Ferrari will be pleased with how their first week of running ahead of the 2026 Formula 1 season went, with Lewis Hamilton topping the timing sheets late on.
Lewis Hamilton’s reported fastest lap is likely to have no bearing on where Ferrari sit in the pecking order once they reach Melbourne, but it will give the team in Maranello a welcome boost after a tricky 2025 campaign.
Although the test at the Circuit de Catalunya took place behind closed doors, photos of every car that took part in the five days of action have become available.
This has allowed initial analysis of each team’s newest creations to start, with some of Ferrari’s rivals already seeing the downside of Hamilton’s car.
Hamilton had a spin during one of his outings in the SF-26, but that’s not unusual at this stage of proceedings.
Max Verstappen briefly ended up in the gravel on his first lap in Red Bull’s new car, while his new teammate, Isack Hadjar, had a much bigger crash on Tuesday.
F1 technical expert Craig Scarborough has taken a closer look at Hamilton’s machine and admired the ‘super aggressive’ design they’ve launched with, while also sending a warning to Fred Vasseur about how it might impact both drivers.
Ferrari warned 2026 suspension could lead to Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc issues
Scarborough was speaking on Peter Windsor’s YouTube channel, and when asked to analyse the SF-26, he said: “We’ve seen teams such as Ferrari and Mercedes that have got these obviously undercut side pods that redirect air through to this slot, but we’ve seen a number of other teams that have got maybe more conventional side pods that seem to still be using this solution.
“It’s so hard with Ferrari, isn’t it? I think we’ve jumped on a Ferrari bandwagon many times in pre-season.
“Looking at the car, I would say that they’ve been surprisingly aggressive for what they’ve been describing as a spec A car that’s going to change a lot in the run-up to the first few races.
“Ferrari have got this diffuser slot, they’ve changed their front suspension to copy very much what McLaren were running last year with the multi-link lower arms, which will have a huge benefit in grip and tyre performance.
“With Ferrari, I think you can look at the car and go, well, the car’s looking great.
“You can say that the power unit seems to be performing on track. Nothing but positive noises coming out of that.
“The danger Ferrari have got is that they fall into the same trap as McLaren did last year, and that the suspension system works in theory, but if it doesn’t gel with one or both of the drivers, then you’re going to have problems.
“And we know that both drivers struggled with the feel of that car last year.”
How Ferrari can avoid falling into the same trap as McLaren last season
Ferrari will be delighted if they can replicate the success that McLaren enjoyed in 2025.
Lando Norris is now a world champion, and Oscar Piastri only needs six more victories to become the Australian with the most wins in F1 history.
However, Norris adopted a suspension tweak that Piastri never used midway through the season, which made his car more drivable.
It coincided with the British driver suddenly gaining more confidence in his car and overturning the deficit to his teammate on his way to the championship.
Ferrari will want to avoid any internal conflict between Hamilton and Charles Leclerc if they end up in a similar position.
Vasseur’s team are planning to bring a more developed car to Bahrain for the next two tests, which bodes well considering the baseline they’ve already set.
However, maintaining unity between Hamilton and Leclerc is going to be essential to avoid more problems arising in 2026.