Ferrari announce date of major F1 upgrade

Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur has explained that the team's first big 2026 upgrade is to be delayed to the Miami Grand Prix, owing to the Middle East crisis. 

Originally set to be round six of the season on the first weekend in May, Miami has now shuffled forward to round four following the cancellations of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian GPs due to the ongoing war between the United States, Israel, and Iran. 

This means there will be no grand prix racing in April for the first time since 2020, with teams unable to develop big upgrade packages in time for the Japanese GP at Suzuka next weekend. 

Owing to its familiarity, teams were set to bring their first big packages to Sakhir for the Bahrain race, where two of the three pre-season tests were held, but following the cancellation of the race, it means upgrades must be pushed back until Miami.

Further complicating matters for any teams bringing big upgrades to Miami is that it, and the following Canadian GP are both Sprint weekends. Following that is the Monaco GP, where it is traditionally tough to evaluate upgrades, meaning the next normal weekend for teams is the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix in mid-June.

However, Vasseur has explained that he believes all the leading teams, including his Ferrari, will deliver a big package to Miami.

"Nobody can know today that it would have been the situation in Bahrain and Jeddah that we are all developing a lot," Vasseur told media, including RacingNews365. 

"I think that you were not going to see new parts in Melbourne, Shanghai, or Japan for cost cap reasons.

"I think everybody was supposed to bring a big upgrade in Bahrain, and that this will be postponed to Miami.

"I can't anticipate what will be the package of Mercedes, Red Bull, McLaren, or us, but let's focus on ourselves. 

"Let's push until Miami. We also have more time to develop and to bring more performance in Miami, and I think it's true for us, but it's true for our competitors."