Gary Anderson already has one worry about Lewis Hamilton’s 2026 Ferrari after Barcelona shakedown

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Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton sounded far more positive after the shakedown at the Circuit de Catalunya than many of his press conferences last season.

Lewis Hamilton had a campaign to forget last year, finishing 86 points behind his Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc.

Ferrari quickly recognised that they weren’t in a position to compete with McLaren without compromising this season’s regulation changes and abandoned the SF-25 as early as April.

That put a huge amount of pressure on team principal Fred Vasseur, despite signing a contract extension, technical director Loic Serra and the Scuderia’s engine department.

Lewis Hamilton led the way in Barcelona but the gaps were tight!

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The early signs from the Barcelona shakedown were very promising for Ferrari, with Mercedes the only team that ran more laps than Vasseur’s team.

Hamilton secured the fastest lap across all five days, although with no information on tyres, track conditions or fuel loads, very little can be read into that.

However, former Jordan chief designer Gary Anderson spotted something about Hamilton’s SF-26 that has left him worried going into the 2026 campaign.

READ MORE: All you need to know about Scuderia Ferrari from team principal to factory

Gary Anderson worries Lewis Hamilton’s 2026 Ferrari design is too ‘in the middle’

Anderson was asked on The Race F1 Podcast which teams they are particularly concerned about or interested in after the first round of testing in Spain.

He said: “One thing I would say about Adrian, he’s pretty fixed. He’s pretty good at the visionary. He’s pretty fixed on the fact that what he’s got, he understands.

“It might not work initially, but he’ll get to the bottom of it pretty quickly and get it to give the performance it should.

“Honda would be the question mark there because Fernando Alonso’s last relationship with Honda didn’t end up sending each other Christmas cards, I don’t think.

“So, the last thing they needed Honda to be a problem there, holding back the chassis.

“The other car, and again Mark [Hughes] summed it up, I think a bit earlier when we were talking about wheelbases and cockpit layouts, that Ferrari are sort of in the middle.

“Ferrari can’t afford to be in the middle this year; they have to be there. They have to do the job because otherwise heads are going to roll.

“I would worry about Ferrari that they are in the middle, but only time will tell.”

READ MORE: Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton’s life outside F1 from net worth to family

Kimi Antonelli shares what surprised him about Ferrari during the Barcelona shakedown

Ferrari brought a more basic aerodynamic set-up to the Circuit de Catalunya, but it’s believed to be an A-spec version of the car that will eventually end up in Australia.

The likes of McLaren and Mercedes were keen to test more complete versions of their cars, but Anderson was worried that Ferrari might have been too conservative with their design, which is legitimate at this stage.

Kimi Antonelli admitted Ferrari and Red Bull surprised him in Barcelona, and Vasseur will be pleased that his team’s car is beginning to catch the eye of their rivals.

However, fans will learn much more in Bahrain when further developments are likely to be added to the SF-26.

Every manufacturer will have a trick up their sleeve before heading to Melbourne, but Ferrari have to take some risks if they want to be competing for race wins and championships again.