Ferrari are now working flat out to fix a ‘concern’ with Lewis Hamilton’s 2026 engine

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Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur is overseeing an aggressive approach in Maranello to develop Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc’s new car for the 2026 F1 regulations.

The Scuderia fell miles short of their targets during the 2025 season after Vasseur elected to switch the focus to the 2026 regulations after the opening rounds. Vasseur had started 2025 with the dream of seeing Ferrari win a title, but he quickly accepted that it was not possible.

Vasseur stopped Ferrari developing their 2025 car in April, as he did not want to waste their wind tunnel hours on aerodynamic upgrades at the expense of next term’s car. Next season sees F1 introduce its biggest regulations overhaul in history with new engine and aero rules.

Ferrari only produced one further major upgrade for the SF-25 after switching their focus to the 2026 F1 regulations. Yet Ferrari’s rear suspension update introduced in Belgium failed to fix the SF-25’s chronic ride height problems that derailed the Scuderia’s entire 2025 season.

How many Grand Prix wins would Charles Leclerc have if he drove for McLaren in the ground-effect era?

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Ferrari are working flat out to improve the reliability of their 2026 F1 regulations engine

Problems are even surfacing in Maranello as Ferrari ‘push the accelerator as far as possible’ with the development of their car for the 2026 regulations. FunoAnalisiTecnica reports that Ferrari are working flat out on their 2026 car, before then optimising their engineers’ work.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about the 2026 F1 engine and aero regulations

Vasseur’s aggressive approach has seen confidence build in the Scuderia’s power unit ranks, despite fears that Ferrari’s 2026 F1 rules engine will not be the best. Yet there is ‘concern’ in Maranello about the reliability of Ferrari’s power unit for the complicated 2026 regulations.

F1 is increasing the electrical share of the power output in 2026 from a 20/80 split in favour of combustion power to 50/50. F1 is also removing the MGU-H from the engine regulations in 2026, when the championship will also be switching to 100% advanced sustainable fuels.

Ferrari are working as hard as they can to try to fix the reliability issues emerging with their engine designed for the 2026 rules. The pride of Italy also aim to design ‘constant updates’ at the start of 2026, as they try to optimise the performance of various other components.

Ferrari have faced persistent concerns about their 2026 F1 regulations engine

There have been persistent concerns that Ferrari’s engine for the 2026 F1 regulations will be behind the work of the Maranello outfit’s rivals at the start of the new rules cycle. Mercedes are widely expected to have the best 2026 F1 rules engine, which will be key in the new era.

As F1 had to adapt the aerodynamic and chassis regulations to suit the increase in electrical power in 2026, the new engines are expected to be the major differentiator between teams next season. Any team that starts on the wrong foot next term could also face years of pain.

Leclerc fears one F1 team could dominate for “four years” if they emerge with a major lead over the competition as the true pecking order begins to emerge after the first six or seven rounds. Leclerc endured his fourth winless season in seven years with Ferrari during 2025.

The engine is not the only major change on the horizon in Maranello, either. Ferrari will use push-rod suspension in 2026, having decided to revert back to that set-up after switching to pull-rods in 2025. Ferrari’s change in suspension set-up put them on the back foot all term.