Are There Problems At Ferrari?

Ferrari started the 2026 season with a lot of promise. They may not have had the strongest engine but there was a feeling that the Scuderia could fight for something this season.

The car looked strong on track and there was no denying the superiority of its aerodynamics. Where the SF-26 shines is getting through the corners.

With a strong baseline to work from, Ferrari didn't stop looking forward. Throughout this season they've been one of the most aggressive teams when it comes to upgrades. There are very few weekends where Ferrari hasn't brought something new to add to the car. Their carefully planned upgrades have brought performance to the car.

The team have been holding on to a strong P2 in the constructors championship and there was even talk of Lewis Hamilton potentially fighting for his eighth title. It was the most hopeful the Tifosi had been in years.

Both drivers seemed to be more settled with the car and happier. It looked like Ferrari were listening to their drivers. Hamilton had expressed his discomfort with the typical Ferrari brake supplier. The team listened and changed his brakes to the same brand that he'd used in Mercedes.

A small change to make but one that made a huge different to Hamilton's confidence in the car. It signalled that Ferrari were serious about fighting for a championship.

However, things have gone slowly downhill since F1 returned from summer break. Especially when it comes to driver dynamics.

Having a seven-time world champion and a driver who has committed his entire life to Ferrari was always going to cause some fireworks. I don't think anyone in Ferrari was under the assumption it was going to be smooth sailing the entire time. But small grievances might cause a bigger issue within the team.

Both Hamilton and Leclerc have been driving the car to its limit. That much has been obvious since both drivers seem to be qualifying very close to each other. That can be seen as a good thing, to know both drivers are feeling the same balance in the car and extracting everything that they can. However, it can also cause some issues and Ferrari have seen that over the past two race weekends.

Out in Zandvoort both drivers seemed a little unhappy on track. Leclerc did not want to pit when the team had asked him to and instead stayed out for longer, causing Hamilton to be in dirty air with fresher tyres. It ruined any tyre advantage that he had and made his race more difficult.

Monza was another incident that has caused a few headlines. During the first lap, Leclerc had been aggressive in his defence which had pushed Hamilton off the track and demoted him down to P9.

In the post-race interviews, Leclerc had said that both drivers had gone over the limit and it shouldn't happen again. Aside form that though, he seemed to have put the incident behind him. Not a surprise since he was still dealing with the after effect of a 60G crash.

Hamilton on the other hand aired his grievances out in the media pen. He didn't understand why Leclerc had been that aggressive and hadn't thought his defence was fair. He mentioned that his previous teams would have rules of engagement that allow teammates to race each hard but fair.

Hamilton couldn't understand why Ferrari would implement similar rules. Not to give one driver preference over the other but to ensure that there was fair racing between two drivers. Surely rules like that would benefit the team more than anything?

The Italian media might not think the same thing. Autoracer published an article in the days following the Italian Grand Prix. It's safe to say that they did nor hold back when it came to their thoughts on everything that went on during Monza.

Instead of giving what would have been fair criticism to Ferrari, their strategy and the management of their drivers, the put the blame on Lewis Hamilton's shoulders. The wrote about his ego, him "attacking Vasseur" and how they believe he "wants to become the team's absolute points of reference".

It's not an unusual move from Italian motorsport media, who's main aim has been to defend Ferrari above all else. A whiff of any issues from the drivers or any changes they want to make to the team, and there will be a stern defence of Ferrari published with most of the blame put on the driver.

From the outside looking in, it seems like Ferrari is in an echo chamber and have been for a number of years. Whilst they might welcome small changes, especially when the requests come from a seven-time world champion, they are reluctant to do anything drastic.

There's no taking way the history of this team and the amazing moments that they have given fans over the years but Ferrari have become far too stubborn. They're unwilling to look at their systems and processes and admit that maybe there are areas that could be improved.

There's no shame in admitting that what you're doing in no longer working but that isn't a lesson that this team has learnt. And until they do, it might be a long road until the Tifosi see their team with another championship.