Ferrari vs Red Bull: How a 15-point advantage turned into a 12-point deficit in four F1 races

Ferrari and Red Bull are heading in different directions as the 2026 Formula 1 season approaches its conclusion. The Brazilian Grand Prix highlighted Red Bull’s renewed competitiveness and Ferrari’s continuing struggle for consistency, but the results from the previous three races reveal a more complicated picture. Before Interlagos, Ferrari had actually outscored Red Bull by 15 points across Singapore, Austin and Mexico.

That advantage disappeared in Brazil, where Max Verstappen recovered from 21st on the grid to finish second and Isack Hadjar completed the podium in third. Red Bull collected 33 points, compared with just six for Ferrari, turning the recent four-race comparison in its favour. The question now is whether Red Bull is genuinely improving faster than Ferrari, or whether Interlagos exposed problems that were particularly damaging to the SF-26.

Ferrari outscored Red Bull in the three races before Brazil

Assessing the two teams solely through their Brazilian Grand Prix performances would overlook what happened immediately beforehand. Across the three races leading up to Interlagos, Ferrari consistently collected more points than Red Bull.

At the Singapore Grand Prix, the Maranello team scored 39 points compared with Red Bull’s 34. Ferrari maintained that advantage at the United States Grand Prix in Austin, collecting 30 points against 23. The pattern continued in Mexico, where Ferrari scored another 30 points while Red Bull accumulated 27.

Ferrari therefore accumulated 99 points against Red Bull’s 84, establishing a 15-point advantage over those three events.

That comparison matters because describing Ferrari as a team in uninterrupted decline would ignore its recent competitive results. The SF-26 had demonstrated the potential to deliver strong performances, even though the team had not consistently extracted that potential throughout the season.

However, the situation changed dramatically at Interlagos.

Brazilian GP gives Red Bull the advantage as Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar reach podium

The Brazilian Grand Prix represented one of Red Bull’s most convincing performances during the closing stages of the 2026 championship.

Max Verstappen produced an impressive recovery drive, climbing from 21st on the starting grid to second place. Achieving that result at a demanding circuit such as Interlagos required not only driving ability but also a car capable of sustaining competitive race pace.

Isack Hadjar’s third-place finish was equally significant for understanding Red Bull’s overall performance. The French driver’s podium demonstrated that the team’s strong result was not solely dependent on Max Verstappen’s ability to recover positions.

With both drivers on the podium, Red Bull collected 33 points in a single weekend and demonstrated a level of competitiveness that Ferrari could not match in Brazil.

Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton finished eighth and ninth respectively in the classification updated following penalties, leaving Ferrari with just six points.

The contrast was particularly revealing. When a team can put both cars in contention for major results, it suggests that its technical package provides a strong competitive foundation.

Nevertheless, Red Bull’s improvement cannot automatically be attributed to one component. What the Brazilian weekend demonstrated was that the team had recovered a more effective performance balance than during certain earlier stages of the season.

Ferrari’s biggest problem remains consistent race performance

Ferrari’s situation is more complicated because its car has already demonstrated the ability to compete and deliver important results during the 2026 campaign.

The 39 points scored in Singapore, followed by 30 in both Austin and Mexico, demonstrate that the team’s competitive potential has not disappeared. The difficulty lies in reproducing that performance consistently across different circuits and conditions.

At Interlagos, Ferrari struggled particularly with tyre management and maintaining race pace. Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were unable to challenge for the leading positions, while Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar capitalised on Red Bull’s competitiveness.

Several technical factors require consideration, including tyre temperatures, pressures, car balance and the SF-26’s behaviour under different track conditions. The technical problems behind Ferrari’s Brazilian Grand Prix performance illustrate how these weaknesses affected the team’s competitiveness.

Those explanations are important, but they cannot automatically become excuses. A team with world championship ambitions must be capable of responding to changing race conditions rather than relying on everything working perfectly.

Managing difficult weekends and limiting the damage when the car is outside its ideal operating conditions are essential requirements for championship contenders. Ferrari must determine why it has struggled to achieve that consistency.

Ferrari vs Red Bull: Why chassis and engine power do not explain everything

The technical comparison between Ferrari and Red Bull cannot be reduced to deciding which team has the better chassis or the more powerful engine.

The 2026 Formula 1 regulations introduced a different technical balance, with electrical energy management and the way that energy is deployed throughout a lap playing fundamental roles in overall performance.

Aerodynamic efficiency, drag, tyre management and the integration between chassis and power unit all contribute to a car’s competitiveness. It would therefore be misleading to attribute Red Bull’s recent improvement entirely to its chassis. Equally, Ferrari’s difficulties cannot be explained solely through an assumed engine power deficit.

A Formula 1 car can gain competitiveness through improvements in aerodynamic balance, more effective tyre usage or better optimisation of its available electrical energy.

Evaluating those possibilities requires data, telemetry and comparisons across different circuits. The broader relationship between the two constructors can be explored through the Ferrari versus F1 rivals statistics.

Brazil showed that Red Bull had a highly effective package, but the result alone cannot establish which technical component was primarily responsible for its performance improvement.

Updated F1 Constructors’ Championship: Ferrari leads Red Bull by 95 points

Despite Red Bull’s impressive Brazilian Grand Prix, Ferrari retains a substantial advantage in the 2026 Constructors’ Championship.

Ferrari remains second with 510 points, while Red Bull occupies third with 415. The difference is still 95 points, meaning the championship standings do not suggest that Red Bull is on the verge of overtaking the Scuderia.

However, the recent points trend deserves attention. Including the Brazilian Grand Prix, Red Bull has accumulated 117 points across the last four races, compared with Ferrari’s 105.

In other words, Ferrari entered Brazil having outscored Red Bull by 15 points in the preceding three races. Red Bull then recovered 27 points in a single weekend, reversing the four-race balance and establishing a 12-point advantage over that period.

That does not erase Ferrari’s strong results in Singapore, Austin and Mexico. However, it is a warning that the team’s championship position should not obscure its recent performance difficulties.

Red Bull’s progress leaves Ferrari facing an important test in Las Vegas

The impression emerging from the latest episode of A Ruota Libera is that Ferrari and Red Bull are experiencing different phases of their respective seasons.

Red Bull appears to have found a more effective technical direction, with a car capable of delivering strong performances through both drivers. Max Verstappen’s recovery and Isack Hadjar’s podium at Interlagos provide concrete indications of that competitiveness.

Ferrari, meanwhile, continues to alternate convincing results with weekends in which its limitations become particularly damaging. Its potential to compete remains evident, but converting that potential into greater regularity is an unresolved challenge.

It would be premature to declare Red Bull definitively superior to Ferrari on the basis of a single Grand Prix. The 95-point difference in the Constructors’ Championship demonstrates that their overall seasons have developed very differently. However, the championship standings are not the only measure of a team’s progress. The direction of technical development and the ability to deliver results under different conditions are also important indicators.

For Maranello, the immediate question is whether Ferrari can respond or whether Red Bull will continue reducing the gap during the final races of 2026.

The 2026 Las Vegas Grand Prix will provide another important test of the two teams’ relative competitiveness. Ferrari will need to demonstrate that its Brazilian difficulties were not the beginning of a wider downturn, while Red Bull will be looking to maintain its recent momentum.

Interlagos has brought the Ferrari-Red Bull comparison into sharper focus. Las Vegas could help establish whether the Brazilian result was an isolated episode or the beginning of a different competitive phase in the closing stages of the championship.