‘Everyone’ in F1 now believes two teams are in a ‘much better position’ than Ferrari for the 2026 season

Ferrari may soon have to abandon this year’s Formula 1 car as Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc drift further away from the top of the drivers’ championship.

Oscar Piastri currently sits on 198 points in the drivers’ championship after 10 races, but Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc’s points tallies combined currently don’t match that figure.

It’s a worrying indictment of how far and how quickly Ferrari have fallen since narrowly missing out on the constructors’ title last season.

Team principal Fred Vasseur is beginning to feel the pressure from the Italian media as they wait to see whether the Scuderia can begin challenging for victories this season.

Vasseur’s job is reportedly under threat if results don’t improve with his contract set to expire at the end of the season.

He will hope that the upcoming Formula 1 regulation changes arriving in 2026 will be the reset that Ferrari need to return to the top of the table.

Alex Brundle has warned Hamilton that the new cars may not suit him, but former Ferrari communications chief Roberto Boccafogli has sent a more sinister warning to the team.

He’s heard that two teams in the paddock may also be better prepared for next year, and the importance of the new power units is set to play a key role.

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‘Everyone’ thinks Ferrari’s 2026 engine will be trumped by Mercedes at Audi

Boccafogli was speaking about next season to The Race F1 Podcast and when asked about what’s currently going wrong at Ferrari and the impact that could have on the future, he said: “There is a lot of nervousness about, and the situation is very heavy, not only for Fred, but for the drivers, for sure, from the technicians.

“I mean, I wouldn’t be absolutely in Mr. [Loic] Serra’s shoes at the moment because the general question is what is Serra doing?

“Serra is a technical director, and it is very, very difficult, and there is a big question mark about next season because everybody says that the Mercedes engine and the Audi engine are in a much better position than Ferrari’s.

“So there is a lot of weight about everything. That’s why, from my absolutely personal point of view, I said, at least from the communication side, let’s try to do something better to reduce pressure on the team, not to give more pressure on the team.

“Now they are putting more pressure on the team, my feeling once again.”

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Ferrari yet to decide whether to shift full focus to their 2026 Formula 1 car

The new regulations aren’t particularly popular with many people in the paddock as the new power units and reduced weight limit are giving plenty of designers and engineers nightmares.

Mercedes are suspected to have the best power unit for next year, while Audi will be happy that their first efforts in Formula 1 are already being recognised.

Ferrari will decide at the Belgian Grand Prix whether to shift focus away from this season, but by then it may already be too late.

The likes of Audi, currently Sauber, Williams and other teams further down the pecking order have been committing their resources to 2026 since the beginning of the year.

Ferrari may have more manpower than some of those outfits, but there’s no guarantee that they’ll suddenly be championship contenders next year.

The F1 paddock is concerned about Ferrari’s power unit, and with Haas and newcomers Cadillac the only other teams relying on it next season, it may be difficult to get a benchmark on exactly how competitive Vasseur’s outfit are going to be.