In Maranello, Ferrari has already made a serious misstep regarding the 2026 championship: while the team is trying to address some issues, the new Scuderia car will inevitably have to be exceptional to meet expectations.
The Maranello-based team openly stated that they halted development on the SF-25 to focus more on the 2026 car back in April. For the current car, only a rear suspension update arrived, but comments from Ferrari Team Principal Frédéric Vasseur and others may represent a mistake in light of the new regulations.
“We decided very early in the season, I believe it was the end of April, to switch to 2026. It was a difficult decision, and perhaps I underestimated the situation a little from a psychological point of view. Because then there are still 20 races left, and you know you won’t bring any aerodynamic development. This choice was shared by everyone in the team. We decided to focus the resources we had in the wind tunnel on 2026. And the drivers took part in this decision; they are fully committed to the project.”
These were the words of the Team Principal during the Qatar press conference. Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton also touched on the topic, but the communication conducted by the Maranello team has been seen as a misstep.
Nicoli: “Loads huge expectations for next year”
Stefano Nicoli explained on the Terruzzi podcast why Ferrari has put itself in an uncomfortable position. “The discussion about updates: stopping them this year and saying ‘we are focusing on the 2026 car’ only holds up to a certain point. It can work to roughly explain the current season, but it massively increases expectations for next year. Qatar was a complete disaster across the board for Ferrari, for reasons that, in my opinion, even they couldn’t fully explain. Moreover, Hamilton started from the pit lane in the Sprint in an attempt to fix the issues from qualifying, and in the end, he admitted they further worsened the car.”
Terruzzi: “The expectations for the new year are already extremely high”
Finally, Giorgio Terruzzi intervened again, criticizing Frédéric Vasseur’s leadership: “Let’s remember: in 2022 we were second in the Constructors’ Championship, and Leclerc was second under Mattia Binotto’s management. Today, however, Leclerc is fifth and Ferrari is definitively fourth in the 2025 championship,” he concluded. Expectations for the upcoming year are already very high because the Tifosi are disappointed, but the Scuderia has made yet another mistake. The Ferrari of the future will therefore inevitably have to fight for the world championship; otherwise, it remains uncertain what might happen within the team…
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