Jean Alesi believes a competitive Ferrari is providing significant added value to the 2026 Formula 1 championship, not only for the team’s passionate supporters. The former Ferrari driver praised the Scuderia after Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton delivered a strong Belgian Grand Prix performance on a circuit expected to expose the SF-26’s main weaknesses.
Ferrari emerged from Spa-Francorchamps as Mercedes’ closest challenger, with Charles Leclerc finishing second after fighting Max Verstappen and briefly dreaming of victory. Lewis Hamilton also showed encouraging pace during the race, reinforcing the impression that the Maranello team remains firmly in contention near the front.
Ferrari limits the damage at Spa-Francorchamps
Ferrari certainly defended itself well in Belgium. Federico Albano highlighted in his post-race analysis that the Scuderia had once again found an effective compromise between energy deployment and the strengths of the SF-26 chassis.
“Once again, Ferrari’s engineers found the ideal optimisation from an energy-delivery perspective, while the excellent SF-26 chassis did the rest, guaranteeing, for example, high cornering speeds through all the critical corners from an energy standpoint and helping considerably to contain the gap to Mercedes,” Federico Albano explained.
Spa-Francorchamps was expected to expose the limitations of Ferrari’s power unit, particularly in terms of energy management. However, the two SF-26 cars did not emerge heavily defeated from the weekend in the Ardennes. On the contrary, Ferrari demonstrated that it could compete effectively despite the circuit’s demanding characteristics.
A favourable Virtual Safety Car helped Charles Leclerc beat Max Verstappen in the battle for second place and even allowed the Ferrari driver to consider the possibility of victory. The wider picture was also encouraging, as Lewis Hamilton reached a stage of the race when he was faster than Charles Leclerc.
Considering both performances, Ferrari confirmed itself as the second-strongest team and remained relatively close to the Kimi Antonelli-Mercedes combination. The full story of the Scuderia’s weekend is covered in our Ferrari Belgian Grand Prix review.
Jean Alesi says competitive Ferrari strengthens Formula 1
In his customary Tuesday analysis for Corriere della Sera, Jean Alesi stressed that Ferrari’s competitiveness represents an important added value for the entire 2026 Formula 1 championship.
“Congratulations to Ferrari, competitive even on a circuit considered unfavourable,” Jean Alesi said. “The added value of this championship, not only for Ferrari fans, comes from a truly rampant Prancing Horse.”
The comments from the much-loved former Ferrari driver reflect the growing belief that the Scuderia is becoming a genuine factor in the championship battle. Ferrari’s ability to challenge on a circuit that appeared poorly suited to the SF-26 also strengthens the expectation that it could perform even better at venues with fewer energy-management demands.
The result was particularly encouraging because Ferrari believed it had opportunities to achieve even more. Charles Leclerc later explained why the team felt victory had been within reach at Spa-Francorchamps.
Ferrari turns its attention to the Hungarian Grand Prix
Anticipation is now building ahead of the Budapest weekend, the final event before Formula 1’s summer break. The Hungaroring should place less emphasis on power-unit performance than Spa, meaning Ferrari’s energy-management limitations are not expected to be as significant.
However, the Scuderia will still have to beat a highly competitive Mercedes. Kimi Antonelli has already won at Monaco, another circuit characterised by slow corners, and the Italian driver has identified low-speed performance as one of the W17’s main strengths.
Kimi Antonelli also arrives in Hungary after winning at Spa, where he managed Charles Leclerc’s pressure and extended his championship advantage. His assessment of the Belgian race and Mercedes’ challenge can be found in Kimi Antonelli’s explanation of his Spa victory.
Ferrari therefore has reasons for optimism, but Budapest will not automatically offer an easy opportunity. Charles Leclerc has already warned that Ferrari cannot simply assume the Hungaroring will suit the SF-26. The team will still need to maximise its set-up, tyre management and execution if it wants to challenge Mercedes before the summer break.
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