Ferrari unveils a heavily revised SF-26 for the Miami Grand Prix

While the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix imposed a month-long break on the teams Formula 1Ferrari took the opportunity to refine its SF-26, aiming to challenge the advantage held by Mercedes Benz, The Team It arrives in Florida with the most ambitious development program on the grid, with eleven evolutions introduced. car The Italian machine thus stands out as the most revised for this American fall season.

The work in Maranello begins beneath the car with a thoroughly revised floor. The outer endplates have been redesigned and are now divided into three distinct appendages. This rather extreme design aims to restructure the airflow along the bodywork in order to stabilize the flow and maximize downforce.

At the front of the SF-26, the engineers in Maranello have also revised the front wing by adding an element to the endplate, a solution already seen on other cars this 2026 season. The rear of the car hasn't been neglected either. Ferrari has also reworked its side deflectors to more effectively redirect airflow towards the floor. Airflow optimization has been redesigned by adding two grooves to the rear wing's endplate. This device pushes the air deflection upwards, accentuating the expansion effect to generate a significant increase in downforce. It's also worth noting that the upper corner of the rear wing endplates is now less rounded. Floor optimizations also aim to maximize aerodynamic downforce by stabilizing the airflow under the car to generate a constant load.

The exhaust area received particular attention. The curvature of the deflector in the exhaust's wake was modified, complemented by the addition of a lower fin. These adjustments allow for more efficient direction of hot airflow towards the rear wing for optimal downforce.

Finally, the famous "Macarena" rear wing also benefited from the spring break for a makeover. At the rear, the SF-26 sports a completely new "Macarena" wing with significantly more angular lines. The actuator, larger and angled downwards, now actively contributes to downforce generation. A new mounting element has also been added to stiffen the assembly and limit wing movement, preventing it from rotating multiple times. This evolution of the rear wing aims to stabilize downforce in corners while optimizing aerodynamic drag reduction on straightaways to gain top speed.

Ferrari's upgrades for the Miami GP. Photo: FIA

Ferrari optimizes the SF-26 for Miami

While this is more about fine-tuning than a revolution, these marginal gains could prove decisive before the introduction of ADUO (Additional Design and Improvement Opportunities) scheduled for the Canadian Grand Prix from May 23rd to 25th. The Scuderia hopes to use this program to close its engine power gap to Mercedes, with an expected gain of 25 to 30 horsepower.

While Scuderia Ferrari will be introducing the most upgrades on track, the first clues about the car's performance against the competition will emerge during the single Free Practice session, scheduled from 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM (Paris time). Extended by 30 minutes after a month-long break, this run will be the only rehearsal before the first major event of the weekend: Qualifying for the sprint race.

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