2026 Ferrari season preview: Can Lewis Hamilton finally reach the podium?

Ferrari was an unmitigated disaster last season. Between communication issues, car issues, and just chaos, the team ended up with a very frustrated set of drivers in Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. Can 2026 be any better for Ferrari? Let’s take a look at what the 2026 F1 season could look like for Ferrari in our season preview.

Key team facts

Full Team name: Scuderi Ferrari HP
Base: Maranello, Modena, Italy
Team Principal: Fred Vasseur
Technical Director: Loic Serra
Engine Supplier: Ferrari
2025 Championship Position: 4th

2026 Ferrari drivers

Lewis Hamilton:

The seven-time World Driver’s Champion will be back for his 20th season in Formula 1, and will be looking for more than last season. 2025 was the first season in his career that he didn’t earn a single podium. His previous career worst was 2022, when he didn’t win a single race but finished on the podium nine times.

It’s hard to imagine 2026 being worse than last year, especially with how early training is looking. That being said, it’s still Ferrari. The team still hasn’t appointed him a permanent race engineer for 2026, and after all the communication issues last year, it’s going to be a challenge for Hamilton.

The 41-year-old driver joined the iconic outfit last season to help revive the racing giant, but as Hamilton approaches the end of his career, he will want this year to go substantially better. If it doesn’t, he could move to a new team in 2027.

Charles Leclerc

The Monegasque had a better season than Hamilton last season, but Charles Leclerc still feels like a driver who will finish in the back half of the top-10, not the front half. He had a substantial drop off from his 2024 results last season, and will need to take a step forward this season.

Ferrari should have the best driver duo on the grid, but it constantly feels like Ferrari is letting their drivers down, rather than the other way around. If that continues to be the case, it will need both Leclerc and Hamilton to be at their best this season to be in the fight for the Constructors’.

The big challenge for Leclerc will be to finish in the points more reliably. Leclerc had one disqualification and two retirements last season, but finished in the points in every other race except Silverstone. If he can continue to reliably earn points this season and average in the top five, it would be massive for the team.

Ferrari’s technical breakdown

Ferrari is one of the teams that fully designed their car and engine in-house, in this case at their home in Maranello, Italy. This allows them to fully integrate the engine into the car design, instead of having to purchase an engine from another manufacturer and design the car around it.

This will be the first car designed by Loic Serra, who joined from Mercedes in 2024. He collaborated with long-time Ferrari mechanic Enrico Gualtieri, who is the Power Unit Technical Director.

Two major differences between the Ferrari car design and other teams. First, they have gone with a smaller turbocharger. While this limits how much air it can push into the engine to create power, it responds faster, making it more responsive to drivers. The downside is that it will produce less overall power over time. How this impacts races will be key to watch.

The other is Ferrari’s flipping rear wing. Unlike most teams, whose rear wings tilt flat, Ferrari’s flips completely upside down. The way the rear wing works, it creates downforce, pushing the car downwards, but if you flip it the other way, it works like an airplane wing, reducing drag and creating more speed down the straights.

Cars don’t need downforce on straights; they need to go as fast as possible. This also reduces energy usage, not needing the engine to work as hard during straight sections. Reportedly, Hamilton gained a 10km advantage during the straights with this active.

Ferrari hasn’t said whether this will be on the car at Albert Park, but if this is a component they are testing, it will probably be on the car soon. The challenge is that this component is heavy and may cause the car to exceed the maximum weight limit. How Ferrari manages this will be critical.

This looks to be a really good car for Ferrari. Can they put it all together when the season starts will be the question.

Ferrari’s leadership and personnel changes

Fred Vasseur will be back in charge of Ferrari again this season. This will be his fourth season in charge of the Italian outfit. He is likely on the hot seat this season after how last season went. If he cannot deliver a better season, there is a chance Ferrari will look to move on from him. Firing people in Italy is difficult, but they could look to promote someone internally or move Vasseur to a new role.

Ferrari runs with a very small inner circle under Vasseur, with him, Serra, Gualtieri, joined by Head of Aerodynamics Diego Tondi and newly added Head of Aerodynamics Development Franck Sanchez as their key development team.

Outside of the car, Jerome d’Ambrosio is the Deputy Team Principal of Ferrari. He takes care of most of the commercial and operational side of the team, leaving Vasseur to handle the technical side.

Under Vasseur, Ferrari has reorganized to a more top-down approach. He has also brought in many more French leaders and technical experts, poaching heavily from the team’s Le Mans side as F1 has made cars more electric this season. How this impacts the car this season will be key to watch.

2026 Ferrari performance expectations

On the one hand, it’s hard to see Ferrari ending any worse than the top-four in the Constructors’ Championship, but at the same time, it’s hard to see them any higher than third in the race, given their history.

Ferrari is a team with high potential to start every season, but they seem to find a way to bungle it each year. To acquire Lewis Hamilton but keep him off the podium for the first time in his entire career doesn’t give much confidence this season.

There is so much potential in this team. They really should challenge for the Championship, with Hamilton and Leclerc both pushing for the WDC, but realistically, they are going to finish third this year, with Hamilton earning a podium or two but not much more than that, unfortunately.

I really want to be wrong on this prediction, and to come back to this at the end of the season and laugh about how wrong I am, but having been let down by Ferrari once too many times, it’s hard to expect more.

Key questions for Ferrari going into the 2026 F1 season

Can Ferrari win the Constructors Championship in 2026?

Theoretically, this could be Ferrari’s year. They have one of the fastest cars on the grid, two excellent drivers, and the technical staff to take it all home, but the reality has always been Ferrari shooting itself in the foot.

Lewis Hamilton struggled with his race engineer last year, and hasn’t hired another one full-time to give you confidence in Hamilton this year. Leclerc is good, but does he have enough in him to be a WDC? I struggle to see him being the best driver on the grid.

There are a lot of question marks surrounding Ferrari this season. Theoretically, they can win it all, but the reality is that they probably don’t.

2. Is 2026 Lewis Hamilton’s final season in F1?

Having just turned 41, Hamilton is closer to the end of his career than the start. That said, it doesn’t necessarily feel like the end of his career. If Hamilton has a stronger season this year and earns a few race wins, odds are he continues his career to chase the elusive eighth career WDC. That would make him the winningest driver of all time and the undisputed Greatest of All Time.

If this is another down season, and Hamilton’s mood and tone continue to be down, there’s a very real chance this is his last season in the sport. He would leave as likely the GOAT, but there would be a conversation about whether he is or not. Winning the eighth would leave no room for discussion.

Frankly, it comes down to how Ferrari handles him. Do they give him what he needs to be successful and show him a path to winning? If they do that, he likely extends his career another couple of seasons, but if not, he could be retiring this Christmas.

What’s next for Ferrari in 2026?

This is a big year for Ferrari. They need to show that they have what it takes to be real championship contenders, not just another top-four team. If this season goes well, it revitalizes the fan base, places renewed confidence in Fred Vasseur and his project, and likely adds more time to Lewis Hamilton’s career. If not, 2027 is going to be an interesting summer for il Cavallino.

Check out our other season previews here: