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Ferrari busts myth around aggressive development during F1 break
Ferrari breaks down its approach to developing its 2026 F1 car.
Ferrari has dismissed suggestions the enforced Formula 1 break has enabled teams to be more aggressive with their car development.
F1 is currently observing a five-week break without any racing following the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian grands prix due to the Iran War, with the next race, the Miami Grand Prix, not being held until 3 May.
It was perceived that teams could take advantage of this gap by ramping up their car development, however, Ferrari has explained why it is not that simple.
“Your development plan is not happening in one week or one month, it’s something you have for quite a long time,” Ferrari’s chassis technical director, Loic Serra, told Motorsport.com.
“We planned a long time ago, so basically you stick to your development plan. So, you’re not really affected by the fact that we are missing a race or two.”
Asked if the unplanned break opens the door for more aggressive, or experimental updates, Serra replied: “Not really. Effectively you have a development plan, so you stick to your development plan. So, there is no real notion of more aggressive, more experimental, it’s not that.
“It’s more like you plan for development, but then there is the planning and there is what you find. But in no way this modifies what you are finding, because effectively not racing doesn’t really modify what you are finding or not at the factory. So, it doesn’t really change your approach.”
Some teams are bringing parts to Miami before immediately replacing them with a further upgrade package at the following round in Canada. This is an approach Ferrari does not quite understand, unless the upgrades are minor.
“If you think about development being non-linear… I am not sure I understand that logic, because effectively the consequences on the cost side are quite important,” Serra said.
“So, if you bring parts in Miami and bring another step in Canada, depends on how big the developments are. If they are small development, incremental development I understand, but maybe people do.
“Not necessarily the notion of packages, but the notion of more incremental development, and that would make a complete sense.”
Ferrari is expected to bring what has been reported to be a substantial upgrade for its SF-26 to Miami.
“When you think about the SF-26, we started the development of the car [at the] beginning of 2025, and then you spend a year and more to develop it without testing anything with it, testing the car,” Serra added about Ferrari’s development plans.
“Then what you learned is the results of winter time, virtual development, so you bring a car that you haven’t run [to winter testing]. So, if you think about this and put in context the fact that you’re missing two races, it’s small B I would say.
“So, effectively, the more you run, the more you learn, and that’s true for everybody. But then telling that this is compromising, or this would compromise the way you approach your development, or you put the development more or less at risk, I don’t think so.”
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Ferrari breaks down its approach to developing its 2026 F1 car.
Ferrari has dismissed suggestions the enforced Formula 1 break has enabled teams to be more aggressive with their car development.
F1 is currently observing a five-week break without any racing following the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian grands prix due to the Iran War, with the next race, the Miami Grand Prix, not being held until 3 May.
It was perceived that teams could take advantage of this gap by ramping up their car development, however, Ferrari has explained why it is not that simple.
“Your development plan is not happening in one week or one month, it’s something you have for quite a long time,” Ferrari’s chassis technical director, Loic Serra, told Motorsport.com.
“We planned a long time ago, so basically you stick to your development plan. So, you’re not really affected by the fact that we are missing a race or two.”
Asked if the unplanned break opens the door for more aggressive, or experimental updates, Serra replied: “Not really. Effectively you have a development plan, so you stick to your development plan. So, there is no real notion of more aggressive, more experimental, it’s not that.
“It’s more like you plan for development, but then there is the planning and there is what you find. But in no way this modifies what you are finding, because effectively not racing doesn’t really modify what you are finding or not at the factory. So, it doesn’t really change your approach.”
Some teams are bringing parts to Miami before immediately replacing them with a further upgrade package at the following round in Canada. This is an approach Ferrari does not quite understand, unless the upgrades are minor.
“If you think about development being non-linear… I am not sure I understand that logic, because effectively the consequences on the cost side are quite important,” Serra said.
“So, if you bring parts in Miami and bring another step in Canada, depends on how big the developments are. If they are small development, incremental development I understand, but maybe people do.
“Not necessarily the notion of packages, but the notion of more incremental development, and that would make a complete sense.”
Ferrari is expected to bring what has been reported to be a substantial upgrade for its SF-26 to Miami.
“When you think about the SF-26, we started the development of the car [at the] beginning of 2025, and then you spend a year and more to develop it without testing anything with it, testing the car,” Serra added about Ferrari’s development plans.
“Then what you learned is the results of winter time, virtual development, so you bring a car that you haven’t run [to winter testing]. So, if you think about this and put in context the fact that you’re missing two races, it’s small B I would say.
“So, effectively, the more you run, the more you learn, and that’s true for everybody. But then telling that this is compromising, or this would compromise the way you approach your development, or you put the development more or less at risk, I don’t think so.”
Ferrari has dismissed suggestions the enforced Formula 1 break has enabled teams to be more aggressive with their car development.
F1 is currently observing a five-week break without any racing following the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian grands prix due to the Iran War, with the next race, the Miami Grand Prix, not being held until 3 May.
It was perceived that teams could take advantage of this gap by ramping up their car development, however, Ferrari has explained why it is not that simple.
“Your development plan is not happening in one week or one month, it’s something you have for quite a long time,” Ferrari’s chassis technical director, Loic Serra, told Motorsport.com.
“We planned a long time ago, so basically you stick to your development plan. So, you’re not really affected by the fact that we are missing a race or two.”
Asked if the unplanned break opens the door for more aggressive, or experimental updates, Serra replied: “Not really. Effectively you have a development plan, so you stick to your development plan. So, there is no real notion of more aggressive, more experimental, it’s not that.
“It’s more like you plan for development, but then there is the planning and there is what you find. But in no way this modifies what you are finding, because effectively not racing doesn’t really modify what you are finding or not at the factory. So, it doesn’t really change your approach.”
Some teams are bringing parts to Miami before immediately replacing them with a further upgrade package at the following round in Canada. This is an approach Ferrari does not quite understand, unless the upgrades are minor.
“If you think about development being non-linear… I am not sure I understand that logic, because effectively the consequences on the cost side are quite important,” Serra said.
“So, if you bring parts in Miami and bring another step in Canada, depends on how big the developments are. If they are small development, incremental development I understand, but maybe people do.
“Not necessarily the notion of packages, but the notion of more incremental development, and that would make a complete sense.”
Ferrari is expected to bring what has been reported to be a substantial upgrade for its SF-26 to Miami.
“When you think about the SF-26, we started the development of the car [at the] beginning of 2025, and then you spend a year and more to develop it without testing anything with it, testing the car,” Serra added about Ferrari’s development plans.
“Then what you learned is the results of winter time, virtual development, so you bring a car that you haven’t run [to winter testing]. So, if you think about this and put in context the fact that you’re missing two races, it’s small B I would say.
“So, effectively, the more you run, the more you learn, and that’s true for everybody. But then telling that this is compromising, or this would compromise the way you approach your development, or you put the development more or less at risk, I don’t think so.”
[analyse_source url=”http://crash.net/f1/news/1093268/1/ferrari-busts-myth-surrounding-aggressive-development-during-f1-break”]