Ferrari sent Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton into the Azerbaijan Grand Prix with two different aerodynamic configurations on the SF-26 as the team continued searching for the best compromise between straight-line speed, rear stability and overall balance. Charles Leclerc retained the lower-downforce bargeboard specification with a single vertical element, while Lewis Hamilton switched before qualifying to the three-element version in an attempt to stabilise the rear of the car.
The experiment produced no dramatic breakthrough for either Ferrari driver, but the differences between the two configurations offered another indication of how difficult the SF-26 has become to optimise. The contrast was particularly relevant at Baku, where aerodynamic efficiency and low drag are critical because of the circuit’s long full-throttle sections.
Ferrari still searching for the true level of the SF-26
What is Ferrari’s real competitive level at this stage of the season? It is a question that may also be occupying minds at Maranello. The summer was expected to mark a Ferrari resurgence in the pursuit of Mercedes, but the upgrades introduced on the SF-26 and, above all, the arrival of the ADUO2 engine have not been enough to close the gap to Mercedes.
At the same time, the package has not consistently provided enough performance to contain the progress of Red Bull and McLaren. That wider competitive picture can be followed through the Ferrari vs F1 Rivals statistics.
McLaren left the Azerbaijan weekend without scoring any points towards the Constructors’ Championship, allowing Frédéric Vasseur to underline one positive aspect for Ferrari. “We scored more points than McLaren in the fight for second place in the Constructors’ Championship. That’s not bad, even if our objective is to win races and the World Championship.”
Even so, the impression is that the MCL40 has made a significant step with its latest upgrade package, one whose complete potential was not fully demonstrated in Baku. Red Bull, meanwhile, showed particularly strong race performance, with the RB22s of Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar proving capable of fighting for the podium behind Mercedes winner George Russell.
The numbers leave Ferrari firmly second in the Constructors’ Championship, with a 72-point margin that will be extremely valuable to defend against McLaren. The broader trend of the season, however, suggests that the SF-26 is struggling to maintain its status as the second-fastest car and is increasingly slipping towards being the third or even fourth team in technical terms.
Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton choose different Ferrari aero setups
The competitive order has fluctuated repeatedly depending on the upgrades introduced by each team. With Ferrari’s final planned 2026 package expected around Austin, the concern is that the current SF-26 concept may be approaching the limit of its development potential.
The Azerbaijan Grand Prix provided an interesting test. Ferrari deliberately prepared the SF-26 around a bargeboard configuration featuring a single vertical element. Charles Leclerc committed to that lower-downforce solution throughout the Baku weekend, prioritising maximum speed along the circuit’s long straights.
Lewis Hamilton took a different direction. After an unsatisfactory sequence of practice sessions, Lewis Hamilton decided at the end of FP3 to move to the higher-downforce specification, featuring three vertical elements on the leading edge of the bargeboard. Ferrari’s wider struggle to find the correct Baku compromise had already emerged in the team’s Baku set-up analysis.
The seven-time World Champion wanted a more stable rear end and greater traction from the SF-26, while also hoping the change could help bring the front tyres into their working window after they had struggled to switch on properly.
The decision once again highlighted the significant differences between the driving styles of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton. It also showed that Ferrari is still experimenting with different solutions in an effort to extract the true potential of a car that remains demanding to drive at the limit.
Charles Leclerc’s lower-downforce choice appears stronger in the race
In the race, Charles Leclerc’s decision appeared to pay off more effectively. Charles Leclerc produced the stronger race pace of the two Ferrari drivers, while Lewis Hamilton was probably dealing with more troublesome understeer through the corners.
The difference in straight-line speed at the finish line was only 1.8 km/h: Charles Leclerc reached 341.9 km/h compared with 340.1 km/h for Lewis Hamilton. Those figures can be placed alongside the wider weekend data through the F1 Top Speed Comparison.
The sector figures also showed how differently the two configurations performed. Charles Leclerc was almost 0.177 seconds faster in the first sector, while Lewis Hamilton gained 0.099 seconds through the more technical second sector. In the third sector, the two Ferrari drivers were effectively equal, separated by only seven thousandths of a second in Charles Leclerc’s favour.
The clearest difference emerged in their fastest laps, where Charles Leclerc held an advantage of 0.386 seconds over Lewis Hamilton. The comparison reinforced the impression that the lower-downforce approach gave Charles Leclerc the more effective overall compromise during the race.
Ferrari’s SF-26 balance problem creates an aerodynamic compromise
Ferrari believes the SF-26 has a strong chassis and good aerodynamic qualities, but the challenge is extracting those strengths without compromising efficiency. If the team has to increase downforce simply to achieve an acceptable balance at circuits where aerodynamic efficiency and low drag are particularly important, the theoretical potential of the car is inevitably reduced.
That can also push Ferrari towards more extreme mechanical solutions in an attempt to compensate for the aerodynamic compromise. The result can be a car that becomes less precise and more difficult to drive, rather than allowing Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton to exploit the SF-26 consistently at the limit.
The contrasting Baku configurations therefore underline a broader Ferrari problem rather than merely a difference in driver preference. Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton are searching for performance in different ways, but both approaches point towards the same challenge: finding a balance that allows the SF-26 to preserve its aerodynamic efficiency without sacrificing the stability and confidence required to extract its full potential.
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