Ferrari’s much-anticipated upgrade package has failed to deliver at the Miami Grand Prix, with the Scuderia appearing to lose ground to its rivals despite introducing a major aerodynamic update after F1’s five-week break in April.
Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc could only manage sixth and eighth place finishes respectively in Miami — Leclerc’s result compounded by a post-race penalty — while McLaren and Red Bull both closed the gap to championship leaders Mercedes with their own upgrades.
The outcome has raised concerns at Maranello, with former F1 driver Karun Chandhok warning that Ferrari may have slipped behind in the development race at a critical juncture in the season.
Miami Was Meant to Be Ferrari’s Moment
Expectations were high heading into Miami. Ferrari debuted its revised SF-26 following the enforced break after the cancellation of races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, with the Italian team banking on the upgrade to propel them closer to — or even ahead of — Mercedes at the front of the field.
Instead, the weekend exposed a worrying trend. While McLaren and Red Bull appeared to extract meaningful performance gains from their own updates, Ferrari’s new package underwhelmed.
“If that is the big Ferrari upgrade for this early part of the season, then McLaren and Mercedes won’t be worried,” Chandhok said. “Miami should have been the weekend which propelled them in front. I feel like they’ve slipped behind. For me, there should be a little bit of concern at Maranello and Ferrari.”
The concern is compounded by what’s coming next. Mercedes is expected to bring its own major upgrade to the Canadian Grand Prix, and McLaren is rumoured to have further developments in the pipeline for Montreal as well. Ferrari risks being left behind if it cannot unlock more performance from its current specification.
Questions Over Ferrari’s Development Direction
Chandhok warned that Ferrari must evaluate whether there is untapped potential in its Miami upgrade — or whether the team has hit a dead end with its current development path.
“They’ve got to think about whether there’s further performance to be optimised or unlocked from this update because otherwise they will get dropped behind when McLaren add the bits that we believe are coming to Canada and Mercedes get their big upgrade,” he said.
Sky Sports F1 commentator David Croft went further, suggesting Ferrari could be “in trouble” if it doesn’t have another upgrade ready soon. He questioned whether the team’s smaller turbo design — believed to provide an advantage in the opening laps — may be hurting Ferrari as fuel loads decrease and power delivery becomes more critical later in races.
“I don’t know what it is with Ferrari. Is it that small turbo that’s great in the opening laps, but as the fuel kind of burns off with the other cars, then they don’t have that advantage from that smaller turbo, and it becomes a disadvantage for them?” Croft said. “I hope on the drawing board somewhere at Maranello, they’ve got another upgrade package that works a little bit better, otherwise they are in trouble.”
Hamilton’s race was compromised by a loss of downforce early on, while Leclerc’s post-race penalty further obscured Ferrari’s true pace. Still, the underlying message from Miami was clear: Ferrari’s upgrade did not deliver the step forward the team needed.
What’s Next for Ferrari
The Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal looms as a critical test. With Mercedes and McLaren both expected to bring performance upgrades, Ferrari will need to find answers quickly — either by extracting more from its current package or by fast-tracking additional development work.
The team has fallen behind at a time when the championship battle is still open, and with Mercedes extending its lead at the front, Ferrari cannot afford to tread water. The next two races will reveal whether Maranello can turn its season around — or whether the Miami upgrade marks the beginning of a deeper slide down the order.
The Canadian Grand Prix takes place on June 13-15, with qualifying on June 14 and the race on June 15.