Vasseur urges caution as Ferrari's 2026 F1 car hits the track in Barcelona

F1 Grand Prix, GP Brazil, Autódromo José Carlos Pace, Interlagos

Ferrari launched its 2026 Formula 1 challenger in Maranello with a clear message from team principal Fred Vasseur: optimism is welcome, but expectations must wait. Speaking after the SF‑26 completed its first laps, Vasseur repeatedly stressed that the team is still at the very beginning of a long development journey.

From the outset, he made it clear that Ferrari would not be drawn into early predictions. “It’s far too early about expectation,” he said, emphasising that the team’s focus must remain on the fundamentals. “We are there to work, to develop, to improve and we’ll see what is the situation in Melbourne.”

The Frenchman highlighted that the season opener is still distant, and that the launch day itself is only a small step in a much larger process. “It’s a very long way until Melbourne,” he noted, adding that simply getting the car running trouble‑free was an important achievement.

“Today it was an important milestone to put the car on track without any issue and this is good, but we have a long way and I think the rate of development will be much higher this season.”

Vasseur pointed to recent seasons as evidence that early impressions can be misleading.

“That’s what you saw last year or the year before,” he said, reminding observers that competitive order can shift rapidly. With the 2026 regulations introducing major changes to both chassis and power units, he believes the uncertainty will be even greater.

“It means that nobody knows what will be the situation in a couple of weeks now,” he continued, “but we for sure have to do the best to continue to be able to collect data, to develop the car and to be focused on ourselves.”

While Melbourne will offer the first real indication of where Ferrari stands, Vasseur insisted that even the opening race will not define the season.

"We’ll see about the performance when we’ll be in Melbourne,” he said, “but even Melbourne will not be the end of the championship. It won’t be the end of the championship but I think we’ll have a huge rate of development.”