FIORANO MODENESE, Italy: Lewis Hamilton is braced for the &quot;massive challenge&quot; of adapting to the seismic change in technical regulations facing the 2026&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/williams-to-miss-opening-f1-test-due-to-car-delays" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Formula One</a>&nbsp;grid as Ferrari unveiled their new car on Friday.&nbsp;The seven-time world champion and his teammate Charles Leclerc put the SF-26 through its paces at the Scuderia&#39;s Fiorano private test track near their Maranello headquarters.&nbsp;&quot;It&#39;s the biggest regulation shift I think our sport has seen, at least in my time,&quot; the 41-year-old Briton said.&nbsp;&quot;But every single time that it has been a shift into a new regulation, it&#39;s been a massive challenge.&nbsp;&quot;Everyone starts from scratch, so it really levels the playing field. Then it&rsquo;s really all about development, who can develop faster, who comes up with the best ideas, and then a unified team growing at the same pace.&quot;&nbsp;Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur reflected on &quot;an emotional day&quot; seeing their new creation emerge out of the garage and onto the track.&nbsp;&quot;It went pretty well, huge amount of work but we are all more than happy, it&#39;s not the end of the story but the beginning of the season,&quot; he said.&nbsp;&quot;Let&#39;s be positive and enjoy the story.&quot;&nbsp;The Frenchman added: &quot;It was good to see the car leave the garage but it&#39;s the start of a new journey.&quot;&nbsp;&#39;Too early for expectations&#39;Given all 11 teams are in the same boat, starting from scratch, Vasseur was keen to play down expectations for the season-opener in Australia in early March.&nbsp;&quot;We&#39;ll see the situation in Melbourne, today was a first step,&quot; said Vasseur.&nbsp;&quot;The rate of development will be much higher than years before.&nbsp;&quot;We will see about performance in Melbourne, it&#39;s too early for expectations.&quot;&nbsp;For the first time in his illustrious career Hamilton failed to even muster a podium finish last term as Ferrari slumped to fourth in the constructors&#39; standings.&nbsp;They were last crowned constructors&#39; champions in 2008, with Kimi Raikkonen supplying the last of their 15 drivers&#39; titles the year before.&nbsp;Hamilton has admitted that the last time cars were radically changed in 2022 they did not suit his driving style.&nbsp;He will be desperately hoping the 2026 reiteration will be more to his taste in the twilight years of his decorated career.&nbsp;He moved from Mercedes to Ferrari in the hope of securing a record eighth world title - but given his woeful debut year now he will be relieved just to win another race.&nbsp;There has been a significant change out of the car too, with Hamilton&#39;s race engineer Riccardo Adami moving aside to assume another role in the team.&nbsp;Hamilton, who had forged such a close rapport with his engineer at Mercedes, Pete &#39;Bobo&#39; Bonnington, and Adami appeared to have a spiky relationship at times during races over the team radio.&nbsp;The watching Tifosi haven&#39;t had much to shout about recently, and Leclerc paid tribute to their fortitude and faith.&nbsp;&quot;I can only thank them for the huge amount of support we have every single year,&rdquo; said the man from Monaco.&nbsp;&quot;That definitely pushes us, that motivates us, and that is what makes Ferrari so special. It&#39;s thanks to the Tifosi and the support that we have all over the world.&quot;&nbsp;Coming up is next week&#39;s Barcelona shakedown when the new cars will test away from the media, followed by back-to-back tests in Bahrain in February.&nbsp;The 24-race season gets underway in Australia on March 8.

Racing

Lewis Hamilton calls Formula One’s 2026 regulation overhaul a massive challenge as Ferrari unveils the SF-26 at Fiorano, stressing development speed, teamwork and patience, with expectations tempered ahead of testing and the Australian Grand Prix.

Ferrari unveil 2026 car with Hamilton ready for 'massive challenge'

MARANELLO: Ferrari&#39;s first electric sports car, to be released next year, will be a four-seat coupe with over 1,000 horsepower and a range of 530 kilometres (329 miles), the company announced Thursday. Named &quot;Elettrica&quot;, the new Ferrari is primarily targeted at wealthy customers &quot;who want to drive only electric cars and want to live the Ferrari experience,&quot; Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna said during a presentation to investors and the media at the company&#39;s factory in Maranello. But Ferrari has no intention of going all-electric with its portfolio anytime soon. &quot;It&#39;s an addition (to the lineup), not a transition,&quot; Vigna said. The company did not disclose a selling price for the car, but analysts say Ferrari will need to carefully position it in relation to the nearly 500,000 euros ($580,500) base price of its Purosangue SUV. Ferrari already sells nearly half of its cars in hybrid versions, but until now has not made the shift to electric, coming several years after Porsche, Lamborghini, Lotus, and the very fast Rimac. Ferrari&#39;s management unveiled the car&#39;s architecture on Wednesday evening, with a very low driving position in a recycled aluminium chassis with a large motor on each of the four wheels. As expected from Ferrari, the Elettrica promises to be fast, going from zero to 100 kilometres per hour in 2.5 seconds with a maximum speed of 310 km/h, but the choice of a four-seater model puts it behind some of its competitors. The classic Ferrari shift paddles on the steering wheel will be used on the Elettrica to opt between a smooth or sporty driving style, modulating the power of the motors and the suspension control. In an homage to large gasoline engines, the Elettrica offers a simulated downshift, while the purr of the traditional engines will be replaced with an amplified sound from the electric motor. That will &quot;give information&quot; to the driver about the feel of the road, explained Gianmaria Fulgenzi, product director at Ferrari. &quot;It&#39;s like choosing between a sailboat and a motorboat: both are exciting but in different ways,&quot; he said. The brand has taken on the costly development of most of the technical innovations internally, particularly the integrated battery pack, &quot;because keeping that expert knowledge in-house means we can stay competitive&quot;, he said. The final model is due to be unveiled in early 2026. On Thursday morning, Ferrari is set to give hundreds of investors and financial analysts invited to Maranello details of its strategy for the coming years. The aim is to protect its significant profit margins (which in the first half of 2025 were 23.4 percent) in the rapidly changing automotive and luxury sectors.

A Ferrari logo is reflected on the external wall of the company's factory in Maranello, Italy, October 2, 2025. (REUTERS)

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Ferrari's first electric sports car, the four-seat "Elettrica," with 1,000+ horsepower and 530 km range, will debut in 2026 as an addition, not a transition.

Articles tagged with "Ferrari"

Ferrari unveil 2026 car with Hamilton ready for 'massive challenge'

Ferrari goes electric with four-seat coupe 'Elettrica'