That expectations in Maranello were different on the eve of the championship is certainly no secret. Ferrari arrived at the starting line of the 2025 season with one eye already on 2026, but with a driver pairing—Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton—ready to bring back to Maranello the title that was only narrowly missed last year.
The track, at least in the early part of the 2025 Formula 1 season, instead revealed all the difficulties of a car—the SF-25—that has been almost entirely redesigned compared to its predecessor. A choice that sparked much debate, given the strong competitiveness shown by the SF-24 especially at the end of last season, but which, according to Ferrari’s engineers, was the only viable path.
Ferrari at a crossroads
Ferrari thus arrives at the Barcelona weekend facing a major dilemma: to already focus on 2026 or continue to believe in the 2025 Formula 1 project? The drivers themselves addressed the issue during Thursday’s press conference at Montmeló.
“It doesn’t depend on me. I think in some way we are already working on next year’s car. In 2026, the championship will be much more open, unlike what’s happening this season, where it will be much harder to win. Anyway, it’s not over yet, let’s see how this weekend goes,” said Lewis Hamilton.
“The difference between 2025 and 2026 will be really big, so I don’t think there’s a risk of carrying over the same problems we are facing now. The cars will have a fundamentally different concept. So no, I don’t think that if we fail to solve our current problems, we won’t have a chance to start strong next year. We’re still fully focused on this season to try to improve and understand how to make the car better,” said Charles Leclerc.
Leave a Reply