Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur - Photo: RacePictures

Haas and Cadillac hit the ground running as Ferrari faces growing pressure

19:00, 19 Jan

Updated: 20:09, 19 Jan

byBen Hunt

Credit to the Haas F1 team on the launch of their car for the 2026 season, delivered on time to the media through a series of press releases and images of the VF-26. Cadillac too have been cracking on with the build of the team’s first F1 car and have been pumping out the content on social media.

Both teams, despite constrained budgets and timelines, respectively, appear to be in a good shape ahead of the new season, which is more than can be said for their engine suppliers, Ferrari.

Ferrari in trouble?

Last week, the Italian team removed Riccardo Adami from his role as Lewis Hamilton’s race engineer. The news, announced late on Friday night, was a surprise given sources had told GPblog that he was indeed remaining as Hamilton’s race engineer despite their communication problems last season.

Adami has been moved to another role within the team involving the Ferrari Driver Academy.

Add into the mix that the team has also moved its experienced and excellent Chief Communications Officer into another role and the picture becomes even more confusing.

There are already rumours that the team is struggling with the develop of this season’s car, with the engine being down on power compared to that being developed by Mercedes.

The fact that Cadillac, a Ferrari customer released the sound of their engine fire-up ahead of the manufacturer did not help matters.

Last season the team finished without a single victory in a grands prix, morale was low with Hamilton and Charles Leclerc speaking out, resulting in Ferrari chairman John Elkann telling them to “talk less and focus on driving”.

Team principal Fred Vasseur received some hefty public backing from Elkann but the reality is Ferrari cannot endure another slow start to this new era of F1.

Ferrari cannot afford a slow start to the season

The team is under huge pressure to deliver and win a first title since Kimi Raikkonen won the 2007 Drivers; Championship, and in December, the Ferrari share price dipped to a 23-month low amid revised financial forecasts.

Last season, McLaren clinched both titles and in truth, little was made of the fact that a customer team had trumped.

However, should Haas or Cadillac, come out ahead of Ferrari at the start of the season - which is entirely possible - that would certainly be something, and upping the pressure on F1’s most-famous team.