AUGUST 26, 2026

Ferrari plans Schumacher tribute livery for Monza

Ferrari is reportedly preparing a special SF-26 livery and a wider programme of Monza tributes marking Michael Schumacher's first season with the team.

Ferrari is preparing to look backwards while attempting to move forwards at Monza.

The team is expected to run a special Michael Schumacher-inspired livery on the SF-26 during the Italian Grand Prix, part of a wider series of initiatives celebrating the German's decade at Maranello.

The precise design has not yet been formally revealed by Ferrari. Motorsport.com reports that the tribute will mark 30 years since Schumacher's first season in red and his breakthrough Italian Grand Prix victory for the team in 1996.

The timing also falls 20 years after Schumacher's final Ferrari victory in 2006. Between those landmarks he won five consecutive drivers' championships and 71 Grands Prix for the Scuderia, creating the most successful period in the team's Formula 1 history.

Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc are expected to carry the tribute colours, with Ferrari preparing further Schumacher-related activities around the Monza weekend. Details are due to be made official closer to the event.

Special liveries have become a regular part of Ferrari's home-race celebrations, although this one will carry rather more emotional weight than the usual exercise in changing stripes and selling merchandise.

There is a competitive element to the weekend as well. Ferrari is expected to introduce an upgraded engine at Monza as it tries to reduce Mercedes' power advantage and strengthen Hamilton's championship challenge.

Hamilton is 59 points behind championship leader Kimi Antonelli and level with George Russell. Monza will therefore ask Ferrari to do two things at once: honour the most successful era in its history and demonstrate that the current project is moving towards one of its own.