Ferrari is taking advantage of the forced five-week break in Formula 1 to intensify car development and try to close the gap to Mercedes. The Italian team maintained an intense pace of work during this period, focusing on technical and operational improvements before the season resumes.
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Even with a more promising start to the season than in 2025, Ferrari has not yet managed to match the performance of the leaders. The Maranello team showed competitiveness at times, but remains behind Mercedes, who leads both championships, while McLaren has also shown recent evolution.
Initial results indicated progress. Lewis Hamilton achieved his first podium with Ferrari in China, while Charles Leclerc finished third in Australia and Japan. Even so, the performance of the SF-26 was still not enough to consistently put the team at the top.
During the break, Ferrari conducted two tests, one at the Fiorano Circuit and another at Monza, both in partnership with Pirelli.
The Scuderia’s technical director, Loic Serra, highlighted the importance of the period without races to deepen analyses: “Having more time available allowed us to deepen our analysis. As you don’t immediately face a new flood of data from the next race, it’s possible to focus more on the details,” he stated.
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This work was not limited to technical development. Sporting director Diego Ioverno stated that the team maintained an intense routine during the break: “What break? There was no break at all. We simply chose not to let it happen. We filled the weeks with activities that were not planned or reorganized those that already were,” he said.
According to Ioverno, Ferrari also intensified pit stop training, as the team arrived at the first race with fewer sessions than usual: “The testing season was very intense and we were only able to complete a third of the planned pit stops,” he explained, adding that the work was carried out in day and night shifts.
The director also stated that the unexpected break was positive for catching up: “There isn’t a race where the pit stop team is exactly the same as the previous one, so this break was a godsend. We were able to recover the sessions we couldn’t do in January and February,” he added.
With Mercedes in the lead and McLaren approaching, Ferrari knows it cannot waste any opportunity. The Italian team is betting on the work done during the break to return stronger starting from the Miami GP.
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