“Mercedes have done a fantastic job, they’re unreachable now.” Lewis Hamilton’s words summed up much of the frustration surrounding his retirement in Madrid, but also another Formula 1 season that Ferrari, barring an unpredictable and increasingly difficult turnaround, will most likely have to finish without the world championship that matters most: the Drivers’ title. The last Ferrari driver to achieve that feat was Kimi Raikkonen in 2007.
Beyond that long drought, Ferrari’s 2026 title hopes suffered another major blow in Spain. Lewis Hamilton, the Ferrari driver who was mathematically closest to the championship lead, was stopped by a technical brake problem that caused his first retirement of the season. The circumstances were symbolic on several levels: the seven-time world champion’s first zero of 2026 coincided with Kimi Antonelli’s victory, a result that effectively cleared the way for the Italian towards his first Formula 1 title.
Crucially, Lewis Hamilton’s retirement was not caused by a driving error. It was a reliability problem, with Ferrari subsequently investigating the cause of the Madrid brake failure. The setback reinforced the impression that Ferrari is still struggling to maximise the performance and qualities of the SF-26 consistently enough to turn its potential into victories throughout an entire race weekend.
Ferrari’s 2026 title hopes hit hard across four crucial races
Lewis Hamilton is now 101 points behind the championship leader, a deficit that is practically impossible to recover over the remaining races. Just as significant is the way that gap has been created during four Grands Prix where, on paper, Ferrari should have had some of its best opportunities: Budapest, Zandvoort, Monza and Madrid. Kimi Antonelli’s expanding advantage has increasingly changed the championship picture, with the wider Mercedes situation also reflected in the battle surrounding Kimi Antonelli’s championship lead.
At Zandvoort, there had been hope that the twisting circuit on the North Sea coast would emphasise Ferrari’s agility through the corners. It did not happen. Instead, McLaren capitalised on the circuit characteristics, just as it had done at Budapest in the previous race, again with Lando Norris.
At Monza, Ferrari introduced the ADUO 2 engine specification, which was expected to provide an extra boost and help the team defend more effectively against Mercedes. Once again, it was not enough. Even Kimi Antonelli’s huge penalty failed to provide Ferrari with the expected opportunity, as the Italian recovered all the way to victory while the Ferrari drivers clashed with each other between Turns 1 and 2 and Charles Leclerc eventually ended up in the barriers at the Parabolica.
Madrid then brought another race without a podium at a circuit that Ferrari had internally identified as particularly favourable. Charles Leclerc spent part of the Grand Prix in the lead while waiting to make his pit stop, before ultimately handing the advantage back to Kimi Antonelli. Ferrari was left regretting the fact that a Safety Car never appeared, although such an intervention would effectively have represented a major wildcard rather than something on which the team could realistically rely.
Ferrari turns one eye towards 2027 as priorities change
So what happens now? Ferrari once again has to recover from a difficult weekend and establish clear priorities for the races still to come, while uncertainty remains over what will happen with Qatar and Abu Dhabi. The remaining events and their place in the schedule can be followed through the 2026 Formula 1 calendar.
“We’re not in the same situation as 12 months ago,” team principal Fred Vasseur said. “Today, what we develop can be carried directly over to next year’s project, so we’ll continue to work and push, with 80% of the components transferable.”
That does not mean Ferrari is abandoning the 2026 season. Instead, the championship situation is now inevitably pushing the team towards defending second place in the Constructors’ Championship while also trying to challenge for second position in the Drivers’ standings. At the same time, considerably more attention must be paid to the 2027 project.
The reasoning behind continuing to work on the current car is that much of that development can still contribute directly to Ferrari’s future package. Fred Vasseur has already explained why SF-26 development remains relevant to Ferrari’s 2027 car, allowing Maranello to pursue performance now without treating every improvement as work that will be discarded at the end of the season.
The 2027 campaign will be the second season of this technical cycle, and Ferrari needs it to produce a decisive step forward.
McLaren and Red Bull return as Ferrari struggles for complete weekends
Ferrari supporters will continue to hope, but it is increasingly difficult not to detect an element of resignation in the broader discussion around the team. For one reason or another, Ferrari continues to struggle to bring together all the ingredients required to win races consistently.
After Madrid, Fred Vasseur and Charles Leclerc both spoke about the lack of qualifying speed. That is far from a minor detail because starting too far down the grid inevitably influences the entire course of a Grand Prix. On top of that came the reliability problem with Lewis Hamilton’s braking system.
Looking further back, Lewis Hamilton’s comments after Monza also remain significant. The seven-time world champion expressed frustration over Fred Vasseur’s decision not to impose team orders, which would evidently have meant prioritising Lewis Hamilton. The episode and the subsequent Ferrari team-orders debate involving Lewis Hamilton left the impression of a lack of complete calm within the team during a particularly delicate phase of both the race weekend and the championship.
There is also the broader competitive trend to consider. Ferrari had been the second force behind Mercedes and, at times, even appeared capable of something more. As the season progressed, however, McLaren made a powerful comeback. The team was extremely quick in Madrid and Lando Norris missed out on victory partly because of considerable bad luck.
Red Bull has also returned to contention. With Max Verstappen, the team is once again capable of causing serious problems both in qualifying and in the race, despite the RB22 being regarded as the fourth-fastest car. Mercedes, meanwhile, remains consistently strong and capable of performing at a high level at almost every circuit. The shifting competitive picture can also be explored through ScuderiaFans’ Ferrari vs F1 Rivals statistics.
Second in the constructors becomes Ferrari’s immediate objective
Fred Vasseur has repeatedly stressed that Ferrari must neither become carried away when it wins nor allow itself to become discouraged during difficult periods. There is no doubt that the team will continue fighting, particularly with races such as Baku, Singapore, Austin and Las Vegas still capable of producing unexpected opportunities.
Baku will provide the next major test, although Ferrari already faces a demanding Azerbaijan Grand Prix outlook for the SF-26. Ferrari will still search for individual breakthroughs during the closing phase of the championship, but the overall priorities are becoming increasingly clear.
The reality is that, at this stage of the season and with the standings taking their present shape, beginning to devote more energy to planning for 2027 is rapidly becoming a necessity. At the same time, Ferrari’s immediate sporting objective is increasingly centred on securing second place in the Constructors’ Championship and fighting for the highest possible positions in the Drivers’ standings.
Those were certainly not the objectives Ferrari had in mind at the beginning of the season.
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