Vasseur shares key reason Ferrari will need to be clever with 2026 upgrades

11:40, 20 Dec

Updated: 12:07, 20 Dec

bySamson Ero

Scuderia Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has explained why the team will need to adopt a smart and measured approach to introducing upgrades during the 2026 Formula 1 season.

“We will have to be clever in making good use of the budget.”

- Fred Vasseur

The 57-year-old stressed that financial discipline will play a decisive role in determining when and how upgrades are rolled out across the season. According to Vasseur, the cost cap, rather than development capacity, will be the primary factor shaping Ferrari’s upgrade strategy.

“I think the driver of the introduction of upgrades won’t be the capacity to develop in the wind tunnel; the driver of the introduction of upgrades will be the cost cap. It means we will have to be clever in making good use of the budget that we have for development and to cope with this budget when introducing upgrades,” Vasseur said at the Ferrari team end-of-year press briefing.

Doubling down on his claim, the Ferrari boss stressed the logistical and financial challenges associated with introducing major updates at flyaway races.

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Ferrari team principal, Fred Vasseur - Photo: Race Pictures

“For sure, the sooner the better, and the most important thing is to do it well. But it’s not a given that if you start to introduce four or five upgrades in the first couple of races, if you have to send a floor to Japan or to China, you are burning half of your development budget,” he added.

The French motorsports chief concluded by highlighting how the Ferrari team will have to be clever with its overall development plan to ensure it does not breach its cost cap limit for next season.

“It means we will need to be clever with the plan, perhaps developing more in the wind tunnel at times and introducing upgrades in race three or four, when we are going back to Bahrain. It’s a question we’ll have to deal with, but we’ll have to deal with it in the future, day by day, seeing on one end what we are getting from the wind tunnel and what the cost of the development is.”

“For sure, if you have an upgrade on the flap of the front wing, it costs less than sending a floor to China,” he concluded.

The cost cap, which was introduced into Formula 1 in 2021 to put a limit on teams’ spending following the Covid-19 pandemic, was initially set at $145 million. However, for the 2026 season, and with inflation factored in, the cost cap has been adjusted to $215m.

However, this does not allow teams the luxury of extra spending, due to inflation and exchange rates factored into it.

Vasseur admits Ferrari's failure on Hamilton

Earlier, Vasseur admitted the Ferrari team underestimated Lewis Hamilton’s switch to the Maranello-based outfit.

The team boss highlighted how the changes which the seven-time world champion underwent played an integral role in the underwhelming debut season he recorded at Ferrari.

Vasseur, however, expressed optimism about the driver’s prospects for 2026.