Ferrari completed a massive 4,500 kilometres of running across pre-season testing thus far, with team principal Fred Vasseur noting that 2026 Bahrain F1 testing focuses firmly on data collection rather than lap times.
After a challenging F1 2025 season that saw no victories for the team and a fourth-place finish in the Constructors’, the arrival of the new technical regulations has offered the perfect opportunity for a reset.
A patient approach to the 2026 F1 season
Speaking to F1TV, Vasseur noted Ferrari’s methodical approach that is priortising mileage rather than performance.
The ‘spec A’ car has performed exactly as intended, and is gathering lots of data for the team.
“I would say that so far so good,” Vasseur said following 2026 Bahrain testing.
“We did something like 4,500 kilometres so far, and it went pretty well on the reliability side.
“It’s the best way to collect data and to try to understand what are the options and how we can improve the car step by step.”
For a team that endured its fair share of technical problems in recent seasons, Ferrari’s current display of reliability is a promising sign.
“We are not speaking at all about performance so far,” Vasseur noted.
“Everybody’s focused on himself with his own reference and we can’t make any comparison. But it’s so far it went well on our side, to build up the knowledge of the car step by step. Still a long way to go.”
4,500km and counting
Vasseur noted another positive for the team at F1 2026 Bahrain testing, noting the correlation between their simulations and how the car is behaving on track.
“We have a good correlation also,” he noted. “It’s positive but it’s nothing about performance, it’s about the quality of work that we are doing.”
“You always want to do more, you always want to do more laps,” Vasseur admitted.
“But overall I think it went pretty well. That we didn’t have any big issue on the reliability, that we never stopped the car so far.”
Development race heating up for Vasseur following F1 2026 Bahrain testing
Vasseur has made it clear that the Bahrain running represented the opening chapter of a much longer story for Ferrari in 2026.
“I’m really convinced that everybody will bring a huge upgrade next week and perhaps again in Melbourne,” he said.
“It will be like this at the beginning of the season because the rate of development is very, very high.”
As Vasseur noted about F1 2026 Bahrain testing, “It’s nothing about performance, it’s about the quality of work that we are doing.” In a season where reliability and development will be front and centre, that quality of work may just make the difference.
