Maranello Signal Ferrari F1
The headline out of Fiorano today isn't that Ferrari is running Pirelli wet-tyre tests — that was already on the calendar. The surprise is who's in the cockpit: Lewis Hamilton. Day 1 of the 2-day session belongs to the seven-time world champion, and that's notable precisely because Hamilton has historically been one of the most reluctant drivers when it comes to tyre development duties. Seeing him strap into the SF-26 for a full wet session at the team's own backyard circuit is being read in the paddock as a genuinely positive sign — a man integrating properly, taking the unglamorous work seriously alongside the race weekends.
On the engine front, a Reddit thread citing AutoRacer fills in some important detail around yesterday's ICE story. Ferrari's power deficit versus Mercedes currently sits at approximately 30 HP — and that figure matters beyond the raw embarrassment of it, because it crosses the 4% threshold that triggers the ADUO (Accelerated Development Usage Override, essentially the emergency engine-development allowance). That means Ferrari are entitled to 2 power unit updates this season and 2 further ones ahead of 2027. Miami is flagged as the critical data-gathering race for a final calibration of the gap. The new ICE itself remains on the same timeline flagged yesterday — no earlier than mid-summer.
Meanwhile, Ferrari is apparently setting the pace among teams in terms of using the current calendar gap productively. With Bahrain and Saudi Arabia wiped from the schedule, most squads have had an unplanned window to work through. Ferrari, according to AutoRacer, is leading the field in terms of development activity during the pause — which, given the competitive pressures they're under heading into Miami, is exactly the right posture.
Quick housekeeping: a rumour that Andrea Stella might leave McLaren for Ferrari was doing the rounds this week. Motorsport.com has firmly shot it down — Stella hasn't entertained the idea, is deeply embedded at Woking, and the story appears to have been a case of paddock whispers spiralling. Nothing to see there.