Ferrari Project 678 Speculation Thread

[Luscion]

Speculation thread for Ferrari's 2026 challenger.


Car will launch mid January and will then have a few minor aerodynamic modifications during the February tests in Bahrain

Ferrari will participate in the Barcelona tests but mainly to gather initial data on the new power unit

The 2026 car will have almost nothing in common with the SF-25

Unlike the SF-25 the 2026 car will have a continuous development plan for each single race, directed by Frank Sanchez

The simulator drivers have already worked on a change in driving style, which will not only concern the management of the electric part, but also a hybrid driving style between the 2021 (non-ground-effect) and 2022 (ground-effect) cars.


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Mod edit note: As usual, let's wait until there is actual hardware for the official car thread.
Feel free to dream, speculate and mix a bit of team stuff in this thread until then.
Speculation car thread here.

The car threads, since the moment there is actual hardware, will be strictly moderated for on-topic-ness, as usual. But car speculation threads, pre-real-hardware, will take a much, much more loose stance in that matter.

This thread stickied until then.

[Xyz22]

The only "confirmed" bit is that the rear suspension will be push rod.

Source is autoracer.

[bauc]

Speculation thread for Ferrari's 2026 challenger.


Unlike the SF-25 the 2026 car will have a continuous development plan for each single race, directed by Frank Sanchez

Sounds great on paper, but one wrong update and you are back on the drawing board, but this is Ferrari, they will be 1st or last, there is nothing in between.

[bluechris]

Speculation thread for Ferrari's 2026 challenger.


Unlike the SF-25 the 2026 car will have a continuous development plan for each single race, directed by Frank Sanchez

Sounds great on paper, but one wrong update and you are back on the drawing board, but this is Ferrari, they will be 1st or last, there is nothing in between.

All teams pass this bad stage, McLaren got that for how many years? MB the last year's like Ferrari and so on.
The point is to have a championship with the teams hand in hand with no big differences where we will love F1 again.

[matteosc]

Speculation thread for Ferrari's 2026 challenger.


Unlike the SF-25 the 2026 car will have a continuous development plan for each single race, directed by Frank Sanchez

Sounds great on paper, but one wrong update and you are back on the drawing board, but this is Ferrari, they will be 1st or last, there is nothing in between.

Actually Ferrari is usually one of the top 3 teams, with some notable exception. Sometimes first, very often second, a few times third, almost never last.

[bauc]

Speculation thread for Ferrari's 2026 challenger.


Unlike the SF-25 the 2026 car will have a continuous development plan for each single race, directed by Frank Sanchez

Sounds great on paper, but one wrong update and you are back on the drawing board, but this is Ferrari, they will be 1st or last, there is nothing in between.

Actually Ferrari is usually one of the top 3 teams, with some notable exception. Sometimes first, very often second, a few times third, almost never last.

It was a metaphor of their mentality, not their actual results, they only care of winning nothing else matters, and often they are their own biggest enemy.

[bluechris]

Sounds great on paper, but one wrong update and you are back on the drawing board, but this is Ferrari, they will be 1st or last, there is nothing in between.

Actually Ferrari is usually one of the top 3 teams, with some notable exception. Sometimes first, very often second, a few times third, almost never last.

It was a metaphor of their mentality, not their actual results, they only care of winning nothing else matters, and often they are their own biggest enemy.

This is correct, but there are caveats about being the biggest team in F1. The pressure is huge, and lately they cannot handle it. If we had Toto all could have been great. The man could sell fish saying it is pork and everyone would believe him.

[FDD]

Actually Ferrari is usually one of the top 3 teams, with some notable exception. Sometimes first, very often second, a few times third, almost never last.

It was a metaphor of their mentality, not their actual results, they only care of winning nothing else matters, and often they are their own biggest enemy.

This is correct, but there are caveats about being the biggest team in F1. The pressure is huge, and lately they cannot handle it. If we had Toto all could have been great. The man could sell fish saying it is pork and everyone would believe him.

I'm watching F1 even before 1980.
When Alfa left F1 (my father bring the first Alfa in Skopje in the 70s), my fav became Ferrari.
Their present leaders has nothing in common with auto-sport passion, their only passion are excel sheets ie profit.

[f1316]

It’s been said that this is the only time in history that the chassis and engine regulations have been overhauled at the same time - I haven’t fact checked that but it’s the first time I remember it, at least on this scale (there were some chassis changes in 2014 but they weren’t major like this). In principle, there’s no team better placed to manage the confluence of these factors than Ferrari, with all departments on the same campus and, in theory, completely integrated.

Will it actually work out that way? My spidey sense - based on very little but the general scuttlebut going around - is that this will be another missed opportunity. After something like 35 years watching F1, I tend to think there’s no smoke without fire in many of the rumours and it sounds like Mercedes (and possibly Honda) are likely to have a jump on the engine front, which I think will be the biggest performance differentiator to begin with. Losing your lead engine folks (eg Zimmerman) at the stage they did also can’t help.

That said, on paper some of the approaches make sense: (1) they stopped aero development on 2025 earlier than rivals and finishing 4th will actually help out a little bit, since they’ll have a bit more aero runs (2) going “extreme” on the combustion side and being innovative in terms of 3D printing (both of which are rumoured) are likely the types of things that are needed. So perhaps there’s room for the rumours to be proven wrong and I remain cautiously hopeful, albeit not as optimistic as usual.

[Sbrillo88]

From Motorsport: Ferrari may could be use steel alloy cylinder head instead of aluminum in their new PU 2026.
https://it.motorsport.com/f1/news/f1-fe ... /10787246/

Use Google translate on the article.
I don’t know if this will be the right move.
They obviously will gain some weight on the engine.
Thoughts?

[MattLightBlue]

From Motorsport: Ferrari may could be use steel alloy cylinder head instead of aluminum in their new PU 2026.
https://it.motorsport.com/f1/news/f1-fe ... /10787246/

Use Google translate on the article.
I don’t know if this will be the right move.
They obviously will gain some weight on the engine.
Thoughts?

A few years back I tested some specimens for an additive manufacturing (3d printing) specific steel alloy. The aim was to make only a part of the cylinder head, the geometry which includes combustion chamber and related cooling channels.
They specifically chose the alloy for its high thermal conductivity compared to other steels.
I know no more about further developments.

[brakeboosted]

From Motorsport: Ferrari may could be use steel alloy cylinder head instead of aluminum in their new PU 2026.
https://it.motorsport.com/f1/news/f1-fe ... /10787246/

Use Google translate on the article.
I don’t know if this will be the right move.
They obviously will gain some weight on the engine.
Thoughts?

I find it very hard to believe, and especially because it's coming from Nugnes. In such a thermal and weight limited application, aluminium offers better stiffness to weight, and its thermal properties are far superior. We’ll see, but I find it hard to believe.

[Badger]

From Motorsport: Ferrari may could be use steel alloy cylinder head instead of aluminum in their new PU 2026.
https://it.motorsport.com/f1/news/f1-fe ... /10787246/

Use Google translate on the article.
I don’t know if this will be the right move.
They obviously will gain some weight on the engine.
Thoughts?

Wasn't this the same rumour that was debunked before? Why would you need a stronger/heavier alloy for an engine where the compression ratio will be lower?

[MattLightBlue]

From Motorsport: Ferrari may could be use steel alloy cylinder head instead of aluminum in their new PU 2026.
https://it.motorsport.com/f1/news/f1-fe ... /10787246/

Use Google translate on the article.
I don’t know if this will be the right move.
They obviously will gain some weight on the engine.
Thoughts?

Wasn't this the same rumour that was debunked before? Why would you need a stronger/heavier alloy for an engine where the compression ratio will be lower?

Come on guys, we are better than in this on this forum. Stop with the compression ratio BS, even if true it is not the only factor at play for developing engines.
Increasing combustion chamber temperature and mep (i.e. mean effective pressure) are other ways for improving power and efficiency of an engine.

[Badger]

From Motorsport: Ferrari may could be use steel alloy cylinder head instead of aluminum in their new PU 2026.
https://it.motorsport.com/f1/news/f1-fe ... /10787246/

Use Google translate on the article.
I don’t know if this will be the right move.
They obviously will gain some weight on the engine.
Thoughts?

Wasn't this the same rumour that was debunked before? Why would you need a stronger/heavier alloy for an engine where the compression ratio will be lower?

Come on guys, we are better than in this on this forum. Stop with the compression ratio BS, even if true it is not the only factor at play for developing engines.
Increasing combustion chamber temperature and mep (i.e. mean effective pressure) are other ways for improving power and efficiency of an engine.

Come on you. The FIA lowered the compression ratio from 18:1 to 16:1 for 2026, on the face of it that doesn't necessitate a change to a much denser and more durable piston material. Quite the opposite.