Ferrari 2026: double single-seater on track for testing and debut in Melbourne

Paolo Filisetti

December 29, 2025 (changed at 6.41pm) – MILANO

We will have to be ready. The leaders of the Maranello team have said this clearly in recent months, looking at an imposing challenge like the one that will accompany Ferrari at the start of 2026 where those who have best interpreted the new technical regulations will dominate the rankings. And precisely to be ready, Fred Vasseur’s team will present itself at the pre-season tests with different versions of the same car, to best test solutions and set-ups, in a fundamental context for fine-tuning the single-seater before the initial test of the season, on 8 March in Melbourne.

new challenge

—

It will be an exciting technical challenge where each designer will try to make the most of every regulatory wrinkle to bring cars onto the track capable of surprising the competition. The idea of ​​taking concepts to extremes is not compatible with the profound changes introduced by the FIA ​​which require teams to only partially consider the experiences gained with the previous generation of cars as a starting point. The reduced time available to the teams has a significant impact on the design, especially of unconventional solutions in the various areas of the car, in terms of internal fluid dynamics, but also on the optimization of aerodynamic performance. For this reason, Fred Vasseur himself confirmed that the new Ferrari that we will see at the presentation on January 23rd and which will carry out the first scheduled test session, behind closed doors, in Barcelona, ​​will differ profoundly from the one that will then line up on the track in Melbourne for the first GP of the year. Ferrari, and it will not be the only team to do so, will therefore present two different versions of the same technical project.

the two versions

—

The first single-seater will be used above all during the closed-door tests at Montmelò to verify the functionality of the solutions in terms of packaging, fluid dynamics, but above all the entire electronic part of the power unit management. Performance will not be sought in Barcelona and therefore a standard configuration will be more than sufficient as a test bed on the track. The following two tests in Bahrain, however, will see the car take on a more definitive structure in various strategic areas at an aerodynamic level, as in the case of the nose. With the new regulation, this area constituted a critical element for all the teams, not only due to the stricter safety standards with a two-stage crash test, but also due to the impact of the active aerodynamics which required an overall rethinking of the area, to optimize the flows directed to the bottom and to the side openings, in favor of the miniaturization of the radiators. In the latest version, the latter could be positioned differently, allowing a strong tapering of the rear axle in favor of greater rear aerodynamic cleanliness. The suspensions, from the rumors leaked so far, should return to the push rod scheme both at the front and at the rear. Not so much because the adoption of the front pull rod didn’t work on the SF-25, but because the different positioning of the internal suspension elements allows for an accentuated lower tapering of the frame and a reduced section of the nose, as well as a narrower rear end at the bottom, to guarantee adequate volume for the rear diffuser. The team, followed step by step by the technical director Loic Serra, will therefore have the necessary time during the tests to evaluate the critical and growth points of the solutions brought, and present themselves in Melbourne with the certainties of those who want to amaze, and return to winning.