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Ferrari have moved to allay fears that their new Formula 1 car broke down during its very first run on track. The Scuderia launched their 2026 car, the SF-26, at their home in Maranello, Italy, on Friday, before immediately putting it on track for a shakedown run on the Fiorano test circuit.

As is tradition, an army of Ferrari fans were gather around the outside of the track to watch the first run of the new car for themselves. As it was only a shakedown, rather than a full filming or test day, Ferrari were limited to just 15 kilometres of running with drivers Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc sharing the very short mileage allowed.

The purpose of such a shakedown is not to assess performance, but simply to check all systems are working as planned. So it was concerning when footage emerged which showed the new Ferrari car stopped on the main straight, close to the pits, before Ferrari's mechanics rushed onto the circuit.

The immediate worry among many was that either Hamilton or the team might have noticed an issue on the car and stopped immediately, to protect other systems from damage. However, Ferrari have cleared up the matter, a spokesperson insisting there were no such issues detected. According to the team, Hamilton stopping on the way in the way that he did, though unusual, was "part of the plan" to get as much out of that 15km as they possibly could.

Footage showed the seven-time world champion perform what appeared to be a practice start, before the car was raised up onto planks and wheeled back to the garage by mechanics. That way, Hamilton was able to trade places with team-mate Leclerc to allow the Monegasque to also get his first taste of the new car, both drivers getting behind the wheel while the team remained under the mileage limit.

Running the car for a short distance with no issues is a milestone moment for Ferrari in their preparations for a new season for which they have built a very different chassis and engine for the new regulations. The next step is next week's test in Barcelona, at which teams are allowed to run their car on a maximum of three days out of the five available from Monday to Friday.

"We know the challenge that we had to face on this project and it was a good day today when the car left the garage. On the other hand, it's not the target," said team principal Frederic Vasseur. "The target for sure is the season - it means that it's the start of a new journey, starting today with the test in Barcelona in Bahrain and the races.

"The most important is to be able to do mileage. That's why we are quite happy today, because we didn't have any issue. And I think this is, for Barcelona, a good step. In Barcelona, the target will be to get the maximum of information on the car, maximum of data. And then we start the development from Bahrain onwards."