The question that consumed Ferrari’s engineering department in the weeks leading up to the Italian Grand Prix was never about horsepower. The paddock chatter, the speculative headlines, and the fan forums all fixated on the power unit, but the team in Maranello had already moved past that narrative. The true dilemma, the one that remained genuinely unresolved until the transporter doors opened in the Brianza paddock, was far more subtle and far more revealing about the team’s operational philosophy.
It was a question of aerodynamics, specifically the fate of a single, unassuming component known as the FTM. For months, the binary choice seemed inevitable. Remove the winglet for straight-line speed, or keep it for rear downforce.
Ferrari, however, refused to accept the premise of the question. They engineered a third path, one that involved modifying the component itself, a decision that speaks volumes about how this team approaches the sport’s most demanding circuit.
The Monza circuit presents a unique aerodynamic paradox that has tortured engineers for decades. Eighty percent of the lap is spent at full throttle, demanding minimal drag to maximize top speed. Yet the corners that remain, particularly Ascari and the Parabolica, require sufficient rear stability to maintain exit speed and manage tire energy.
In previous generations, teams solved this equation by bolting on wafer-thin rear wings and stripping away downforce-generating bodywork. The 2026 regulations, however, have fundamentally altered that calculus with the introduction of the SLM, a system that inverts the rear wing’s load profile on straights. This technological shift has rendered the traditional Monza-specific wing nearly obsolete, forcing teams to rethink every component’s contribution to the lap time.
For Ferrari, this meant confronting the FTM, a small winglet positioned just ahead of the exhaust outlet on the SF26, which had been a staple of the car’s aerodynamic package at nearly every race this season.
The FTM’s function is deceptively complex. It generates rear downforce by redirecting exhaust airflow across the rear deck, enhancing the diffuser’s efficiency and providing crucial stability in high-speed corners. At circuits like Zandvoort or Hungary, where downforce is paramount, the FTM is an unqualified asset.
At Monza, however, its contribution becomes a liability. The component adds drag, and at a circuit where the relationship between aerodynamic resistance and lap time is more direct than anywhere else on the calendar, that drag penalty translates directly into lost time on the straights. The initial data from comparative testing, conducted during filming days at the Red Bull Ring and Madrid, painted a confusing picture.
Removing the FTM entirely produced a measurable reduction in drag, but it also compromised rear stability through the corner sequences that matter most for energy management. The car exited Ascari and the Parabolica more slowly, and that loss of corner exit speed created a cascading problem that negated much of the straight-line gain.
The issue was not merely lap time, but electrical energy deployment. A car that exits corners more slowly requires more electrical energy to accelerate back up to full speed on the subsequent straight. At a circuit where the FIA has reduced the available megajoules per lap for 2026, spending more electrical energy on acceleration out of corners means having less available for deployment at the top speed sections where it matters most.
The data showed that running without the FTM compromised the car’s ability to manage its hybrid system effectively, creating a penalty that partially offset the drag reduction. This was the crux of the dilemma. A simple removal solved one problem but exacerbated another.
Ferrari needed a solution that preserved the FTM’s downforce contribution through corners while simultaneously reducing its drag penalty on the straights. The answer, developed in the weeks leading up to Monza, was a modification to the FTM itself
A slot has been opened in the FTM winglet, a seemingly minor alteration that has profound aerodynamic implications. The slot changes how air flow passes through the element, reducing the aerodynamic load it generates while also reducing the drag it produces. The result is an FTM that does less of everything.
Less downforce, less drag. At Monza, doing less drag is worth more than doing less downforce, so the net effect is positive. But the component still provides enough rear load to keep the energy management picture manageable through Ascari and Parabolica.
It is a solution Ferrari identified as potentially useful for Las Vegas too, another circuit where the drag downforce trade-off sits at the same extreme end of the calendar. This single decision, not the engine, not the floor, not the wing, is the most technically revealing thing Ferrari have done for Monza because it tells you that the team’s approach to this circuit in 2026 is not about choosing between performance and drag. It is about engineering both into the same component at the same time
The engine, of course, remains a critical part of the equation. The ADU02 turbocharger, the modified combustion chamber, the new Shell fuel, and the software update have been well documented. Combined, they deliver an additional 20 horsepower of mechanical and software improvement.
This is not a revolutionary leap, but it is a meaningful step forward that addresses the most glaring weakness of the SF26. Lewis Hamilton, speaking in the Thursday media session, provided the most honest summary of Ferrari’s situation available from inside the team. We were losing more than 0.
4 seconds on the straights in the last race, he said. Not a tenth, not two tenths, four tenths every lap. That number, not the engine’s horsepower figure, not the floor’s drag reduction, not the FTM’s slot modification, is the clearest expression of the problem Ferrari’s entire Monza package is designed to solve
Hamilton’s admission quantified the scale of the challenge. Four tenths of a second per lap is a chasm at this level of competition, a deficit that no corner speed advantage can fully compensate for at a circuit where the straights are this long and this consequential. The FTM slot targets part of it.
The single element floor targets part of it. The simplified wing targets part of it. The engine’s 20 horsepower targets the largest part of it.
None of them alone closes 4/10. Together, the package targets enough of the deficit to change Ferrari’s competitive position at Monza relative to where they were at Zandvoort, which is the only comparison that matters at this specific point in the championship. The floor Ferrari are running at Monza is not a step backward from Zandvoort.
It is a continuation of the Zandvoort development baseline. The same floor that behaved consistently from its first run at the Dutch GP, matching simulation predictions in a way that Ferrari’s previous floor generations had not always managed. What has changed for Monza is the barge board area.
The floor’s lateral section has been modified specifically to reduce drag on the straights. A targeted adaptation that preserves the downforce generating properties of the Zandvoort floor in the corner sections, while reducing the aerodynamic resistance it produces on full throttle sections
The single vertical floor board element has also returned. This is the configuration Ferrari ran at Austria and Britain before switching to the three-element arrangement that debuted at Barcelona. At Monza, the single-element floor produces less drag than the three-element version, and that drag saving is worth more at this circuit than the downforce the three-element arrangement provides.
This iterative approach, refining existing concepts rather than introducing entirely new ones, reflects a team that has matured in its understanding of the 2026 regulations. The rear wing situation is slightly more fluid. Ferrari arrived at Monza with the additional Zandvoort wing profile still on the car, the elements that drop down when the rear wing opens.
Several other teams, including Mercedes, Red Bull, and Haas, removed those elements before the weekend began. Ferrari had not yet made that decision as of Thursday. One option is to remove them entirely as the weekend progresses.
Another is to keep only the central elements, the approach Ferrari used at Silverstone to maintain more stability through the corners. The decision will depend on what practice data shows
What makes the 2026 Monza rear wing picture different from every previous season is the SLM. With straight-line mode inverting the wing’s load on full throttle straights, teams no longer need dedicated ultra-low downforce Monza wings. Ferrari arrives with a configuration comparable to Silverstone, not a bespoke Monza wing.
That changes how Lesmo 1 and Lesmo 2 are approached. Corners that in previous seasons were taken with a compromised setup are now approached with a car that produces meaningful downforce through them. This represents a fundamental philosophical shift in how teams prepare for Monza, one that rewards versatility over specialization.
Hamilton also said something that sits alongside the technical picture and is equally important. This doesn’t close the full gap we need, he acknowledged. We knew that.
But seeing new things coming to the car and seeing that we’re still fighting for development, that’s exciting. A team still developing the car in September, still finding new solutions, the FTM slot is the most recent example, is a team that has not decided the season is already over. The aerodynamic package confirms that technically, Hamilton confirmed it personally
Ferrari did not choose between keeping the FTM and removing it. They modified it. That decision, a slot in a winglet that most cameras will never clearly see, is the most revealing thing Ferrari have done for Monza.
More revealing than the engine number. More revealing than the wing choice. Because it shows how this team solves problems when the obvious answers are not good enough.
The single element floor, the modified FTM, the wing still being evaluated through the weekend. All of it built around 4/10 lost on every straight at Zandvoort. The engine brings 20 horsepower.
The aerodynamics bring drag reduction without the energy penalty. Whether all of it adds up to the result Ferrari need, that is what Monza is for. The Italian Grand Prix will serve as the ultimate validation of this engineering philosophy, a test not merely of speed, but of ingenuity.
In a season defined by regulatory stability and converging performance, the ability to find marginal gains in unexpected places is what separates the contenders from the also-rans. Ferrari’s decision to modify, rather than remove, the FTM is a testament to that principle. It is a small detail, invisible to most, but it encapsulates everything this team is trying to achieve as it chases a championship that remains tantalizingly within reach.
The slot in the winglet is not just an aerodynamic solution. It is a statement of intent.
