Why Ferrari will have to be "clever" with 2026 F1 upgrades
by Stuart Codling · AutosportTeam boss Frederic Vasseur says the rate of technical development will be "huge" as Formula 1’s teams adapt to new rules – but an unforeseen challenge awaits in the opening races
In 2026 Formula 1 faces its biggest technical shake-up in decades, since the rules governing both cars and engines are undergoing far-reaching change.
Inevitably some will arrive at the first race of the season with better solutions than others. But for those left behind, the task of catching up will be made all the more difficult – not just by established limits on development but also by a calendar in which the opening run of races are flyaways.
F1’s cost-cap regime is changing in 2026 so teams will have to consider the bigger picture when planning upgrades – such as whether they can afford the transport costs of shipping new components to far-flung destinations.
“I think the driver of the introduction of upgrades won't be the capacity to develop into the wind tunnel,” Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur told selected media including Auotsport.
“The driver of the introduction of upgrades will be the cost cap. It means we will have to be clever to do a good usage of the budget that we have for development and to cope with this budget to introduce upgrades.
“For sure, the sooner the better and the most important the better on this. But it's not a given that if you start to introduce four or five upgrades 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.
“It means we will need to be clever in the plan, perhaps to develop sometimes more in the wind tunnel and to introduce 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, on the day-per-day, seeing in one end what we are getting from the wind tunnel and what is the cost of the development.
“For sure, if you have an upgrade on the flap of the front wing, it's less cost than the floor to send to China.”
F1’s cost cap was introduced in 2021 as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on the finances of the competitors as well as the commercial rights holder. Initially set at $145million per year with a glide path down to £135million from 2024 onwards (plus additional $1.8million per race for each grand prix weekend over a base number of 21), this has now been revised up to $215million.
But while this takes into account inflation and changing exchange rates, it does not represent a net increase, although Sauber will receive a concession to take into account higher employment costs in Switzerland. Several boundaries have been redrawn, such as the allowance for sprints and additional races, plus several areas which were previously exempt from the cap now fall within its remit.
Media activities and transport costs, plus other additional operating expenses, are among those now being factored into the cap.
Hence larger items which cost more to ship – especially by expedited delivery – may have to be held back given the early run of races which takes in a Australia-China double-header, followed by Japan, before the Middle Eastern leg begins in Bahrain. Teams will likely carry on the established package of sending smaller items with personnel in their luggage.
Controlling transport costs will be vital to keeping development rates as high as they need to be, since the competitive order is likely to be more spread out at the beginning of the year. This will be a contrast to the close and relatively static hierarchy of 2025 as the technical package matured and teams switched focus to 2026.
“I'm really convinced that 2025, the picture [competitive order] in Bahrain test one was almost the same picture in the last race in Abu Dhabi,” said Vasseur.
“And next year, you will have a huge rate of development all over the season. It's more like 2022 – if someone is in front at the beginning of 2026, it doesn’t mean they will be in front at the end of 2026, or that they will be at the front in 2027.”
We want to hear from you!
Let us know what you would like to see from us in the future.
- The Autosport.com Team