Ferrari will kick off its 2026 Formula 1 programme in aggressive fashion, with Fred Vasseur revealing that the team will complete assembly of its new challenger only one day before launch at Fiorano.

“This will be aggressive for sure, because we will finish the assembly of the car the day before the launch. The launch will be the 23rd of January in Maranello. It means that we'll finish the car on the 22nd. And this is aggressive, but everybody will do the same,” Vasseur said at Ferrari’s end-of-year press conference in Maranello.

The 2026 car, which will be driven by Charles Leclerc and new signing Lewis Hamilton, does not yet have an official name, and Vasseur is deliberately keeping that detail under wraps.

“This will be part of the launch and you will discover it a bit later. I don't want to spoil everybody and to spoil everything,” he said.

With Formula 1 heading into a brand-new technical era and three pre-season tests scheduled between Barcelona and Bahrain, Ferrari’s early build is aimed at maximising mileage rather than chasing outright speed in the opening phase.

“In this situation, the most important is to get mileage. It's not to chase performance. It's to get mileage to validate the technical choice on the car in terms of reliability. And then to get performance. It means that I think everybody will come in Barcelona with – not a mule car – but let's say a spec A,” Vasseur explained.

With significantly more testing days available than in recent seasons, Ferrari intends to use Barcelona primarily as a reliability exercise before shifting greater focus to development items in Bahrain.

“We are not used to having nine test days anymore. The last four or five seasons, we did three. It's an advantage, but it's also a completely different program. It means that the first target in this kind of season is to get the reliability,” the Ferrari boss added.