Ferrari reportedly regard the constructors’ championship as a more realistic 2026 target than overturning Lewis Hamilton’s 50-point deficit to Formula 1 leader Kimi Antonelli. The Maranello team have not completely abandoned the seven-time world champion’s pursuit, but their decisions at the Hungarian Grand Prix offered a clear indication of where their current priorities lie.
Hamilton entered the summer break as Antonelli’s closest challenger after a first half of the season featuring several podiums and victory at the Spanish Grand Prix. However, no driver has previously recovered from a deficit of that size under the current Formula 1 points system, leaving Ferrari with an extremely demanding task over the remaining races.
Ferrari assess Lewis Hamilton’s title chances
Max Verstappen holds the existing comeback record under the present scoring format, having overturned a 46-point disadvantage to Charles Leclerc during the 2022 season. Recent history nevertheless shows that large swings remain possible: Verstappen recovered 68 points against Lando Norris across the final 10 races of 2025, although he ultimately missed out on the championship by two points.
Looking further back and recalculating previous seasons under the modern system produces four examples of drivers overcoming deficits of at least 50 points. The most recent was Kimi Räikkönen’s 2007 championship success, when the Ferrari driver recovered from an 18-point disadvantage to rookie Hamilton. That margin is presented as being equivalent to 72 points under the current scoring structure.
Despite those precedents, The Times reports that Ferrari sources consider the constructors’ championship the most achievable objective during the second half of 2026. The Italian team sit 72 points behind Mercedes, but the presence of two scoring cars means the gap can change more dramatically over a single weekend than an individual driver’s championship deficit.
Ferrari and Mercedes matched over five race weekends
Ferrari and Mercedes accumulated the same number of points across the five race weekends before the summer break, offering the Scuderia some encouragement. That comparison has been influenced partly by Mercedes’ continuing reliability problems, however, rather than representing definitive evidence that the two cars now possess equal performance.
The Silver Arrows have clearly held the fastest package, but Mercedes secured a double podium only three times during the opening part of the campaign. Ferrari must capitalise whenever their rival encounters trouble, particularly after penalties and execution problems contributed to Hamilton’s costly missed opportunities before the summer break.
The competitive outlook may now depend on the effectiveness of each team’s remaining developments. Ferrari are preparing an ADUO-powered engine update for the Italian Grand Prix and have intensified reliability testing ahead of the planned Monza upgrade.
Mercedes have introduced developments more sparingly so far but are also expected to bring new parts as they attempt to consolidate their advantage. Ferrari, meanwhile, have adopted a race-by-race approach to SF-26 development as they continue chasing both championships.
Hungarian GP penalty exposed Ferrari’s current priorities
The treatment of Hamilton’s five-second penalty in Hungary provided another indication of the Scuderia’s thinking. If Ferrari had been fully committed to maximising his drivers’ championship challenge, the team could have instructed Leclerc to slow sufficiently for Hamilton to retain fourth place in the final classification.
Instead, Ferrari informed Charles Leclerc about the sanction several laps before passing the same information to Hamilton. That allowed the Monegasque driver to finish within five seconds of his team-mate and move ahead once the penalty was applied. The circumstances formed part of a wider sequence of recent sanctions affecting Hamilton’s results.
The Maranello team remain prepared to favour one driver later in the campaign if the contest with Antonelli becomes sufficiently close. For now, however, the Mercedes driver remains far enough ahead for Ferrari to continue allowing Hamilton and Leclerc to compete without imposing a clear hierarchy.
That approach leaves the constructors’ championship as the team’s principal objective. Winning it would end Ferrari’s wait for a teams’ title stretching back to 2008, while success in the drivers’ standings would require Hamilton to complete a comeback unprecedented under the current points system. The latest Formula 1 drivers’ championship standings illustrate the scale of the challenge facing the Briton.
Recent mistakes have made Hamilton’s comeback harder
Hamilton has surrendered important points through penalties in recent races, while poor execution from the Ferrari pit wall has also damaged his championship position. Those setbacks have reduced an already narrow margin for error against a faster and more consistent Mercedes package.
Without those lost opportunities, the Scuderia’s assessment of the title battle might have been different. Instead, Ferrari appear focused primarily on closing the 72-point constructors’ gap while waiting to see whether Hamilton can move considerably closer to Antonelli after the summer break.
A stronger run from the seven-time world champion could still force the team to reconsider its policy and support him more decisively. Until that happens, Ferrari’s actions indicate that ending their long constructors’ championship drought takes precedence over restructuring the team around Hamilton’s pursuit of an eighth drivers’ crown.
