Ivan Capelli has questioned Ferrari’s strategic approach in 2026, arguing that it is unusual to see Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc accept identical team decisions without pushing for alternative strategies. The former Formula 1 driver also delivered a broader assessment of Ferrari’s season, saying the SF-26 has never arrived at a Grand Prix as the clear car to beat, even on weekends when the Scuderia eventually won.
Capelli, who experienced Formula 1 first as a driver and later as a commentator, returned to official commentary duties during the Bahrain Grand Prix held in Malaysia after a nine-year absence. Speaking to Fanpage.it afterwards, he discussed Ferrari’s tyre strategy, the challenges of racing in heavy rain, Red Bull’s resurgence and Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s increasingly strong position in the Drivers’ Championship.
Ivan Capelli reflects on his Formula 1 commentary return
Asked whether he had noticed the warm reaction from fans following his return to the commentary booth, Ivan Capelli admitted that the response had meant a great deal to him.
“Obviously it pleased me, because it means that what was done in the past left a mark. More than 20 years of commentary have not been forgotten, and that is nice. Returning officially with Carlo [Vanzini] made me very happy. It was certainly a demanding comeback with a race that lasted an incredibly long time. I had to get back into the rhythm of commentary, it was a long marathon, but I enjoyed myself.”
The Malaysian race was particularly intense and Ferrari immediately found itself in difficulty because of its tyre choice. The weekend later became another important talking point around the team’s strategy, with Lewis Hamilton subsequently confirming that discussions would take place within Ferrari after the failed Sepang tyre call.
Ivan Capelli admitted that he had initially been influenced by the same television images of the circuit surface.
“I was taken in by those images as well, looking at the asphalt, and I thought it was the right choice. Evidently the water was penetrating this rough surface. McLaren fell into the same trap as well.”
Why Ferrari and McLaren did not split their strategies
One of the most striking elements was that neither Ferrari nor McLaren chose to differentiate the strategies between their two drivers. Asked why teams increasingly appear reluctant to split their approaches, Ivan Capelli suggested that the desire to avoid disadvantaging one driver is playing an important role.
“What is surprising is that both McLaren and Ferrari – although generally this also applies to Mercedes and Red Bull – did not differentiate their strategies. There is little desire to penalise one of the two drivers when you have a 50 per cent chance of choosing the right or wrong option. The choice is always uniform. At that point, either you get it right or you get it wrong. It seems clear to me that there is no longer the desire to differentiate the strategy.”
That approach has obvious implications at Ferrari, where any decision that gives either Lewis Hamilton or Charles Leclerc a clear strategic advantage could easily create internal controversy. The season-long comparison between the two can be followed through the Charles Leclerc vs Lewis Hamilton F1 head-to-head statistics.
Ivan Capelli surprised Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc do not push back
Ivan Capelli believes modern teams are increasingly reluctant to create internal conflict, but he was particularly struck by the willingness of the drivers themselves to accept that situation.
“They do not want to create disagreements within the team. The decision is made that way and that is how it is. What is unusual, though, is that the drivers accept this situation. Nobody rebels and says: ‘I want to do something different, let me do it.’ When I was racing, we had the opportunity to decide. Today everyone has an enormous amount of data, but there is also a huge amount of discussion with the engineers and perhaps the driver no longer has the opportunity to impose his own will.”
The issue adds another dimension to Ferrari’s ongoing effort to improve its strategic execution after Sepang, with both drivers forced to operate within a highly data-driven decision-making structure.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli has a major advantage in the F1 title fight
Attention then turned to Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who left Malaysia with an 84-point advantage over George Russell and an increasingly comfortable position in the championship.
“Everything seems to be going Kimi’s way. He has achieved wonderful victories at iconic circuits such as Monte Carlo and Monza. Even when he has to drive defensively, as in Malaysia, he understood that it was difficult to stay ahead of Max Verstappen and still managed to score important points.”
Ivan Capelli noted that once Max Verstappen was ahead, Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s immediate objective became finishing in front of George Russell. The Mercedes team-mate then retired, further strengthening the Italian’s championship position.
“Now it is obvious that he has a big advantage, 84 points over George Russell, and that means he can approach these final races with great comfort. To paraphrase what Carlo [Vanzini] always says about Charles Leclerc, this year Andrea Kimi Antonelli is a bit of the ‘predestined one’. Kimi looks like the real predestined one.”
The Italian’s remarkable progression has become one of the defining stories of 2026, with his growing championship position also reflected in his rapidly expanding Formula 1 record haul.
Why younger F1 drivers may adapt more easily to new regulations
Ivan Capelli also believes the younger generation has benefited from having less memory of previous Formula 1 machinery, making it easier for drivers such as Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Isack Hadjar, Arvid Lindblad and Oliver Bearman to adapt their driving styles.
“The young drivers are growing. In addition to Kimi, Isack Hadjar, Arvid Lindblad and Oliver Bearman are also doing well. They have less memory of what existed in the past, so they are less conditioned when it comes to changing their driving style slightly or doing something that might seem unnatural.”
“Working with all these tools also helps. There is driver coaching, where you analyse every single corner, then there is the simulator and there is an enormous amount of data. They also have a more open mentality compared with drivers from the past, who basically thought only about pushing the accelerator as much as possible.”
Why Formula 1 races are delayed in heavy rain
The conversation also addressed one of the major talking points from Malaysia: why modern Formula 1 racing is so frequently delayed when heavy rain arrives.
According to Ivan Capelli, the explanation is fundamentally linked to how dramatically safety standards have evolved.
“That is a good question. Everything is connected to the increased focus on safety. In our time, we were simply sent out onto the circuit without the slightest attention. When I raced, and that was not a century ago, we had what you could call a little rain light, a small light with only a few volts that appeared through the cloud of spray.”
“You were driving almost blind and taking incredible risks. Today safety is considered from every possible angle.”
Asked whether safety was therefore the fundamental reason for the delays, he confirmed that the entire approach to wet-weather racing has changed.
“Yes. Safety is the basis of everything, and that applies to the drivers, the cars, the circuit and also the marshals who come to help you. Today everything is evaluated differently. Of course, it takes away a little of the poetry. You lose some of the thrill and suspense that came with racing in the rain. In the past we were simply thrown into the battle; today the considerations are much broader.”
Ivan Capelli impressed by Andrea Kimi Antonelli in the wet
At the same time, Ivan Capelli believes wet races still reveal the drivers capable of adapting most quickly when conditions become unpredictable.
“The Malaysian race showed that once you have variables that cannot be controlled, from the intensity of the rain to the condition of the track, the talented drivers – those who can interpret the situation immediately – make the difference.”
He pointed specifically to the opening laps involving Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Max Verstappen and George Russell.
“Those laps, when he immediately found the limit of the car, show how much this young driver has grown. Kimi was exceptional. He was not intimidated and he made no mistakes. It was a deadly trap, the worst possible start for him, yet he managed to maximise everything. I was impressed watching this young driver confirm that he is a phenomenon.”
How Formula 1’s wet-weather mentality has changed
Ivan Capelli acknowledged that comparisons between modern Formula 1 and the eras of Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher inevitably influence how older generations perceive today’s championship.
“Those who remember the 1980s and 1990s, those wonderful periods when there were drivers such as Ayrton Senna or Michael Schumacher, and who have grey hair – or no hair, like me – have a major flaw. Unfortunately, we compare everything with that era because that is the experience we come from.”
“We think about the manual gearbox, double-declutching and the V12 engine. Drivers born in this millennium know that the gearbox is controlled from the steering wheel. They do not know what a clutch in these cars or a manual gearbox was like. So they understand Formula 1 in its current form and accept it for what it is. That is how they know it and how they discovered it. We make the comparison, and that comparison always leaves us with a slightly bitter feeling.”
Red Bull’s recent progress is more than just Max Verstappen’s win
Ivan Capelli also believes Red Bull’s improvement over recent races goes beyond Max Verstappen’s victory in Malaysia.
“What should be underlined is that despite losing important figures, including Adrian Newey and soon Jonathan Wheatley, who will go to Audi, we are talking about decisive figures, Red Bull has managed to rebuild a group, rediscover itself, make important developments and take major steps forward.”
“They have done that by continuing with the core group of engineers and placing Max Verstappen at the centre of this process. He is the key figure.”
Ivan Capelli expects the four-time world champion to remain highly influential throughout the closing races, potentially affecting the title contest even if Red Bull itself is no longer the main championship contender.
“From now until the end of the season, I really think Max Verstappen will become Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s great ally because he will always be there in the middle, taking points away from George Russell. That could be the big development of the end of the season, with Red Bull consistently challenging Mercedes.”
Could Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Max Verstappen become F1’s next major rivalry?
The prospect of a future direct battle between Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Max Verstappen is already generating considerable interest.
“We are all already saying it. For Formula 1, it would be a great contest between two outstanding drivers, two friends at the moment, because Max Verstappen and Kimi respect each other a lot.”
“That is while waiting to have other drivers such as Charles Leclerc or Lando Norris fighting with them as well, so that we can have an increasingly exciting battle. In general, after Kimi’s five consecutive victories effectively ‘killed the championship’, there has been more balance, and that balance would be the objective for next season.”
Ferrari has never arrived with the clear car to beat in 2026
Ferrari remains second in the Constructors’ Championship and has won two races, but Ivan Capelli believes the deeper problem is that the team has never produced a weekend in which the SF-26 immediately established itself as clearly superior to its rivals.
“What can be highlighted is that there has never been a Grand Prix, not even the ones Ferrari won, where the team arrived at the circuit and demonstrated that it was one step ahead of everyone else.”
“Even in those races, where they themselves said they had a performance deficit, they were always chasing the others. That has been Ferrari’s weak point. Even at circuits where we expected something important, such as Monte Carlo or Hungary, Ferrari did not arrive with the car everyone had to beat.”
That assessment reflects the broader performance picture of the season, which can be examined through Ferrari’s comparison with its Formula 1 rivals.
Ivan Capelli identifies an intrinsic weakness in Ferrari’s 2026 project
Asked why Ferrari’s season has developed in this way, Ivan Capelli argued that there is no single problem that can easily explain everything.
“This year’s project has an intrinsic weakness that has meant the engine, power unit and chassis have never combined to produce a circuit where Ferrari could really make the difference.”
He contrasted that with Red Bull’s performance in Malaysia, where it was already apparent on Friday that Max Verstappen’s car had something extra.
“Ferrari has never had a race like that. Instead, the team is always chasing, searching for a gamble, looking for an idea, taking a risk and rolling the dice, as it did on Sunday. Sometimes you get it right, but many other times you end up paying the price.”
The underlying balance between chassis performance and power unit limitations has become one of Ferrari’s most important technical questions, particularly after Lewis Hamilton acknowledged that Ferrari’s rivals had followed some of its innovations while a power deficit remained.
Ivan Capelli rates Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc among F1’s strongest pairings
Despite the difficulties of the SF-26, Ivan Capelli remains highly positive about Ferrari’s driver line-up of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.
“They are two top-level drivers. They both have very strong characters, they have great determination and they never want to give up. Perhaps Ferrari is the strongest team overall when you look at the complete pairing.”
“What both of them have lacked is the opportunity to have a weekend with the best car. Instead, they have always been chasing and trying to find a compromise.”
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