Ferrari’s SF-26 deficit has produced different assessments from Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc and team principal Fred Vasseur. While Lewis Hamilton identifies the power unit as the Maranello team’s main weakness, Charles Leclerc believes Ferrari can no longer reduce its problems to the engine alone, with chassis and aerodynamic performance also requiring improvement.
For months, the leading figures at Ferrari have made no secret of an evident power-unit deficit. Neither ADUO 1 nor ADUO 2 was enough to bring Ferrari level with the Mercedes and Red Bull engines, and attention has therefore shifted towards 2027, when the team hopes a new power unit can close the gap or at least reduce it significantly.
Ferrari considers a different power-unit concept for 2027
It is no coincidence that Maranello is considering a power unit that is conceptually different, with the aim of giving Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc a stronger weapon in races than they have had during this championship.
However, the question is whether Ferrari is also at the highest level in terms of chassis and aerodynamics. The answers offered by the two drivers and Fred Vasseur between Baku and Thursday at Sepang suggest that their views are not perfectly aligned. Ferrari’s recent competitiveness can also be considered alongside the wider question of what Baku revealed about the SF-26 relative to its rivals.
Fred Vasseur: Ferrari’s chassis advantage may have disappeared
During the press conference around the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Fred Vasseur addressed the subject without offering complete certainty, as reported by AutoRacer.
“There is a kind of convergence happening on the chassis, because you can improve much more quickly than with the engine. I think the advantage we have on the chassis is smaller, or perhaps it is no longer there. I don’t know, because it isn’t simply a question of chassis or engine. But if we consider the engine deficit we estimate we have, the chassis is not our main problem.”
The balance between Ferrari and its competitors can also be explored through the Ferrari vs F1 Rivals statistics, which provide a broader comparison of the Scuderia’s performance against the other leading teams.
Charles Leclerc says Ferrari cannot blame everything on the engine
On Thursday at Sepang, Charles Leclerc made it clear that he believes the SF-26’s problems now extend beyond the power unit.
“I firmly believe that we have a power deficit compared with our rivals, but by now we cannot reduce everything to that. On the chassis and aerodynamic side as well, the others are catching up and recently they have brought significant upgrades that have made them very strong in the corners too. We need to improve in every area.”
The Sepang weekend therefore represents another important reference point for understanding how the SF-26 performs under different conditions, with Pirelli’s Sepang compounds potentially presenting Ferrari with a different challenge from Baku.
Lewis Hamilton identifies Ferrari’s engine as the main problem
Lewis Hamilton appeared to have the clearest view of the situation on Thursday at Sepang, identifying the power unit as Ferrari’s principal weakness.
“Our main problem is the engine and we are not hiding from that. We know it. Every weekend we have a deficit of four tenths, if not six tenths, purely in terms of power on the straights. We are aware of it and it is an area we have to work on. They are working hard to try to solve this problem for next year.”
The three assessments therefore share one central point: Ferrari has a power-unit deficit. Where they differ is in how much of the SF-26’s overall performance gap can still be attributed to the engine alone. Lewis Hamilton places the greatest emphasis on power, Charles Leclerc believes chassis and aerodynamics must now be included in the analysis, while Fred Vasseur acknowledges that Ferrari’s previous chassis advantage may have reduced or disappeared.
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