Formula 1 Fans Can’t Stop Talking About Ferrari After Bahrain Testing

• Ferrari’s new car has turned heads in Bahrain, showing a clear step forward from last year.
• Changes to the rear and airflow promise stronger pace and more stability in both qualifying and races.
• For Hamilton and Leclerc, the SF-26 could finally be the car to consistently challenge at the front.

Everyone’s saying the same thing about Ferrari’s new car after Bahrain testing. And, honestly, they might just be right.

After a disastrous 2025, when seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton openly called the SF-25 “the worst-feeling car” he had ever driven, the narrative around Maranello felt like a cautionary tale for what not to do in the twilight years of your Formula 1 career.

Strategy mistakes piled up with each passing Grand Prix, the car lost pace in the corners, and the tyres never seemed to last a full race, leaving Hamilton, Charles Leclerc and the Ferrari engineers scratching their collective heads as the rest of the paddock seemingly unlocked more and more pace as the season progressed.

It’s fair to say, it wasn’t meant to go like this for the sport’s most decorated driver in history, but at least Netflix had plenty of material for the new Drive to Survive.

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You spin me right round! 😵‍💫

Here's Ferrari's innovative solution to moving the upper flap of the rear wing as part of this season's active aero introduction 👀 #F1 #F1Testing pic.twitter.com/yY0ZcI1Kph

— Formula 1 (@F1) February 19, 2026

But now 2026 rolls around, and the hangover from the previous season seems to have subsided. Suddenly everything looks different. And after the second day of testing in Bahrain, F1 analysts and internet sleuths have noticed it’s not the only thing…

Take a look at the new SF-26. Specifically, the wing. Instead of sipping Aperol in the sun, the Ferrari engineers have been hard at work, bending rules and bending metal to reposition the differential (a key part of how the car handles) and angle the driveshafts, which spin the wheels, to create space behind the diffuser. That extra room allows for improved airflow under the rear wing and speeds air through the diffuser.

Instead of simply flattening for straight-line speed, the flap completely inverts, letting air pass more freely. Faster airflow means more downforce and better rear grip, all without adding any unnecessary drag.

It’s a subtle change, but equally significant, giving Ferrari a qualifying advantage in early tests through Bahrain. And it could prove to be a rare change in fortunes for the Maranello outfit.

But that’s not all. It seems Ferrari has been one of the few F1 teams to make the necessary changes to this season’s start sequences after the FIA announced stricter rules.

Drivers now have to keep the turbo spooled for around 10 seconds before the lights, while managing the battery carefully, which, in turn, has made the start of each race more complicated.

As other teams are left to juggle turbo spooling, battery and clutch control, Ferrari’s new engine appear to be fine-tuned specifically to make starts more predictable. It could prove the difference during one of the most crucial moments in any Grand Prix.

The conversation now (rightly) shifts to how the SF-26 might perform over a full race.

Of course, the team’s strategy execution has been, let’s say, patchy in recent seasons – Australia, China, Azerbaijan, Hungary, and the double DNFs in Zandvoort and São Paulo come to mind – but if they get this right, and keep it firing all season, Ferrari’s all-new submission to the 2026 season has the potential to keep Hamilton and Leclerc competing at the front.

And whilst it’s near on impossible to make sweeping statements about the season, based purely on pre-season testing in the Bahrain sun, it’s a good start. It almost feels like the 2026 SF-26 is the car they should have delivered last year. But now, the team just needs to match it with clean execution. Which is easier said than done.

If they do, the conversation in Maranello will no longer be about what went wrong in 2025, about whether the team can match the lofty ambitions of (both) of its drivers. And what could finally go right to put Lewis Hamilton in pole position for his elusive eighth world championship.