SF-26's low-speed gains give Ferrari serious Monaco leverage
Ferrari enters this year’s Monaco Grand Prix with the clearest technical upside for the street race. The SF‑26’s strong low‑speed performance, notably its traction out of slow corners, a smaller turbocharger and features such as an exhaust‑blown element and a rear winglet that paddock observers have highlighted, suits Monaco’s short straights and low‑to‑medium‑speed corners. This season’s rule changes have reduced the importance of outright straight‑line power. They include the removal of straight‑line mode areas, lower overtake‑mode energy and reduced high‑speed deployment, a shift of electronic power to 50 percent, narrower cars and a return to a normal one‑stop tyre rule. Those changes have made battery management less constraining and improved low‑speed energy recovery. That should tighten qualifying and play to Ferrari’s strengths, even though overtaking around Monaco will remain difficult. That should boost expectations for Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton at Monte Carlo. Leclerc, the 2024 Monaco winner who has three poles from seven appearances and a strong qualifying record at the principality, remains a leading candidate for pole and race pace; he called his Canadian weekend “the most difficult” of his career. Hamilton, who moved to Ferrari in 2025 and finished second in Canada, said he was “convinced” he could finally mount a genuine challenge for his first Ferrari win at Monaco and stressed the need for careful setup work in practice. He and others note that, if development programmes such as ADUO narrow Ferrari’s engine gap, the team could contend even more strongly. Still, rivals and circumstances temper expectations of a Ferrari runaway. Mercedes, McLaren and Red Bull remain threats, and some pre‑race assessments still name Mercedes the favourite after the team’s strong qualifying form this season and an overall qualifying advantage over Ferrari. Championship leader Kimi Antonelli, 43 points clear, called Ferrari the “team to beat” and pointed to the rear winglet as evidence of how finely matched the weekend could be. Monaco’s history of crashes, miscued yellow flags or a little rain means surprise results remain possible despite the SF‑26’s low‑speed strengths.
