Ferrari have been fast enough to win the 2026 championship. That much is not really in dispute. Their car generates pole positions, their drivers are not the problem, and their pit wall has the resources of one of the sport’s largest operations behind it. And yet, race after race, the points don’t match the pace.
This is not a new pattern for Ferrari. But what makes 2026 different is that they can no longer attribute it to the car. In previous lean cycles, there was always a technical excuse available - underfloor concept, tyre behaviour, straight-line drag. This year’s car is genuinely quick in race trim too. Which means the gap between what Ferrari should be scoring and what they are actually scoring is, increasingly, a decision-making problem.
The Tyre Call Nobody Wants to Own
The clearest example came in Monaco, where Ferrari held track position through the first stint and had every reason to extend it. The safety car changed the window. McLaren reacted immediately; Ferrari waited, apparently uncertain whether to pit both cars or defend with one. They tried to do both and achieved neither. Charles Leclerc finished fourth from pole. This is not a one-race observation - it is a pattern that stretches back through multiple seasons and multiple technical directors.
What’s striking is that Ferrari’s data infrastructure should, in theory, prevent exactly this kind of indecision. They have a large strategy group, real-time modelling, and years of accumulated race data. The problem appears to be less about information and more about who is empowered to act on it quickly. McLaren’s calls in 2025 and into 2026 have been faster and more decisive, even when they’ve occasionally been wrong.
Leclerc Is Running Out of Seasons
Leclerc is 28. He has one World Championship in his future, maybe two, if the timing aligns. But timing in F1 is not passive - it requires an organisation that can convert pace into points without needing a safety car or a rival’s retirement to do it.
Right now, Ferrari are not that organisation. The car is ready. The driver is ready. The structure around them is still, somehow, catching up to itself - and the 2026 season is not waiting.