Ferrari parks SF-25 upgrades as 2026 project gathers pace — Leclerc impressed, Hamilton waits
Ferrari has shut the door on any late-season lifeline for Lewis Hamilton, shelving SF-25 developments to pour everything into 2026. That won’t cheer No. 44, who’s been blunt about wanting an upgrade “yesterday,” but there’s a silver lining for Maranello: Charles Leclerc says the new-era Ferrari is coming on fast.
“The rate of improvement is very impressive,” Leclerc said, offering a notable shift from his earlier unease about the sweeping regulation reset. “Big gains are found every week… it’s definitely got better.”
That reset is no minor tweak. For 2026 the FIA’s “nimble car” concept takes hold: smaller, about 30kg lighter, and without traditional DRS. In its place, active aerodynamics arrive front and rear, while Pirelli trims tyre widths by 25mm at the front and 30mm at the rear. Under the engine cover, the internal combustion unit runs fully sustainable fuel and the electrical punch goes way up. The MGU-K jumps to as much as 350kW from today’s 120kW — a transformation that will make energy deployment as decisive as tyre life or track position.
Ferrari, one of a handful building both chassis and power unit, is deep in that two-front war. Leclerc’s tone now suggests the work is clicking, even if he’s under no illusions about what’s coming next year.
“It’s a huge change,” he said. “Some things will be difficult to change and we’ll have to adapt. The way we’ll fight is going to be tricky… but I take that as a challenge. If we win, I’ll love these regulations. If we don’t, it might be four very long years.”
That line captures the stakes rather neatly. For Hamilton, whose first season in red has been more grind than glory, 2026 is already looming as a shot at redemption. He knows there’s no miracle bolt-on coming for the current car.
“I would give anything for an upgrade,” he admitted in Baku. “But we don’t have that, to focus on next year’s car. So we just have to do better in optimising and execution.”
Optimising and execution will be the watchwords for the rest of 2025. Ferrari’s SF-25 has flashes, but it hasn’t given either driver a consistently sharp tool every Sunday. When a team chooses to pivot hard to a new rulebook mid-season, it’s a gamble — public, visible and tough on weekends when rivals turn up with fresh bits — but it’s also how title windows are opened in Formula 1. The 2026 window looks wide.
There’s an added twist: with electrical output surging, drivers will influence lap time in new ways. Energy management will be as much art as algorithm. Leclerc admits he’d rather the stopwatch reflect pure driving, but he’s also leaning into the new game.
“I’d rather focus on driving… but that’s not possible,” he said. “It’s a challenge to work around these new demands and get a competitive advantage by understanding it earlier than the others.”
That’s where Ferrari’s driver pairing matters. Leclerc brings the feel and adaptability he’s shown in mixed conditions and tyre-sensitive races; Hamilton brings an unmatched playbook for reading race flow and making systems work around him. If Maranello’s engineers really are finding “big, big gains” weekly, the feedback loop will be ferocious between now and the first 2026 fire-up.
The romance of Hamilton-in-red was never going to be about 2025 alone. It was always about the reset — about staking the next chapter on a clean sheet and the combined weight of Hamilton’s experience and Leclerc’s prime years. The risk is obvious; the upside, intoxicating.
Ferrari’s call is clear now: live with the SF-25 as it is, squeeze what’s left from strategy and setup, and bet the house on a 2026 machine that can fight from day one. If Leclerc’s read is right, the house might just be on the right number.
