Ferrari heads into the 2026 Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps facing one of its most important technical decisions of the season. The Maranello team must find the perfect compromise for the Ferrari SF-26 between straight-line efficiency and aerodynamic downforce, with the FTM exhaust once again becoming one of the biggest talking points ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix weekend. Achieving the ideal aero-mechanical setup will be essential if Ferrari hopes to reduce its current power unit disadvantage and challenge Mercedes at one of the fastest and most demanding circuits on the Formula 1 calendar.
Every visit to Spa-Francorchamps presents engineers with a unique challenge, but the characteristics of the Ferrari SF-26 make this year’s Belgian Grand Prix particularly interesting from a technical perspective. The famous Ardennes circuit combines extremely long full-throttle sections with a demanding middle sector that rewards cars capable of generating stable aerodynamic load through high-speed corners. That combination forces every Formula 1 team to search for the ideal balance between top speed, aerodynamic efficiency and cornering performance, and Ferrari is no exception.
At the center of Ferrari’s preparations is the FTM exhaust, a solution that has become one of the defining characteristics of the Ferrari SF-26. While removing it could improve aerodynamic efficiency and increase straight-line speed, doing so would also eliminate an important source of rear downforce that has been integrated into the car since the earliest stages of its development. As a result, Ferrari engineers are approaching the Belgian Grand Prix with extreme caution, carefully evaluating every possible setup solution before committing to a final specification.
The objective remains clear. Ferrari wants to maximize the overall performance of the Ferrari SF-26, allowing Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton to extract the greatest possible potential from the car throughout the Belgian Grand Prix weekend. Achieving that goal will require every aspect of the package to work together efficiently, from the aerodynamic configuration to the suspension setup, tire behavior and power unit performance.
SF-26 setup evaluations ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix
Ferrari arrives at the Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix with several reasons for confidence. One of the biggest positives is the growing belief that the Ferrari SF-26 is fundamentally a very competitive racing car whenever it operates inside its relatively narrow performance window. Over the course of the 2026 Formula 1 season, the strengths and weaknesses of the Italian challenger have become increasingly clear, providing Ferrari engineers with a much better understanding of how to unlock its full potential.
The Ferrari SF-26 has consistently demonstrated excellent performance through medium- and low-speed corners, areas where Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton have often been able to match or even outperform their closest rivals. The car’s mechanical grip and traction remain among its strongest characteristics, allowing both Ferrari drivers to accelerate effectively on corner exit and generate competitive lap times whenever the balance is optimized correctly.
Another encouraging development concerns tire management. Compared to the opening races of the Formula 1 season, Ferrari has made meaningful progress in understanding how to manage tire degradation over both qualifying and race stints. Although further improvements are still required before consistently matching the benchmark established by Mercedes, the overall trend has been positive and provides additional optimism heading into Spa-Francorchamps.
Nevertheless, the Belgian Grand Prix demands a very specific aero-mechanical setup unlike almost any other race on the Formula 1 calendar. Spa-Francorchamps rewards efficiency on its famous straights while simultaneously requiring substantial aerodynamic load through the fast and flowing corners of Sector Two. Finding the correct compromise is therefore considerably more complex than simply selecting a low-downforce or high-downforce package.
Recent Formula 1 weekends have repeatedly demonstrated how decisive setup work has become. Throughout the season, Ferrari has shown that the difference between an excellent weekend and a disappointing one often depends on whether the Ferrari SF-26 is operating within its ideal setup window. When Ferrari succeeds in identifying the correct balance, the car has repeatedly demonstrated its ability to challenge Mercedes over a single qualifying lap and, in certain circumstances, even outperform its German rival.
Charles Leclerc has frequently extracted outstanding qualifying performances whenever the Ferrari SF-26 responds positively to setup changes, while Lewis Hamilton’s extensive experience has provided valuable feedback that continues to help Ferrari engineers improve the overall package. The collaboration between the two Ferrari drivers has become one of the team’s greatest strengths during the development process.
Race pace over longer distances, however, still exposes Ferrari’s biggest weakness. Although the Ferrari SF-26 remains highly competitive through technical sections, the power unit continues to leave the team with a noticeable deficit compared to Mercedes during sustained race conditions. This limitation becomes particularly significant at Spa-Francorchamps, where several long periods of full-throttle running place enormous importance on engine performance, energy deployment and aerodynamic efficiency.
The Belgian Grand Prix therefore represents another important opportunity for Ferrari to confirm the progress first observed at Silverstone. During the British Grand Prix weekend, Ferrari appeared to take a meaningful step forward in overall power unit performance and energy deployment, reducing part of the gap that had previously affected its competitiveness on circuits with long straights. Reproducing those gains at Spa-Francorchamps would significantly strengthen Ferrari’s prospects throughout the Belgian Grand Prix weekend.
The FTM exhaust remains a fundamental part of Ferrari’s aerodynamic philosophy
The possibility of removing the FTM exhaust has generated considerable discussion throughout recent Formula 1 weekends, especially after the experimental work carried out by Dino Beganovic during Ferrari’s testing program in Austria. Those evaluations immediately attracted attention because they suggested Ferrari was carefully studying alternative aerodynamic configurations for circuits where drag reduction could provide a measurable competitive advantage.
The concept itself appears relatively simple. The FTM exhaust generates additional rear downforce, improving stability and cornering performance, but it also produces additional aerodynamic drag. At first glance, removing the system for the Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix might seem like an obvious solution because Spa-Francorchamps rewards efficient cars capable of achieving very high top speeds along the Kemmel Straight and other full-throttle sections.
From a purely theoretical perspective, the reasoning makes perfect sense. By sacrificing some rear downforce, Ferrari could gain valuable aerodynamic efficiency and partially compensate for its current power unit deficit. On a circuit where every kilometer per hour counts, even relatively small reductions in drag can translate into meaningful gains over an entire lap.
However, Formula 1 engineering is rarely that straightforward.
The most important factor is that the Ferrari SF-26 was conceived around the FTM exhaust from the very beginning of its development program. This is not a component that Ferrari engineers introduced halfway through the season as a conventional upgrade to increase rear downforce. Instead, it represents one of the fundamental pillars around which the entire aerodynamic concept of the Ferrari SF-26 was originally developed.
In other words, the FTM exhaust forms part of the Ferrari SF-26’s very DNA.
The aerodynamic load generated by the system should not be viewed as an optional performance bonus that can simply be removed whenever circumstances change. Instead, it represents a permanent element of the car’s overall aerodynamic balance. Numerous other components of the Ferrari SF-26 have been optimized while assuming that the FTM exhaust would always be present, making its removal a far more complicated engineering decision than it might initially appear.
Removing the system could influence far more than simple rear downforce levels. Ferrari engineers would also need to reconsider airflow behavior beneath the floor, aerodynamic balance between the front and rear of the car, suspension settings and the overall stability of the Ferrari SF-26 during high-speed direction changes. Every modification in modern Formula 1 affects multiple areas of vehicle performance simultaneously.
This is precisely why Ferrari cannot approach the Belgian Grand Prix by focusing exclusively on straight-line speed. While Spa-Francorchamps certainly features some of the longest straights in Formula 1, it also includes one of the most technically demanding middle sectors of the entire championship.
Corners like Pouhon, together with the flowing sequences through Sector Two, require enormous aerodynamic stability. Cars capable of maintaining high levels of vertical load through these corners can carry significantly greater speed while preserving tire performance over longer race stints. That advantage can offset part of the time gained by lower drag along the straights, making the overall setup calculation considerably more complex.
For Ferrari engineers, the challenge is therefore not simply deciding whether the FTM exhaust should remain on the Ferrari SF-26. Instead, they must determine whether the benefits gained on Spa-Francorchamps’ straights are sufficient to outweigh the potential performance losses through the circuit’s demanding corners.
The experimental work completed by Dino Beganovic should therefore not be interpreted solely as preparation for the Belgian Grand Prix or even the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. Those tests formed part of a much broader data collection program designed to improve Ferrari’s understanding of how the Ferrari SF-26 behaves under different aerodynamic configurations.
The information gathered during those Formula 1 test sessions remains extremely valuable, even though the specific solution will no longer be permitted under next season’s technical regulations. The engineers in Maranello now possess a far clearer understanding of the advantages, compromises and limitations associated with the FTM exhaust configuration.
For that reason, the specification previously seen on Dino Beganovic’s car in Spielberg cannot yet be completely ruled out for the Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix. Ferrari now has enough information to make an informed decision based on real-world data rather than theoretical simulations alone. Even so, its appearance at Spa-Francorchamps remains far from guaranteed, underlining just how finely balanced Ferrari’s technical dilemma has become.
Belgian Grand Prix: Ferrari floor, Macarena rear wing and FTM exhaust will shape the SF-26 setup
While uncertainty continues to surround the possible use of the FTM exhaust, one aerodynamic update that is unlikely to appear on the Ferrari SF-26 during the Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix concerns the floor-edge area. More specifically, attention is focused on the first vertical bargeboard element, which had previously evolved into a three-element configuration before Ferrari returned to the original specification featuring a single element.
That simpler configuration was already reintroduced during the British Grand Prix weekend at Silverstone, and current indications suggest Ferrari engineers are expected to retain the same solution for Spa-Francorchamps. Rather than introducing further changes in this area, the Maranello team appears ready to focus its development efforts on other aerodynamic components that could deliver a greater overall benefit at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Among those components, the Macarena rear wing will undoubtedly attract significant attention throughout the Formula 1 weekend.
The innovative rear-wing concept has become one of Ferrari’s most closely watched technical developments of the season, not only because of its aerodynamic potential but also because similar concepts have generated considerable discussion across the Formula 1 paddock. Ferrari believes the system can contribute to improving aerodynamic efficiency without compromising the overall balance of the Ferrari SF-26, provided it operates exactly as intended.
For the Belgian Grand Prix, further refinements to the Macarena rear wing remain possible. The objective is not to revolutionize the aerodynamic package but to continue optimizing a solution that Ferrari already considers fundamentally effective. Every small gain in aerodynamic efficiency becomes particularly valuable at Spa-Francorchamps, where long periods spent at full throttle reward every reduction in drag that can be achieved without sacrificing too much downforce.
Unlike Red Bull, whose comparable concept has experienced difficulties related to the complex activation mechanism during the closing phase of the system, Ferrari’s version has demonstrated a much higher level of operational reliability.
The mechanical loads acting on this solution are extraordinarily high. During operation, the aerodynamic forces generated by a modern Formula 1 car place enormous stress on every moving component. That means the mechanism responsible for activating and returning the wing to its standard position must function with exceptional speed and absolute precision under all operating conditions.
Ferrari engineers appear confident that they have achieved precisely that.
The Ferrari system rotates the flaps relative to the trailing edge of the primary wing element. Once activated, the two aerodynamic profiles effectively rotate into an inverted position, with the trailing edges facing toward the front of the Ferrari SF-26. Although visually unusual, the mechanism reveals much about the aerodynamic philosophy adopted by the engineers in Maranello.
Contrary to several rumors that have circulated in recent weeks, Ferrari is not attempting to generate aerodynamic lift through this solution.
Instead, the objective is considerably more sophisticated. Ferrari engineers are using the system to influence the airflow beneath the floor, limiting airflow extraction in a carefully controlled manner. This allows the Ferrari SF-26 to manage its aerodynamic characteristics more effectively without fundamentally changing the overall balance of the car.
Although Red Bull’s solution shares several conceptual similarities, the Austrian team’s system has attracted increased attention from the FIA following the safety concerns experienced by Max Verstappen. Those issues have prompted closer scrutiny from Formula 1’s governing body, particularly regarding the reliability of the activation mechanism and the speed with which the wing returns to its standard operating position.
Ferrari, however, appears considerably more relaxed about the situation.
According to current indications, the Maranello team believes its own solution fully satisfies the existing Formula 1 technical regulations while simultaneously delivering the desired aerodynamic benefits. Confidence has grown even further following the latest modification to the flap actuator, an important component that contributes significantly to the overall operation and reliability of the entire system.
That improvement appears to have strengthened Ferrari’s confidence that the Macarena rear wing can continue operating exactly as intended throughout the remainder of the Formula 1 season.
This is one of the principal reasons why Ferrari does not appear particularly concerned about possible FIA intervention. While Formula 1’s governing body continues monitoring similar concepts used elsewhere in the paddock, Ferrari engineers believe their implementation remains technically compliant and mechanically reliable.
As a result, the Macarena rear wing is expected to remain one of the most fascinating technical areas to monitor during the Belgian Grand Prix weekend.
Together with the FTM exhaust, it represents one of the clearest examples of Ferrari’s determination to maximize the aerodynamic efficiency of the Ferrari SF-26 without compromising the characteristics that have made the car competitive throughout much of the 2026 Formula 1 season.
The floor, the Macarena rear wing and the FTM exhaust therefore become three of the most significant technical elements to watch throughout the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps.
Each of these components plays a different role, yet all contribute toward the same objective: helping Ferrari find the perfect compromise between straight-line speed and cornering performance.
The front wing should also be monitored closely.
Although major changes are not expected, Ferrari engineers could still introduce relatively small aerodynamic modifications to the front wing in order to adapt the Ferrari SF-26 more effectively to the unique characteristics of Spa-Francorchamps. Even subtle adjustments to the front wing can influence the aerodynamic balance of the entire car, especially on a circuit that demands exceptional precision through both high-speed corners and long full-throttle sections.
Modern Formula 1 cars are extremely sensitive to even the smallest aerodynamic changes. A modification measured in millimeters can influence airflow across multiple areas of the car, affecting tire behavior, cornering balance, straight-line efficiency and overall performance. That is precisely why Ferrari continues evaluating every detail before finalizing its Belgian Grand Prix specification.
The engineers in Maranello understand that maximizing performance at Spa-Francorchamps is not simply about producing the lowest possible drag levels. Instead, success depends on ensuring every aerodynamic surface, every suspension setting and every mechanical adjustment work together as one integrated package.
That philosophy has characterized Ferrari’s technical approach throughout the 2026 Formula 1 campaign.
Rather than searching for dramatic changes before every race weekend, Ferrari has focused on continuously refining the Ferrari SF-26 through detailed analysis, simulator work and trackside evaluation. The Belgian Grand Prix represents another opportunity to demonstrate the effectiveness of that development philosophy against one of the strongest competitors on the Formula 1 grid.
Engine performance will undoubtedly remain a decisive factor throughout the Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix.
Mercedes continues to hold an advantage in outright power, particularly across circuits featuring extended periods of full-throttle running. Ferrari’s improvements observed at Silverstone were encouraging, but Spa-Francorchamps will provide an even more demanding test of both the power unit and the team’s overall energy deployment strategy.
For Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, extracting maximum performance from the Ferrari SF-26 will therefore depend on far more than simply driving at the limit. Every lap will require precise energy management, careful tire preservation and complete confidence in the aerodynamic balance delivered by Ferrari engineers.
If Ferrari succeeds in finding the ideal compromise between efficiency and downforce, the Ferrari SF-26 has already demonstrated that it possesses the underlying pace required to challenge Mercedes over a single lap and remain competitive throughout the race. If that balance cannot be achieved, however, the long straights of Spa-Francorchamps could once again expose the limitations that Ferrari has been working to reduce over recent Formula 1 weekends.
The Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix may prove to be one of the clearest demonstrations of the Ferrari SF-26’s true competitive potential. More than almost any other circuit, Spa-Francorchamps rewards teams capable of combining aerodynamic intelligence, mechanical precision and efficient power unit management into one cohesive package.
For Ferrari, the decision surrounding the FTM exhaust is therefore about far more than a single component. It represents the challenge of preserving the aerodynamic philosophy that defines the Ferrari SF-26 while adapting the car to one of the most demanding circuits in Formula 1. Whether the Maranello team ultimately chooses to retain or temporarily remove the FTM exhaust, the final decision will be based on an extraordinarily detailed evaluation of aerodynamic performance, mechanical balance and overall efficiency.
That is why the Ferrari SF-26’s configuration for the Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps could become one of the most closely analyzed technical stories of the entire weekend, offering valuable insight into Ferrari’s development philosophy as the battle with Mercedes continues throughout the 2026 Formula 1 season.
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