Ferrari pushes SF-26 development as Fred Vasseur gives engineers greater freedom. Ferrari’s SF-26 upgrade race continues, but questions remain over performance gap.

At the beginning of May, Formula 1 returned to action after a month-long break following the opening three races of the season. During that period, teams had valuable time to work on both development and a deeper understanding of their cars. Ferrari was effectively one of the busiest teams in this regard, evolving the SF-26 across multiple technical areas with the clear ambition of challenging Mercedes.

To do so, Ferrari introduced the now well-known “Macarena” wing, a revised FTM concept, an updated front wing, a new floor and a power unit software update. Despite all of those efforts, however, Mercedes still secured its fourth victory of the 2026 Formula 1 season, finishing ahead of McLaren, Red Bull and a Ferrari team that appeared to have slipped into the role of the fourth-fastest force on the grid.

Despite the expectations surrounding Ferrari’s upgrades, the Scuderia gave the impression that it had not progressed at the same rate as its direct rivals, nor was it capable of genuinely competing with them. Lap time analysis reinforced that concern, with Ferrari lacking the pace even to mount a realistic challenge for the podium.

Ferrari under scrutiny

A major part of that gap appears to stem from the power unit deficit, estimated at around 30 horsepower compared to Mercedes. That shortfall will most likely only be addressed through the extra development opportunities potentially made available under the ADUO framework, an area Ferrari has reportedly been working on for months.

Ferrari therefore experienced a harsh reality check after a break during which expectations had risen significantly — expectations that were ultimately not met, partly due to imperfect simulation correlation.

Lewis Hamilton openly criticised this issue, saying: “We’re talking about correlation: we run simulations, then we go to the track and the car behaves differently…”

It is a valid point of view, although former IndyCar star James Hinchcliffe offered a different interpretation, suggesting Ferrari’s disappointing Miami performance may have been caused by introducing too many changes at once.

“You need to make one change at a time,” the former IndyCar driver explained, “to understand and isolate what is actually an improvement and what is not. If you have 11 or 12 different components, that makes life difficult for both the engineers and the drivers. Introducing such a long list of developments is complex.”

More freedom for Ferrari’s engineers

That long list of upgrades likely reflects the return of the development battle as a central theme in Formula 1, particularly with the debut of a new generation of cars featuring significant aerodynamic and power unit innovations.

This development culture is something Frederic Vasseur has worked hard to build since arriving at Ferrari, encouraging the team to think beyond traditional boundaries, introduce bold solutions without fear of failure, and remain fully focused on the ultimate objective.

“We have to start with the mindset,” the Frenchman admitted to The Race, “that there is room for improvement in every area. We will introduce upgrades that, if last year they gained us hundredths, this year could gain us tenths of a second. What will matter most is the team’s ability to develop, to understand where others are doing a better job and where we need to improve. What matters is lap time — we must innovate, but not just for the sake of it. The target is victory: I’m happy with this change in approach, I see the engineers with more freedom.”