Despite the climate of optimism surrounding Ferrari for the 2026 Formula 1 season, Piero Ferrari prefers to remain cautious. Even with the good performance in pre-season testing and the team being named as one of the favorites alongside Mercedes, the heir to the Italian team avoids any prediction about the title race this year.
The Italian team has not won the drivers’ championship since 2007, nor the constructors’ since 2008. Even with the current favoritism, Piero did not want to commit: “We will keep trying with all our strength. But with the new regulations, don’t ask me for a prediction,” he told the newspaper Corriere dello Sport.
Much of the team’s long-term hope remains placed in Charles Leclerc. Asked about the Monegasque, Piero was direct: “Yes, he is a very fast driver. Comparisons with his teammates have shown that. He extracts performance from any car at any time.”
For him, Leclerc is a certainty within the structure: “For me, he is a given. All we need now is the satisfaction of seeing him become world champion, because he deserves it,” he stated.
Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton’s situation is seen as more complex. The seven-time champion’s first season with Ferrari, in 2025, was below expectations and generated comparisons with other champions who had difficulties wearing the red suit: “Yes, I think Ferrari emotionally stirs something, even in great champions. Lewis is profoundly different from Charles, but I find it hard to say if he was overshadowed by the legend of the Prancing Horse,” said Piero.
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He also did not rule out the possibility of seeing an Italian driver representing the team in the future. When asked about Kimi Antonelli, he replied: “It’s not forbidden to dream. Antonelli has already proven that he deserves top cars. With a little more experience, he will certainly become a great driver.”
Regarding the new technical regulations for 2026, criticized by some drivers like Max Verstappen, Piero came to the defense of the changes: “The tests showed that these cars require more understanding. It is necessary to know how to manage energy, but they are more predictable than ground-effect cars. My father would have said: ‘They are more honest’. Personally, I am convinced that the spectacle will not suffer, on the contrary,” he added.
Piero’s position also reflects Ferrari’s broader strategy off the track: “It was necessary to produce an electric Ferrari, as we need to keep up with new technologies,” Piero concluded, referring to the influence of Formula 1 on road cars.
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