Ferrari closes another season of highs and lows, with more doubts than certainties heading into 2026. It was supposed to be the year of revival, the year of continuity after encouraging signs, but the reality shows a team still searching for its identity. Between technical experiments, management decisions and a rapidly improving McLaren, Ferrari once again finds itself chasing.
Davide Valsecchi, in the interview given to Fanpage.it, summed up the sentiment of many fans: disappointment and bewilderment. “Seeing McLaren’s second half of the season last year, during the winter I said: ‘McLaren will dominate’. Their project looked like the most solid one.”
“But Ferrari was right behind them, I don’t understand why this year they ended up disappointing me so much. They got something wrong in the winter when they modified the car and created an enormous amount of confusion for themselves.”
Harsh words that strike at the heart of Maranello. According to Valsecchi, Ferrari took the wrong path at the very moment when stability and long-term vision were needed. The comparison with McLaren, which in a short time went from chasing to setting the benchmark, highlights how Ferrari’s technical project became bogged down in incoherent choices.
But it is not just the car. Internal management has also contributed to the climate of uncertainty. “Mid-season they wanted to fire Fred Vasseur, then they renewed him, then they changed many people. Usually, when there is a regulation change, the most stable team should nail the future. Right now it doesn’t seem like the calmest team to me. I hope they pull off a miracle in the winter, but I wouldn’t bet a lot of money on Ferrari being the strongest car next year.”
His judgement is clear and worrying: with only a few months left until the new 2026 regulations, Ferrari still appears trapped by its own structural mistakes. The technical direction is unconvincing, the management is shaky, and the competition is flying. For Davide Valsecchi, a deep rebuild is needed: because if 2025 was a missed opportunity, a mistake in 2026 risks condemning Ferrari to another five-year ordeal.
