Saying goodbye to a season full of dissatisfaction and thinking about F1 2026. For Ferrari this is the best news of December 31st. La Rossa has done and is doing everything to be a protagonist in the next regulatory era, focusing, straight by straight, on different technical concepts that can support the longed-for desire: to return to the top. Let’s see what it is about in this explanatory summary.
Goodbye 2025, a failing season that demands a precise redemption
Looking to the future, the question is the following: will the Prancing Horse be able to break that vicious circle that has been inhabiting its mind for years? The regulatory change upon us represents yet another opportunity for redemption and it’s a good thing, but at the same time a relentless test. On the other hand, if the new project were to present itself in the wrong way, the risk of falling back into instability would be real.
Vasseur has not fully convinced himself, unable, at least until now, to deliver all the promises that the fans anxiously await. Management stability is needed to set in motion a finally victorious cycle. Just watch others win: it’s not the role the Red was born for in the now distant November 16, 1929, when a group of ambitious workers directed by Enzo managed the Alfa Romeo racing department.
The 2025 world championship has once again exposed the fragility of a team: problematic single-seaters, misplaced communication and a lot of disappointment on the track. Yet another emotional fracture, even before technique. Hamilton did not settle into a major psychophysical abyss. Leclerc kept things going with a lot of commitment, although even in his case the disenchantment with what could have been and wasn’t certainly exists.
The new rules offer very interesting circumstances, because we start from scratch, from a blank sheet of paper, where designing a project in the correct way and which can meet expectations is entirely possible. There’s little time left, less than a month, until we “don’t see” the Red team’s first run on the track. Yes, because the Barcelona tests will be behind closed doors and we will have to wait for Bahrain to understand. And in the meantime, what filters out of Maranello?
Ferrari 2026: outwash effect and dynamic camber
Chatting with several Formula 1 technicians, we received confirmation on the importance that the car body will have in aerodynamic management. Items like the front wing will be crucial to start the aerodynamic work correctly, but we know that the sidepod area is where much of the work necessary to optimize the swirling structure of future single-seaters is concentrated.
The Italian team has worked intensively in this area developing targeted concepts to maximize the overall efficiency of the car. On the other hand, the area in question is considered decisive by Ferrari for generating the outwash effect and partially compensating for the aerodynamic losses imposed by the FIA regulations. Ditto for the undercut region, which helps create high local pressure and push the flow outward.
Then there is the matter of the front suspension. The department dedicated to vehicle dynamics, according to what we have learned, has studied a lot controlled flexion concept on the first link of the upper triangle, which automatically, if managed in the best way, involves a change in the overall stiffness of the suspension. Objective? Ferrari wants to obtain a dynamic variation in camber recovery at certain speeds.
Controlling these parameters allows you to modulate the suspension according to the behavior of the tyres, optimizing grip and stability in particular driving conditions. Establishing the correct camber angle is always a compromise between several contrasting balances: combination of stiffness, anisotropic bending and management of variable loads. It is hoped that the work carried out will show effectiveness.
Ferrari 2026: the central tires in the project, a lot of satisfaction with the engine
The other two themes on which the Maranello team spent a lot of time rThey look at the tires and engine. And it couldn’t be otherwise for two reasons. The first concerns the inability of the latest cars forged in Maranello to fully exploit the work of the compounds, which as we know will change, and knowing how to use them well will make all the difference in the world as regards the car’s ability to perform.
Loic Serra pushed hard on this prerogative that the new Rossa must necessarily possess. The other macro-topic concerns the power unit. Net of Mercedes’ possible advantage regarding the compression ratio, they told us that in Via Abetone Inferiore 4 there is a lot of confidence in the Italian engineboth as regards the endothermic part and for the hybrid system in the recovery of kinetic energy.
Ultimately it should be remembered that the technical director of the Modena team wanted to give a very aggressive approach to the Ferrari 678 project. Fear was put aside by keeping one fact in mind: doing the homework without risks can give life to a good car, which however is not capable of winning. And since this last word is tattooed in the minds of Ferrari fans, the only way forward was this.
Ferrari has precise ideas, it remains to be seen whether it will be able to put them on the track in the correct way
Spoiler alert: the article in question is not saying that the Red team has already won the world championship or that it is rightfully among the favourites. The sum of this information is nothing more than news for find out a little more about the new Italian carwhich, until it takes to the track in the pre-season tests, between Barcelona and Bahrain, will not be able to confirm the good sensations that technicians and engineers have at the moment.
The lower the margin of error, the higher the yield. It is often argued that since the individuals who build the car have not changed, the result will hardly change. A logic that the Italian team wants to deny, towards a regulatory cycle where the Prancing Horse wants to be the protagonist. Let’s see. In the meantime: goodbye 2025 and welcome 2026…
Authors and make: Zand Arcari – @berrageiz – Niccolo Arnerich – @niccoloarnerich
Images: Scuderia Ferrari – F1Tv
