The big Ferrari F1 story right now is what's happening inside the factory during this enforced break — and an exclusive from Motorsport.com Italy paints a picture of a team refusing to coast. Ferrari has launched a maximum-effort development programme during the layoff, including intensive pit stop practice running into the night. Night sessions on pit stop drills aren't a casual commitment: it signals the team genuinely believes stop execution is a marginal area worth grinding on, and given how tight races have been at the top, squeezing even a couple of tenths out of a stationary sequence could swing a result.

The on-track context makes that intensity feel justified. Ferrari currently sits P2 in the constructors' standings with 90 points — double what McLaren has managed (46 points after 3 rounds), though Mercedes sits clear at the top with around 135. That's a healthy buffer over the defending champions but still a deficit to close at the front. The break is, in effect, Ferrari's best near-term opportunity to close that gap on paper before Miami.

Over at Imola, the WEC 6 Hours weekend is now properly underway, and the picture has shifted a little from the prologue Ferrari dominated. Day 1 of free practice belonged to Alpine — Charles Milesi broke the 1:31 barrier in FP2 to lead the timesheets, with the Toyota GR010 #7 of Mike Conway splitting him from the factory Ferrari 499Ps in P3 and beyond. The headline is Alpine's pace, but the framing from Italian media is that the 499Ps looked "concrete and fast" rather than exposed — which is probably the right read at this stage. Teams sandbag, tyres vary, and the Ferraris were far from embarrassed. The defence of the hypercar titles continues; the real verdict comes Sunday.