The 248 F1 was used by Ferrari in every race of the 2006 season, unlike in other recent seasons (2002, 2003 and 2005), in which the team had used the previous year's car at the start of the season, while developing a new car.

The car performed well in qualifying at the season opener, the Bahrain Grand Prix, with an all Ferrari front row. However the performance of the car was generally not as fast as the Renault R26 in the first half of the season. At the Malaysian Grand Prix,  the car suffered significant technical problems - a piston problem meant that both drivers had to change their engines during the weekend, incurring qualifying penalties, and for the race the engine speed was limited to prevent a failure. This problem continued to affect the car for the Australian Grand Prix.

An aerodynamic upgrade introduced for the San Marino Grand Prix brought the pace of the car to approximately level with the Renault. At the United States Grand Prix, in Indianapolis, Ferrari were dominant all weekend, resulting in the first Ferrari one-two finish since the same race 12 months beforehand. This seemed to represent a genuine turning point for the car's competitiveness. Modifications throughout the season continued to improve the car's performance, to the point where it was considered the fastest package of all for the remainder of the season – the car won 7 of the last 9 races of the season. Massa claimed his maiden win at the Turkish Grand Prix and later won his home race in Brazil. As a result of the car's improved form, Ferrari and Schumacher were able to close the gap to Renault and Fernando Alonso in their respective championships. However, Schumacher suffered an engine failure while leading the Japanese Grand Prix  which effectively ended his title hopes and Ferrari eventually lost out on the Constructor's title by only 5 points to Renault. The 248 did give Schumacher his final Formula 1 win in China.

While Massa took an emotional win at the final race in Brazil, it was Schumacher who put in a storming drive from almost a lap down because of a puncture to finish fourth in what was his last race before his first retirement from the sport.

Overall, the car gave Ferrari 9 race wins and 7 pole positions, and second-place finishes in both the Drivers' and Constructors' World Championships.