Vasseur: Ferrari's 2026 Testing Focus is Mileage, Not Lap Times

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has outlined a clear strategy for the 2026 pre-season, declaring that reliability and mileage will take precedence over chasing headline lap times. With Formula 1 undergoing a massive regulatory reset, the Scuderia is using the unusually long testing period to build a solid foundation for the new era of racing, emphasizing that early understanding is more critical than outright speed.

Why it matters:

A poor start to a season with brand-new cars and power units can put a team on the back foot for the entire championship. After a disrupted 2025 start that cost them valuable data and momentum, Ferrari is prioritizing a methodical approach. Understanding the car's behavior and ensuring it can finish race distances is far more valuable than a fast testing time that may not translate to race pace, setting the stage for a season defined by development.

The details:

• A New Era: The 2026 regulations introduce lighter, smaller cars with a greater emphasis on electrical power, representing the biggest technical shift in years.
• Expanded Testing: F1's schedule includes a private five-day test in Barcelona followed by two official three-day sessions in Bahrain, totaling nine days—triple the recent average.
• Reliability First: Vasseur stressed that the "first target... is to get the reliability" and mileage, learning from the 2025 season where early issues left them "running after" the competition.
• Barcelona's Critical Role: The private test is crucial for gathering data without public pressure. Vasseur noted that discovering a problem in Bahrain would leave no time to react before the season opener in Australia.
• "Spec A" Evolution: Teams will likely arrive with a baseline version of their 2026 cars, which will evolve rapidly based on the data collected during testing.

What's next:

Vasseur believes the 2026 championship will be a long-haul development race, not decided by the results in Australia. The team's ability to understand its new package and implement upgrades quickly will be the deciding factor. For Ferrari, the message is clear: the real battle in pre-season is against time and mechanical gremlins, not the stopwatch.