After only four races, Ferrari already find themselves chasing shadows in the 2026 Formula One championship. The numbers alone paint a worrying picture. Mercedes have surged to 180 points, while Ferrari sit on 110 a 70-point deficit before the European leg of the season has even properly begun.
For a team that entered the year with enormous expectations following the arrival of Lewis Hamilton, that gap is alarming.
Yet despite the bleak statistics, Ferrari’s title challenge may not be completely doomed at least not yet.
The biggest frustration for the Scuderia is that the SF-26 does not appear fundamentally slow. In flashes, it has shown genuine pace. Charles Leclerc secured podium finishes in Australia and Japan, demonstrating that Ferrari can compete near the front under the right conditions. However, Formula One championships are not won through occasional brilliance. They are won through relentless consistency something Ferrari have lacked badly so far.
Miami perfectly summed up their problems.
Leclerc was fighting for another podium before a costly late spin destroyed his race. A subsequent 20-second penalty for repeated track-limits violations only deepened the damage, dropping him to eighth. Hamilton’s weekend was equally frustrating. Early contact left his Ferrari wounded, and the seven-time champion spent most of the race trying to manage the damage rather than attack the leaders.
These are the kinds of weekends that quietly kill title campaigns.
The concern for Ferrari is not simply the points gap itself, but who they are losing ground to. Mercedes look organised, balanced and efficient. Meanwhile, McLaren F1 Team continue to improve rapidly and sit only 16 points behind Ferrari despite not maximising every race yet. If Ferrari’s inconsistency continues, second place in the constructors’ championship could disappear quickly as well.
Ironically, the collapse of Red Bull Racing should have created the perfect opportunity for Ferrari to launch a serious title assault. Instead, Mercedes have capitalised while Ferrari continue to struggle with execution errors, penalties, race management and adapting Hamilton to the new machinery.
Still, declaring the championship over in May would be premature. Modern F1 seasons are long, development races matter enormously, and momentum can swing rapidly with a strong upgrade package. Ferrari’s raw speed suggests they are not hopelessly off the pace they are simply wasting too many opportunities.
But the margin for error has already disappeared.
If Ferrari are still losing major chunks of points by the start of the summer stretch, the focus may inevitably shift from fighting for championships to simply salvaging respectability in Hamilton’s first season in red.
