On lap 32, Lewis Hamilton had just fitted Medium tyres for his third stint, while Charles Leclerc was in the middle of his second run on Hard tyres that were already 15 laps old. Ferrari’s pit wall delivered a simple message to the Monegasque driver: “You and Hamilton are on different strategies.”

The 28-year-old’s response was immediate. Without hesitation, he left all the room needed for the seven-time Formula 1 world champion to pass without any resistance.

It was a perfect example of the attitude both drivers should maintain on track. A strategy is chosen and then executed without getting in each other’s way. Ferrari itself provided this example at Montmeló, and the hope is that it will serve as a guiding principle for the remainder of the championship campaign.