Ferrari began the Spanish Grand Prix weekend at Madring with encouraging signs from the SF-26, as Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton found a competitive and well-balanced baseline during FP1. After a difficult Monza weekend that dealt a major blow to the team’s championship ambitions, Madrid represents an important opportunity to understand whether the problems seen in Italy were circuit-specific or indicative of a broader weakness in the car.
The primary objective for Ferrari on Friday is exploration. Formula 1 is racing at the new Madrid circuit for the first time, leaving teams with little real-world data and making every lap particularly valuable. The characteristics of Madring could also prove more favourable to the SF-26 than Monza, where straight-line performance and energy management placed Ferrari under considerable pressure. That makes this weekend an important follow-up to the question of how competitive Ferrari really is away from Monza’s extreme demands.
Ferrari starts Madrid GP FP1 with a solid SF-26 baseline
As soon as the session began, both Ferrari cars headed onto the circuit without wasting any time. With Formula 1 competing at Madring for the first time, maximising every available minute was essential in order to build driver confidence and understand how the SF-26 behaved around an unfamiliar layout.
For the opening run, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton used the yellow-marked Pirelli Medium tyres. The compound offered a useful level of grip while also allowing Ferrari to complete several consecutive laps and gather consistent data.
The first laps suggested that track grip was better than expected. Conditions were certainly not exceptional, but Ferrari appeared to encounter no significant problems in that respect. Charles Leclerc immediately adapted well to the circuit, which was perhaps unsurprising given his preference for narrow, street-style tracks where barriers closely surround the racing line.
Lewis Hamilton initially took a more cautious approach, gradually building confidence in both the car and the circuit. Both Ferrari drivers were effectively completing short mini-stints to familiarise themselves with Madring’s numerous corners. After five laps, Lewis Hamilton increased his pace and briefly set the fastest time of the session.
As usual during practice, the race engineers continued to suggest steering-wheel tools and adjustments that could help improve the handling of the car. Ferrari was also using the opening phase of FP1 to investigate the correct setup direction after already evaluating different rear-wing and aerodynamic configurations for the Madrid weekend.
Ferrari SF-26 shows stable balance through Madrid’s corners
The run continued with Ferrari focusing on maximising every aspect of the drivers’ approach. One particular area of attention was the rapid change of direction through Turns 5 and 6. The drivers were encouraged to attack the kerbs more aggressively because the SF-26’s mechanical behaviour allowed them to cut through the chicane more effectively and potentially gain lap time.
Ferrari also carried out several tests involving brake settings. Engineers needed to establish where Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton could extend the braking phase and where doing so would instead compromise traction on corner exit. Braking is expected to be one of Madring’s key technical challenges, with the circuit featuring repeated heavy deceleration zones, making brake performance and energy recovery important areas of Friday’s programme.
After around 20 minutes, Lewis Hamilton touched the wall with his left-rear tyre. The British driver immediately realised that contact had been made, although the routine checks suggested there was no apparent damage. Lewis Hamilton was therefore able to continue pushing without any obvious problem and later requested an adjustment to the front wing, as Charles Leclerc also did.
It was still too early to reach firm conclusions about Ferrari’s performance, but the initial balance of the SF-26 appeared particularly encouraging. The car showed good rotation, a solid front end and strong behaviour under acceleration. Once the session passed the half-hour mark, both Ferraris returned to the garage for their first extended stop, giving the engineers several minutes to study the data and search for further improvements.
Ferrari switches to Soft tyres but still needs to optimise the SF-26
The pause lasted approximately ten minutes, during which the track temperature increased. Ferrari then switched to the red-marked Pirelli Soft tyres, giving Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton an opportunity to evaluate the SF-26 with the highest level of grip available.
Charles Leclerc ran deep at Turn 3 and narrowly avoided hitting the barriers. It was an unfortunate mistake because his lap had been particularly strong up to Turn 17, something Charles Leclerc’s race engineer Bryan Bozzi also confirmed over the radio.
Charles Leclerc abandoned the lap and returned to the pit lane, where Ferrari mechanics made another adjustment to his front wing. Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, completed his flying lap, although his attempt was not especially clean either. Both Ferrari drivers still needed to build more confidence with the Soft compound.
One encouraging factor was the way the SF-26 responded to driver inputs. The steering appeared relatively manageable, suggesting that Ferrari’s basic balance was already doing its job. However, the team still needed to understand exactly how the hybrid power delivery was functioning around Madring, another area that will remain important as Ferrari continues assessing the technical characteristics of its 2026 package.
At this stage of FP1, Ferrari was actually slower on the Soft tyres than it had been on the Mediums. That discrepancy underlined how far the team remained from fully optimising its performance and suggested that the lap times were not yet representative of the SF-26’s true potential.
Ferrari completes its main FP1 objective at Madring
The most important priority in the opening practice session was not outright lap time, however, but data collection and establishing a reliable setup baseline. From that perspective, Ferrari’s programme was successfully completed.
The SF-26 once again displayed significant potential, particularly through its stable balance, front-end response and traction. The next challenge will be turning those promising characteristics into greater performance as the weekend develops, especially once Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton extract more from the Soft tyres and Ferrari refines the car around the new circuit.
With Madring providing a much broader technical test than Monza, the remainder of the Spanish Grand Prix weekend should offer a clearer indication of where Ferrari stands. The first signals from FP1 are positive, but the team still has considerable optimisation work ahead before the SF-26 can be judged at its full potential. More detailed analysis of Ferrari’s ongoing development can be found in the site’s Ferrari technical analysis coverage, while the remaining rounds can be followed through the 2026 Formula 1 calendar.
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