Ferrari Vice-Chairman Piero Ferrari stopped short of predicting a world championship in 2026, despite the SF-26 appearing among the strongest cars in winter testing at Bahrain and Barcelona.
Speaking to Corriere dello Sport on Mar. 3, days before the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, the son of founder Enzo Ferrari said the scale of the 2026 technical reset makes any forecast unreliable.
“Let’s keep trying with all our might,” Ferrari said. “But with the new regulations, don’t ask me for a prediction.”
The caution comes at a significant moment. Team president John Elkann committed in 2022 that Ferrari would return to winning ways by 2026. The SF-26 impressed for reliability and pace in pre-season running, and the team has been widely labelled an early favourite alongside Mercedes. But fuel loads were hidden across the grid, and the pecking order remains genuinely unclear.
Why Ferrari ditched 2025 car early
Ferrari confirmed the team deliberately abandoned development of the 2025 car to channel resources into the SF-26. He described the 2025 predecessor as a machine born with “structural problems” that were “difficult to cure.”
The early pivot appears to have paid off in preparation, if not yet in results. They said the SF-26 was “prepared on schedule” and that he sees quality “at every level” within the organisation, comparing the team’s coordination to the “ballet of the Scala.”
He drew a historical parallel to the late 1990s era of Jean Todt and Michael Schumacher. That is the part Ferrari can control. The rest is the rule reset.
The 2026 power units demand significant energy management from drivers: how often they can deploy electrical power and how they save it through a lap. Ferrari defended the regulations against critics, including Max Verstappen, who have questioned whether the racing spectacle will suffer.
“These cars require understanding,” Ferrari said. “You need to know how to manage energy, but they are more predictable than the ground-effect cars. My father would have said, ‘They’re more honest.’ Personally, I’m convinced the show won’t suffer, on the contrary.”
What he said about Leclerc, Hamilton, and Antonelli
Ferrari was unequivocal about Charles Leclerc, calling him “very fast” and a driver who “extracts performance from any car at any time.” He said: “All we need now is the satisfaction of seeing him become world champion, because he deserves it.”
On Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari conceded the seven-time champion’s first season at Maranello in 2025 was “complicated” and “disappointing,” but described Hamilton as “profoundly different from Charles” rather than diminished.
He also offered open admiration for drivers outside the team. On Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli, Ferrari said: “It’s not forbidden to dream. Antonelli has already proven he deserves top-flight cars.” On Verstappen, he said he has followed the Dutchman since his first win in Barcelona in 2016, and that Enzo Ferrari would have appreciated his “ability to push the limits of the car.”
What comes next
The Australian Grand Prix will provide the first competitive baseline for the SF-26. Testing suggested Ferrari have built a serious car, but the stopwatch under race conditions will tell a different story than hidden fuel loads in Bahrain ever could.
