HALF TERM REPORT: Ferrari’s best and worst moments from 2026 so far and driver head-to-heads

Ferrari chose to focus on preparations for 2026 at an early stage of last year – and while that meant that 2025 was particularly challenging, the decision seems to have paid off given the Scuderia’s progress this season. Can the Italian outfit take that trajectory further in the second half? Here is their half term report…

Best finish

Lewis Hamilton – 1st in Barcelona; Charles Leclerc – 1st in Great Britain

It was a winless campaign for Ferrari in 2025, while Lewis Hamilton’s debut season with the team was also the first of his career in which he failed to stand on a Grand Prix podium.

Things soon looked more positive as 2026 got underway, though, with both Charles Leclerc and Hamilton claiming podiums during the opening rounds. The next step finally came for Hamilton in Barcelona, where the seven-time World Champion put in a stunning performance to seal his maiden win in red.

That emotional moment was followed two rounds later by a victory for Leclerc at Silverstone, a result that came as something of a surprise to the team given that they had not expected to be competitive at the circuit.

Qualifying head-to-head

Leclerc 6-5 Hamilton

There is very little to choose between the two Ferrari drivers in the Qualifying head-to-head, with Leclerc just leading the way by six to five from his team mate.

Neither has taken a pole position as of yet in 2026, P2 being the best result so far for both Leclerc and Hamilton.

Race head-to-head

Leclerc 5-6 Hamilton

The advantage switches to Hamilton in the race day statistics, though again the lead is only fractional as the Briton has recorded a higher finish on six occasions to Leclerc’s five.

As touched on above, the duo are equal on one win apiece, while Hamilton has five podiums in comparison to four for Leclerc. In terms of retirements, Leclerc has two to his name – but Hamilton has achieved an impressive record of finishing in the points at every round so far.

Best moment

It is hard to pick between each driver’s respective race win in this section, with both victories marking a long-awaited – and emotional – return to the top step.

Hamilton’s triumph in the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix was undoubtedly one of the moments of the season so far. Given how downbeat the Briton appeared at times during his challenging 2025 campaign, it seemed to be proof that his reset over the winter – which he described as a “sequence of unplugging from that matrix” – had paid off.

The victory became Hamilton’s first since the 2024 Belgian Grand Prix – and it was a similarly long wait for Leclerc, whose Austin win back in 2024 was his last prior to his P1 at Silverstone. “Today, the feeling was back where it needs to be,” the Monegasque said after his triumph in Great Britain.

Perhaps most importantly, both wins were on merit – proving that Ferrari once again had the pace to be in the mix for victories after their winless 2025.

Worst moment

On a weekend where Ferrari arrived with the momentum from Hamilton’s Barcelona win two weeks earlier, the Austrian Grand Prix would prove to be what the Briton labelled as a “reality check” for the team.

After Friday’s running was deemed “particularly difficult” by Leclerc, things initially appeared to have improved for the Scuderia on Saturday when Leclerc and Hamilton secured second and third on the grid respectively.

Race day, however, would prove much trickier. Both cars struggled with tyre degradation in the hot conditions, with each going onto a three-stop strategy en route to a P5 for Hamilton and P8 for Leclerc, the latter conceding that he had been “struggling a lot”.

Team Principal Fred Vasseur admitted the main issue for the squad had been that they “didn’t have the pace” of their rivals, adding that they had been “too focused on Mercedes” and that the team would need to learn from the weekend.

Going forward

It is clear that Ferrari have made progress this season, with the team delivering upgrades that have helped them to be competitive and to continue to close the gap to Mercedes.

However, with the Hungarian Grand Prix highlighting just how much rivals such as McLaren and Red Bull are also homing in, there is still work to do for the Scuderia in order to stay on top of the increasingly tight development war.

Consequently, a key focus in the second half will be to ensure that they continue to bring more parts to the car – and ultimately battle for more wins.

Vasseur has vowed that Ferrari will “come back stronger” when the season resumes in Zandvoort, a sentiment echoed by Leclerc. Similarly, Hamilton – who remains P2 in the Drivers’ Championship and very much in the title fight – is confident that there are still “plenty of opportunities ahead”.

It will be fascinating to see if the Italian outfit can capitalise on those opportunities and keep their competitors at bay during the second half.