Ferrari, the secrets of Project 678 for 2026: what is being developed in Maranello
What is Ferrari preparing in Maranello with an eye on the 2026 Formula 1 season? The focus is already shifting beyond the present, even as the calendar demands the conclusion of a complex and demanding campaign. The 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend sparked curiosity and debate around the technical choices made by Charles Leclerc, who ran an experimental set-up that attracted considerable attention. However, Ferrari was quick to shut down any direct link with the future: Project 678, the 2026 car, will follow a completely different path.
Project 678, a completely new Ferrari
Fred Vasseur clarified the situation by ruling out any conceptual continuity between the late-2025 experiments and the car designed for the new regulatory era. “The philosophy of the 2026 car will have nothing to do with the current one: half of the car will be different and the problems that have accompanied us this year will no longer exist,” explained the team principal, while also hinting that new challenges will inevitably emerge.
The message from Maranello is clear: Project 678 is being built on entirely different foundations, conceived specifically for radically changed regulations, and cannot be influenced by stop-gap solutions adopted to manage a difficult end to the season. As a result, Ferrari’s work on the future is progressing on separate tracks from the immediate needs seen on track in 2025.
Tyres and the Abu Dhabi experiments
According to Fred Vasseur, the real common thread throughout the 2025 season was the unpredictable behaviour of the tyres. “The tyres conditioned the entire central part of the season,” he underlined, explaining how even the smallest details were often enough to completely overturn a result.
On circuits such as Mexico, he recalled, managing the outlap was decisive: “Five kilometres per hour more or less made the difference between being inside or outside the ideal window.” Such a minimal margin could translate into one or two tenths of a second in qualifying, yet it was enough to turn a positive weekend into a complicated one.
It was precisely in this context that the extreme set-up tested by Charles Leclerc in Abu Dhabi came into play, introduced as a reaction to a difficult Friday morning. “When you get the initial set-up wrong, you quickly go from a P4 or P5 to a P14, and it becomes a drama,” Fred Vasseur admitted, stressing how everything can hinge on infinitesimal details.
Despite the early difficulties, the Ferrari team principal praised the team’s ability to respond. “Thanks to the work carried out in Maranello and at the track, the recovery was good,” he said. It was a sign of resilience that says a great deal about the current Ferrari, caught between managing a challenging present and building a future that, in 2026, promises to rewrite the rules of the game.
By distancing Project 678 from the experimental setups of the current season, Fred Vasseur is signaling a total technical reset intended to eliminate the Scuderia’s recurring tire-management weaknesses. This strategic separation between the immediate race-weekend fixes and the long-term 2026 development suggests that Ferrari is banking on a fresh start to finally unlock the consistency required to challenge for the world title once the new regulations take effect.
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