Ferrari’s new SF-26 made its debut on Friday at the Fiorano test circuit. Driver Lewis Hamilton had the honour of being the first to sample the 2026 car. The worldwide reveal quickly stirred anxiety among fans after footage surfaced showing Hamilton bringing the car to a stop at the side of the track. Ferrari later reassured the tifosi; there were no issues and the first shakedown went flawlessly.
After a disappointing 2025 season in which Ferrari failed to secure a single win, hope and expectation now rest on the SF-26. There’s a lot at stake for Lewis Hamilton as well; the Brit endured a difficult first year at the Scuderia and didn’t score a podium in 24 Grands Prix. During a wet session at Fiorano he had the honour of being first to test the new car. However, when the Brit came to a stop after a few laps, that quickly sparked speculation about possible teething problems.
Test limit
Clips circulated on social media showing mechanics sprinting onto the circuit to recover the car and return it to the garage. Ferrari, however, swiftly put the rumours to bed and emphasized there was no technical fault. Hamilton had been instructed to stop the car because of the strict limit on the number of permitted kilometres during the demonstration event. In total Ferrari was allowed to run only fifteen kilometres, with Hamilton covering two and a half laps. Charles Leclerc was then allowed to cover the same distance.
Team boss Frédéric Vasseur explained afterwards that Ferrari’s priority was to get the car onto the circuit as quickly as possible. “The aim was to get the car out on track as soon as we could,” Vasseur said. “We postponed the demo day for as long as possible to give us time to further develop the car. We’ll introduce upgrades in the next sessions, but for now reliability was the priority.” Ferrari left Fiorano satisfied. “The key thing is that we can rack up kilometres, and that’s why we’re very pleased after today. We didn’t encounter any problems and this is a good step towards Barcelona.”
