Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur has revealed that the team’s 2026 Formula 1 car will be launched on 23 January, with a shakedown to be held around its Fiorano test track.
The Italian marque approaches the regulation reset under immense pressure to deliver a competitive package amid a winless campaign beset with setbacks in 2025.
That culminated in Ferrari slumping to outside the top three in the Constructors’ Championship, having been in contention to grab the title until the last round in 2024.
Vasseur explained that “aggressive” development targets have contributed to the selected date, as Ferrari strives to end a championship drought dating back to 2008.
“This will be aggressive for sure, because we will finish the assembly of the car the day before the launch,” Vasseur said.
“The launch will be the 23rd of January in Maranello. It means that we’ll finish the car on the 22nd. And this is aggressive, but everybody will do the same.”
Vasseur remained tight-lipped when quizzed on whether the sport embarking upon a new era will have an impact on the name that christens the side’s 2026 machine.
“This will be part of the launch and you will discover it a bit later. I don’t want to spoil everybody and to spoil everything,” he added.
Vasseur explains Ferrari’s approach to rules overhaul
Meanwhile, Vasseur divulged that Ferrari will conduct the opening test in Barcelona in late January with a less-developed car as it prioritises accruing crucial mileage.
“I think everybody will do it,” the Frenchman elaborated. “In this situation, the most important is to get mileage. It’s not to chase performance.
“It’s to get mileage to validate the technical choice on the car in terms of reliability. And then to get performance.
“It means that I think everybody will come in Barcelona with – not a mule car – but let’s say a spec A.
“We are not used to having nine test days anymore. The last four or five seasons, we did three [days].
“It’s an advantage, but it’s also a completely different program. It means that the first target in this kind of season is to get the reliability.
“The first races [of the regulation change in 2014] you had a huge percentage of DNFs.
“It means that the first focus in Barcelona will be to get mileage with the car, to understand the reliability of the car, where we have to improve and what we have to react.
“Because if you understand something in Bahrain, by the second test, you won’t have time to react for Australia.”
READ MORE – How ‘well-managed’ F1 regulations exacerbated Ferrari’s competitve struggles in 2025
Discussion about this post