Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc handed major Ferrari warning: 'It's a disaster'

Former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher has warned Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc that Ferrari’s 2026 season already looks set to be a "disaster" due to its development approach.

The Scuderia are taking an extremely aggressive approach to F1’s new power-unit regulations and are essentially working on two different cars.

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur confirmed during the outfit’s Christmas gathering in Maranello that it had adopted a two-phase development approach for the first race under the new regulations.

An A-spec car will be used during next week’s behind-closed-doors test in Barcelona, before a B-spec car is introduced at the official pre-season tests in Bahrain next month.

This will result in major aerodynamic and performance-related improvements in Bahrain, where a clear evolution of the SF-26 will be seen.

Ferrari is not alone in this, with the vast majority of teams having already confirmed that whatever its car looks like in Barcelona will be very different by the Bahrain tests and the season opener.

Schumacher has heard similar regarding Ferrari’s strategy for the upcoming season and believes it does not paint a positive picture for the Scuderia.

"As for Ferrari, disaster already seems to be looming again, at least reading between the lines," Schumacher told Sky Deutschland’s Backstage Boxengasse podcast.

"That’s what stands out the most.

"They appear to be developing two different cars. I can almost imagine that it’s because Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton have completely different opinions on the car.

"If that’s the case, it’s a disaster from the outset.

"I’ve always said you can’t develop two cars and Fred Vasseur has hinted at it himself as well, so it all seems far from ideal."