Ferrari ended Friday at the 2026 Belgian Grand Prix eight tenths behind Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s fastest time and several tenths adrift of McLaren and Red Bull. On a circuit where energy management carries exceptional importance, Ferrari’s power deficit is limiting its available options and creating knock-on effects elsewhere, although it is not the only factor behind the gap. The SF-26 still appears to be missing something in the second sector, but Ferrari hopes to make a step forward on Saturday.
Ferrari had finished the morning session near the top of the order, less than a tenth and a half behind Max Verstappen’s benchmark. Conditions changed in the afternoon, however, while Ferrari’s rivals began addressing the weaknesses identified during FP1 by changing both their energy deployment and car set-ups.
Track grip changed the competitive picture at Spa
Mercedes provided the clearest example. In the first session, the team had chosen an excessively low-downforce set-up after expecting the track to offer more grip than it ultimately did. Pirelli had also highlighted the issue, with measurements taken on Thursday indicating that grip was around 10 per cent lower than expected.
“The rain that fell overnight and for much of the day significantly reduced track grip, increasing lap times compared with both our and the teams’ expectations. If there is no further rainfall, the circuit will gradually rubber in again and reach the expected levels,” Pirelli’s Simone Berra explained at the end of the day, confirming that grip was lower than anticipated. The evolving conditions remain important, with the Belgian GP weather forecast also pointing to the possibility of further uncertainty.
In simple terms, the track was dirtier than expected, and teams that had selected very low-downforce configurations to maximise straight-line speed saw that decision work against them. With the track still lacking rubber, Ferrari performed well because baseline downforce is one of the SF-26’s strengths, surprising Lewis Hamilton to some extent.
“I think the first session went a little better than we expected, while in the second everyone made a step forward and it was probably a more realistic reference. In general, the car feels good, but for some reason we are missing something in the second sector, so we are trying to understand why,” Lewis Hamilton explained.
But as the circuit improved, lap times dropped by more than a second compared with FP1, and Ferrari’s rivals identified where to make progress. Ferrari’s power limitations began to weigh more heavily. Above all, the team was unable to make a significant step in the more technical and corner-heavy second sector to compensate for what it was losing elsewhere.
Ferrari power deficit forces energy-management compromises
Looking at the sector splits, the central sector is where Ferrari loses the most time. That is also a logical compromise, because the second sector contains several areas where teams can reduce deployment and recharge the battery. In these conditions, internal-combustion-engine power tends to make the difference, and that is where Ferrari must find its compromise.
Spa is highly sensitive to energy management, even more so than Silverstone. The straights are longer, the energy density over a qualifying lap is significantly lower, and there are fewer corners capable of masking a drop in speed. That deficit became particularly evident in the third sector, where Ferrari loses as much as 50 km/h. The challenge is further complicated by the FIA’s tighter energy rules for Spa, which have made MGU-K management a major part of the Belgian GP weekend.
It is therefore vital to understand how energy should be used over the lap and whether one section should be prioritised over another. In the third sector, Ferrari was the top team to reach the highest top speed, touching 332 km/h, more than Mercedes and Red Bull. However, compared with the RB22, Ferrari’s speed drop was more pronounced in the closing phase.
The same pattern appeared on the Kemmel Straight, but it is clear that a team with a power deficit must accept compromises. This is especially apparent in the second sector, such as on the run towards Bruxelles and through Pouhon, one of the circuit’s most significant sections. Mercedes reaches very high speeds before reducing energy usage, Red Bull follows the opposite philosophy by using more deployment after the corner towards the chicane, while McLaren represents a middle ground.
Ferrari suffers most in this situation because it cannot deploy the energy it needs while also having to save it for the straights. “Without revealing any secrets, if you look at the race trace, we were 20 km/h slower than some of our rivals before Les Combes, but 20 km/h faster on the final straight. It is obviously a compromise. It is not as though you can be plus 20 and plus 20 everywhere, but if you have to think about the race, you have to do it in the right way,” Frederic Vasseur commented.
Frederic Vasseur’s comments are particularly interesting because they are already focused on the race, where teams will have an additional 1.5 million joules available over the lap. In qualifying, however, Ferrari must compensate in other ways, especially through the corners. Mercedes has been able to add downforce again and work on mechanical set-up because it can rely on stronger power, while Ferrari is more limited in that regard. The energy-deployment trade-off also provides context to Lewis Hamilton’s recent concerns over battery-driven Formula 1 overtaking.
Lewis Hamilton targets Ferrari improvement in Spa’s second sector
It is only Friday, including in terms of engine modes, but Lewis Hamilton also confirmed that Ferrari currently lacks cornering performance in the second sector, with downforce compromises limiting the car. At Silverstone, one of Ferrari’s strengths had been not only energy management, partly masked by the circuit’s corners, but also the ability to carry high speed through fast turns.
That cornering compensation was less evident for Ferrari in the second practice session. “I do not know if we look a little deficient at high speed on the straights, but it is mainly the middle sector that is a little slow for us. I hope that tomorrow we can make a step forward overnight, once we have completed the simulations, to try to make the car a little more optimal,” Lewis Hamilton added.
There is confidence in Maranello that Ferrari can take a step forward on Saturday, perhaps by unlocking a little more power, but more is required. “The feeling is that it is [an issue] related to aerodynamic load. The balance, in general, is good. You would have more downforce on the car if you could, but you still need straight-line speed. Tonight we will analyse everything in detail to understand how to improve the middle sector without, hopefully, losing more time elsewhere.”
Ferrari’s work overnight has therefore centred on finding the best possible compromise between downforce, electrical-energy deployment and straight-line performance. The team’s wider Spa package can be explored in our Belgian Grand Prix pit-lane technical analysis, while Ferrari’s stated objectives for the weekend were outlined by Charles Leclerc ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix.
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