Miami week is almost here, and Ferrari is arriving with actual data. The SF-26's latest upgrade package was put through a 200km filming day at Monza — no anomalies reported — and everything has already been packed up and shipped to Florida. Diego Tondi's aero department is currently deep in the analysis of those reports. After a month of near-silence, this is the first concrete signal that the update package cleared its initial shakedown without incident.

The aerodynamics angle is dominating the Italian press ahead of the race weekend, and for good reason. The SF-26 arrives in Florida still carrying unanswered questions from the opening rounds — but the consensus is that Maranello worked quietly and purposefully during the break, fully aware they'd staked out a specific aerodynamic direction with this car. May is shaping up as the real verdict window: Miami, Imola, and Monaco in quick succession offer very different aero demands that will tell the engineers a great deal about where the SF-26 actually sits in the 2026 pecking order.

On the driver side, Jock Clear — 10 years at Maranello before his stint at Mercedes — has offered one of the more considered takes on Ferrari's current pairing. His read: Hamilton is the consummate team man, someone whose experience and relentless work rate pulls the whole organization forward; but Leclerc is the one who could genuinely drive Ferrari to a championship. It's a nuanced distinction, not a slight on Lewis, but an acknowledgment that Charles has a singular capacity to carry a team when everything aligns around him. Coming from someone who has seen the inner workings of Maranello at close quarters, it's worth filing away.

And a brief note on the wider market: the F1 driver carousel has been quietly stirring during the break, but the top tier is effectively frozen. With both Verstappen and Hamilton locked into long arrangements, movement further down is constrained. For Ferrari, the Hamilton-Leclerc lineup looks settled — but what shifts in the contracts below that tier could still matter for the Scuderia's junior pipeline decisions as the 2027 cycle draws closer.