Ferrari prepare F1 fans for 2026 launch as key date announced

Ferrari have announced the date for the launch of their 2026 car, after a raft of rule changes in F1.

The whole F1 world is holding its breath as it waits to see who emerges from some of the most sweeping changes in the sport's history with the upper hand next season.

The team have left just three days between their launch and private pre-season testing starting in Barcelona, when they reveal their new machinery to the world on January 23.

Team principal Fred Vasseur described the team's approach to launching as late as possible as 'aggressive', as he looks to turn around a team which finished fourth in the constructors' championship with the returning pair of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.

Ferrari chief: 'We will be aggressive for sure'

“Nobody is conservative or aggressive or taking risks, it's quite often when you discover what the others did, that you say, ‘oh I was mega aggressive' or ‘I was mega conservative’.

“But honestly today...I can't speak about the others, I don't know about the others, but it's true that we will have the picture, not in Barcelona I don't think, so let’s say Bahrain, and you will see that different teams took different directions, sometimes perhaps a bit 180 degrees, but we don't have the feeling to be aggressive or not.

“What is aggressive is to postpone the release of drawings at max, to arrive in the last minute in Barcelona or in Bahrain with a car that will be assembled in the garage. This is aggressive. If you want to finish one month before, it's not aggressive at all, it's conservative.

“On this we will be aggressive for sure, because we were always. We will finish the assembly of the car the day before the launch, the launch will be the 23rd January, which means we will finish the car on the 22nd, and this is to be aggressive.

“But everybody will do the same, now we have a convergence in the approach of the season, and everybody will do the same.”

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