Ferrari to roll out two-spec Project 678 through 2026 testing after bruising 2025 reset
Ferrari will split its 2026 challenger into two distinct specs for winter testing, fast-tracking development of the all-new Project 678 as Formula 1 heads into its biggest rule change in a decade.
After a winless 2025 campaign that exposed a fundamental ride-height flaw on the SF-25, the Scuderia is opting for pragmatism over polish. The plan is simple: bank mileage early with a conservative “Spec A,” then unleash a more representative “Spec B” as the winter rolls on.
It’s a clear response to a 2025 season that went sideways far too early. The year’s nadir came in Shanghai, where Lewis Hamilton was disqualified from the sprint 24 hours after winning it for excessive skid-block wear, and Charles Leclerc was thrown out of the Grand Prix for being underweight. From there, Ferrari ran the year with handbrake half-on — raising ride heights, backing off aggressive set-ups and even asking drivers to lift-and-coast on the straights to protect the plank. The cost was obvious: Leclerc managed seven podiums, Hamilton none — the first time in his F1 career he’s gone a full season without one — and Ferrari slipped to fourth in the standings, a long way adrift of the champions.
The reset is now. With F1’s 2026 rules ushering in 50% electrical power, fully sustainable fuels and active aerodynamics, Ferrari will use the expanded nine-day winter schedule to de-risk the basics before chasing laptime.
Here’s how it’s set to break down:
– Late January, Barcelona (behind closed doors): Project 678 in launch trim, running primarily for reliability, integration and systems checks — think packaging, cooling, software and hybrid deployment rather than stopwatch headlines.
– Bahrain Test 1 (February 11–13): Step one of the performance kit arrives, including a new nose and the first wave of aero development.
– Bahrain Test 2 (February 18–20): The “B-spec” appears, closer to race intent as Ferrari pivots into set-up range, correlation and outright pace.
Team principal Fred Vasseur has been blunt about the order of operations: mileage first, speed later — and expect others to do the same. Ferrari isn’t alone in treating Barcelona as a shakedown writ large, but it is being open about segmenting specs to accelerate learning. The point is to avoid a repeat of 2025’s early-season chaos, where disqualifications and troubleshooting cost precious running that was never fully recovered.
Under the skin, Project 678 marks a philosophical shift. The car is understood to feature pushrod suspension at both ends — a first for Ferrari at the rear since 2010 — aligning with a broader grid trend for platform control as active aero and the new power balance shake up car dynamics. On the power unit side, whispers from Italy hint at a “revolutionary” layout with an aluminium-alloy cylinder head and a tightly guarded intake concept. Nobody’s handing out blueprints, but Ferrari is clearly taking big swings at both ends of the car.
The context matters. Ferrari came within touching distance of McLaren in 2024; one year later the gap ballooned. F1’s new era is an opportunity to reframe that narrative, but the learning curve will be steep for everyone. Active aero changes how you build downforce and how you drive it. The split between combustion and electric power changes energy management and race craft. And nine days of testing is both a luxury and a trap: if you chase laptime too early, you risk chasing ghosts for weeks.
Ferrari won’t make that mistake. The launch comes on Friday, January 23 — three days before Barcelona running — and, true to tradition, expect a Fiorano shakedown on day one to make sure nothing leaks, smokes or pings before the serious miles begin.
There’s also a human edge to this. Leclerc, still the heartbeat of Maranello, extracted what he could in 2025. Hamilton, meanwhile, signed up for the long game and got a bruising first year in red for his trouble. The upside? If Ferrari gets on top of reliability and correlation early, the second Bahrain test should be the first real glimpse of what their 2026 concept can do — and whether the car gives its drivers the confidence that went missing last season.
The margins in a rules reset are often made before the laps start counting. Ferrari’s two-spec plan is a nod to reality: get the fundamentals right, then go hunting. If it works, 2025’s frustrations will read like the prologue to something sharper. If it doesn’t, those nine days will feel very long indeed.
