David Croft fears the FIA’s safety rule change has ‘hamstrung’ Ferrari’s F1 car

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David Croft says Ferrari’s smaller turbo is hurting them now that the FIA have modified F1’s race start procedure.

Ferrari made an encouraging start to the season in Australia and China. They were the only team capable of putting the dominant Mercedes under any pressure.

But in the last two races, McLaren have claimed that role instead. After Oscar Piastri’s impressive P2 in Japan, Lando Norris won the Miami Sprint and led a double podium in the Grand Prix.

Do you expect Lewis Hamilton’s top-six streak to end this weekend?

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David Croft fears Ferrari have suffered from ‘playing by the rules’

Ferrari took a design gamble with their 2026 power unit, specifically related to the turbo. They sacrificed some top speed in order to improve traction and launches.

The team realised that race starts would be far more complicated under the new regulations, something rival teams underestimated until they took to the track in pre-season.

Aware that inconsistent getaways throughout the field increased the risk of accidents, the FIA lengthened the start procedure. This gives teams more time to prepare their turbos before the start.

While Ferrari have still stormed into the lead from the second row at three out of four races, their advantage has still been reduced, and the cost of the smaller turbo in a straight line is more pronounced.

Can Ferrari still win an F1 title in 2026?

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Discussing the Scuderia ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix, Croft told Sky Sports: “I think Fred Vasseur is the right team principal for Ferrari. I think Lewis will get at least another year if he wants another year in that Ferrari seat.

“But they’ve been a bit hamstrung by playing the rules, by having that smaller turbo. They were worried about the starts and they decided the better trade-off was to go with that smaller turbo, [which] takes less time to spool up, [so they can] get off the line a bit faster.

• READ MORE: Ferrari invite F1 rivals to ‘start from the pit lane’ if they feel race starts are unsafe

“Now we’ve got this pre-start procedure, the advantage they had over the others isn’t quite as much and they’ve been a bit hamstrung by playing the rules.

“It’s not that the FIA didn’t have to do something. On safety grounds, they probably did.

‘The pressure is back on’ for Ferrari after Miami upgrades underperformed

Ferrari introduced a major upgrade for the Miami GP last time out, but they gained less than a tenth of a second, based on the race-pace data.

That was a major disappointment given the time, money and hope they invested in the package. Charles Leclerc’s late collapse saw him finish seventh in Florida, with Lewis Hamilton sixth.

It’s possible that Ferrari simply need time to optimise the new parts, and the three-week break between Miami and Canada will allow for some valuable analysis. But with only one practice session this weekend due to the Sprint format, opportunities for data-gathering are limited.

• READ MORE: Ferrari surprised by disappointing data on their upgrades after what they saw in simulations

“I think they’ll get a bit of time, but that Ferrari upgrade in Miami did not work in the way they were expecting, so the pressure’s back on them again.”

Championship leaders Mercedes are bringing their first upgrades to Canada, while McLaren will also unleash the second half of their North America package.