The Italian team is living in a climate of internal tension over the results and the versions about a broken relationship between the team principal and the CEO. The performance of the SF-26 and the gap to Mercedes fuel the discontent in Maranello.
The pressure on Frédéric Vasseur keeps growing. The Ferrari director is once again in the eye of the hurricane after a stretch of the season in which the results have not lived up to expectations. From Italy the criticism of his management multiplies and his leadership style, described as that of an "absolute boss," has even earned him the nickname "Napoleon," the climate in Maranello is anything but calm.
The sporting picture does not help calm the waters either, the SF-26 was born with competitive performance but Ferrari has failed to get closer to Mercedes in the championship fight. After the Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid, Kimi Antonelli extended his advantage over Lewis Hamilton to more than 100 points, the Scuderia occupies second position in the constructors' championship but its 52 unit advantage over McLaren is far from definitive. Both teams have the same number of wins although the Woking team also took the Miami Sprint with a one two included. Ferrari won in Barcelona with Hamilton and at Silverstone with Charles Leclerc, while Mercedes has already accumulated ten wins. Since July McLaren seems to have taken a step forward in performance, which increased the pressure on the Italian team.
Reliability has been one of the SF-26's strong points, it is the car that has had the fewest problems in the top group with only one retirement for this reason. However that solidity is not enough to compensate for the performance difference, the engine also exposes one of the difficulties, despite the two updates introduced under the ADUO regulations, Ferrari's power unit was losing six tenths on the straights compared to Mercedes, to this were added the poor results obtained in Monza and Madrid, two rounds in which the Scuderia expected much more.
All this context has once again put Vasseur under the magnifying glass. As journalist Giorgio Terruzzi revealed on his podcast, the internal war inside Ferrari continues and the relationship between the team principal and the company's CEO, Benedetto Vigna, would currently be nonexistent. The nickname "Napoleon" emerged according to this information, from an attitude they describe as that of an "absolute boss," "a bit annoying" and "a bit arrogant," Terruzzi also maintains that there is currently no plan B nor a defined candidate to replace Vasseur, who last year renewed his contract long term.
One of the names that usually appears in the versions is that of Antonello Coletta, head of Ferrari's World Endurance Championship team, however his experience is not equivalent to running a Formula 1 team and according to this information, Coletta himself would not be interested in the possibility. Another name historically linked to Ferrari is Christian Horner, John Elkann would have always valued his figure but an alliance at this moment would not be viable.
In parallel, Pino Allievi assured that Ferrari would have tried to sign Andrea Stella, current McLaren boss. The Italian has an extensive relationship with Maranello where he worked during Michael Schumacher's era of dominance and was Fernando Alonso's race engineer, however Stella would have decided to stay at McLaren, a project he has led since 2023 and that has reached the top of Formula 1.
Hamilton also appears in the versions about the internal situation, pointed out by some voices because he "seems like a separate republic within Ferrari." The close of 2026 and the preparation of the project for 2027 will be marked by an especially demanding context in Maranello.
