Why Ferrari's F1 progress stalled - and what it plans to do

Ferrari's summer began with a Barcelona victory, but the second half of its 2026 season has taken a sharp downturn. The team hasn't stood on the podium since Spa in July, and while the SF-26 still shows flashes of front-running pace, it repeatedly fails to convert that potential into top-three finishes.

Why it matters:

The car hasn't suddenly become uncompetitive — rather, rivals like McLaren have moved the benchmark forward with rapid development, and Ferrari has struggled to respond. With the championship slipping away, the Scuderia's delayed upgrade plan and looming power unit penalties will define how it closes out the season.

The details:

• McLaren's leap: Between Hungary and the Netherlands, McLaren's MCL40 received a wave of floor updates plus the H-wing — its own take on the flip-flop wing — used everywhere after Hungary except Madrid. This broadened setup options on low-drag circuits.
• Tire mastery: Rivals point to McLaren's improved tire understanding and activation as a key factor. Lando Norris has thrived on this, and the MCL40 has become more effective at exploiting its aerodynamic load in the correct operating window.
• Ferrari's delayed package: The Zandvoort floor changes represented only about three-quarters of the planned update. Under technical boss Loic Serra and head of aero Diego Tondi, Ferrari chose to postpone substantial interventions — particularly on the floor's outer edge — to allow more wind tunnel time and a greater performance gain within the budget cap.

The big picture:

The postponed parts are expected to debut at Austin late next month, featuring a more substantial floor evolution. Ferrari has accepted racing with an incomplete solution. The aero department has been working dynamically, swapping new and old components in the wind tunnel after some solutions underperformed. COTA's layout and logistics make it the ideal venue to evaluate progress.

What's next:

• Power unit: Ferrari believes its ADUO 1 and ADUO 2 developments have met expectations, with the Monza-spec ADUO 2 — fourth ICE and fourth turbo — performing as hoped.
• Leclerc's penalty: His Monza crash triggered extensive checks, but the ADUO 1 unit survived and ran at Madrid. Both drivers will need a fifth unit before season's end. Leclerc could take his penalty at Baku, where overtaking is achievable — a call that won't be made until the Azerbaijan GP weekend.
• Hamilton's situation: A fifth unit for Hamilton is less urgent, but with the title fight out of reach, a penalty at Mexico City, Interlagos, or Austin is increasingly likely, giving him two ADUO 2 units to rotate.