Ferrari left Formula 1 fans confused with a social media post.

Ferrari have been mocked over a social media post (Image: Getty)

Red Bull took the opportunity to poke some fun at rivals Ferrari over a social media post which left many Formula 1 fans confused. Pre-season is ramping up ahead of the 2026 campaign with several teams having already pulled the covers off their new liveries, including Red Bull who, along with sister squad Racing Bulls, were the first to do so last week.

Haas and Audi followed suit on Monday and Tuesday respectively, while Mercedes are set to show off renders of the W17 on Thursday. Friday is then double-booked with Alpine pulling the covers off their car in Barcelona, while further east Ferrari will be showing off their new red racing machine before taking it for a spin on their test track in Fiorano, Italy.

The Scuderia have been building up the hype in recent days ahead of their big reveal with a string of teaser posts on social media. That included one, posted on Sunday, which featured four darkened images featuring their drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, and also their 2025 car.

But it was the caption which left many fans confused, and provided them with an opporunity to poke fun at Ferrari’s lack of success in recent years. “Built in the dark. Driven in the light,” were the words the accompanied the photos, and fans wasted little time before pointing out that the caption made little sense.

One fan joked: “Maybe thats the problem with Ferrari these days, if you turned the lights on the car might be better.” Another asked: “Built in the dark? What do you mean?” A third quipped: “Built in the dark. Exposed in the light.” And a fourth added: “‘Built in the dark’ doesn’t exactly exude confidence.”

Such was the level of engagement on the post that it was viewed almost a million times on X alone. And the Red Bull social media team did not let the opportunity to also have some fun at Ferrari’s expense pass them by, posting a photo of their own, new livery with the caption: “Built in the light. Also, driven in the light.”

Fans were appreciative of the pre-season horseplay, including one who wrote: “The season hasn’t even started yet and Ferrari are catching strays already!” A second replied: “I see what you did there lol.” And a third added: “Building cars in the dark is pretty difficult. You guys cooked hard with this fine piece of social media, cheers.”

Ferrari will get the chance to go toe-to-toe with Red Bull and the rest of their F1 rivals in pre-season testing, which begins next week in Barcelona. Teams will be allowed to run on any three days out of five between Monday and Friday in the behind-closed-doors test, before two more three-day testing periods in Bahrain during February, both of which are set to be televised.