Ferrari have chosen not to bring any upgrades to the 2026 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps, mirroring the approach taken by Aston Martin this weekend.
The decision comes as the Scuderia sit firmly in contention for both the drivers’ and constructors’ championships, currently behind Mercedes in both standings after ten rounds.
Fred Vasseur’s team have been aggressive with their development throughout the season, with both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc each claiming a race victory in 2026.
Their rapid upgrade pace even drew comments from Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, who suggested Ferrari might exhaust their cost cap budget if they continued at such a rate.
Vasseur took exception to those remarks, interpreting them as an accusation of cheating, which sparked a public dispute between the two team bosses.
Whether Wolff’s words influenced Ferrari’s thinking at Spa is unclear, but the outcome is that Ferrari and Aston Martin are the only two teams not introducing any new parts this weekend.
Hamilton acknowledged before Friday practice that he and Ferrari had genuine uncertainty about how competitive they would be around the high-speed Belgian circuit.
“On this track, it’s very difficult. This track is lots and lots of straights. We went to Silverstone and we thought that it was going to be much further down, the power, and it was quick through the corners, so it was far better than we anticipated,” the 41-year-old said.
“So, we come here again not really knowing what to expect, except for the track that is like 50 per cent more straights. I think there still was a gap of maybe three or four tenths in the last race, so here we probably anticipate it will be a little bit more. But we’re doing everything we can,” Hamilton continued.
Elsewhere in the paddock, McLaren are trialling a new rear wing during Friday practice, while Red Bull have abandoned their controversial ‘macarena’ wing, which is believed to have contributed to two of Max Verstappen’s recent crashes in Austria and Silverstone.
All seven other teams at Spa have brought performance updates to the circuit, putting additional pressure on Ferrari and Aston Martin to extract the maximum from existing packages.
Ferrari’s difficult Friday was compounded by a procedural error following the two practice sessions, when the team failed to return the correct number of tyres to Pirelli ahead of FP2.
Both Hamilton and Leclerc’s cars were subject to the breach, resulting in Ferrari receiving two separate fines of 5,000 euros each, though the team avoided a grid penalty.
For Aston Martin, the absence of upgrades in Belgium aligns with the broader strategy outlined by Adrian Newey, who explained the team’s thinking at the British Grand Prix.
“We took the decision after Melbourne that there was no point in introducing small changes that would still leave us with no chance of scoring points,” Newey said on the Silverstone grid.
“So we take a bit of pressure off ourselves, regroup, put systems in place for the future and work on a proper upgrade which we hope for Hungary. There will be a bit more coming in Zandvoort, combined with Honda introducing an upgrade, which will be for Zandvoort,” Newey added.
“So at that point I’m hoping we’ll be at least in a points-scoring position. I’m not saying top 10, but if we can at least get into Q2 then we can see from there,” the design chief concluded.