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Ferrari are making a massive technical gamble for 2026. In a desperate bid to return to the front, engineers in Maranello have looked to McLaren’s championship-winning blueprint to shape the new SF-26.
Following a disappointing season in 2025, Fred Vasseur has found himself on the cusp of a pivotal season with Ferrari in the upcoming campaign.
Nothing short of a championship will be enough to save Vasseur’s job, and the Frenchman is doing all he can to ensure that Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc are given the right tools to accomplish exactly that.
So far, testing has proved to be satisfactory for the iconic Italian racing outfit. After a niggle-free first day out on track, one Ferrari chief gave a ‘dream come true’ verdict on the reliability of their new engine.
However, there is still plenty of work to be done, and one aspect of their new front-end has already raised some questions over their competitiveness this season.
- READ MORE: Fred Vasseur says he’s worked with one F1 driver even more ‘passionate’ than Lewis Hamilton
What does Fred Vasseur need to do to stay at Ferrari beyond 2026?
F1 expert Craig Scarborough details how Ferrari’s suspension change may cause issues
During a recent appearance on Peter Windsor’s YouTube channel, F1 technical expert Craig Scarborough outlined how Ferrari’s new suspension for their 2026 car has put them in ‘danger’.
The analyst began by highlighting how the Maranello-based engineers have taken a leaf out of McLaren’s book in their initial designs of the new suspension system.
He said, “They’ve changed their front suspension to copy very much what McLaren were running last year, with the multilink lower arms, which will have a huge benefit in grip and tyre performance.”
Scarborough then added how the new system could prove to be more problematic than beneficial, despite the fact that the Woking-based outfit ran away with the constructors’ championship last year.
“If we just cast our mind back to last year, at the start of the year, Lando Norris wasn’t getting on with the McLaren, but Oscar Piastri was. They made some changes to the front suspension, which again, were spoken about but never really analysed in most of the mainstream media.
Then, in the next minute, Lando had a handle on the car, and Oscar didn’t. Now I believe that’s actually to do with this steering angle that’s set up by this multilink lower suspension arm wishbone.
“The danger Ferrari have got is that they could fall into the same trap as McLaren did last year, where 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.”
Do you think Ferrari can fight back to the top with Leclerc? 🤔
The last thing Ferrari needs is a divide between Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton
A recent report has suggested that Ferrari have involved Hamilton in their development efforts for 2026 a lot more than his Monegasque teammate.
They have already been warned over the potential ‘discontent’ that it could bring, which has been bolstered by Scarborough’s verdict on the new suspension unit favouring one side of the Ferrari garage more than the other.
With such a decisive season now imminent, the last thing that the Scuderia needs is tension between their star-studded driver line-up in Maranello.
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