In five days, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc will appear at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza. There will be no fans. No official timesheets. No points at stake. But those 200 kilometres of the April 22 filming day could be the most important Ferrari runs before the Miami Grand Prix on May 1. The reason is at once simple and technical: Monza is the fastest circuit on the Formula 1 calendar, the place where aerodynamic efficiency and energy management reach their maximum expression, and Ferrari needs precise answers about the update package they are bringing to Florida.
The Monza filming day was not in Ferrari’s original April calendar. Like all teams, the Scuderia had their tests scheduled around the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix. The cancellation of both events due to the Iran war created an unprecedented gap in the calendar and opened a preparation window that Ferrari has exploited with more intensity than any other rival.
The sequence has been methodical. First, the TPC tests at Mugello on April 1 and 2, with reserve drivers at the wheel of previous-season cars. Antonio Giovinazzi, Arthur Leclerc and Antonio Fuoco accumulating kilometres and preliminary technical data. Then the Pirelli test at Fiorano on April 9 and 10, with Lewis Hamilton at the wheel of the SF-26 on artificially wet track conditions. The seven-time world champion completed 297 laps in two days, testing wet tyre variants using Ferrari’s private circuit sprinkler system. It was his most extensive test with the SF-26 since the season started.
And now, on April 22, the final piece of the preparation programme arrives: the filming day at Monza. With Hamilton and Leclerc at the wheel of the SF-26 in race specification, but with attention focused on the update package Ferrari will present in Miami. The centrepiece of those updates already has a name in the paddock: the “Macarena Wing”.
The name comes from the element’s rotation capability. A conventional Formula 1 rear wing rotates approximately 90 degrees between the high downforce position and the low drag position. Ferrari’s new wing, according to information published by Sky Sport Italia among other outlets, can rotate up to 270 degrees. That is three times the standard range of movement, allowing the car to configure its rear aerodynamics with a precision and versatility the current design does not permit. The primary objective is to reduce straight-line drag and improve overall aerodynamic efficiency while maintaining downforce in corners.
That is exactly why Ferrari chose Monza for the filming day and not another circuit. At Monza, the straights are the longest on the Formula 1 calendar. The first chicane, the Ascari variant and the final chicane define a high-speed layout where any gain in aerodynamic efficiency is immediately amplified in lap times. If the Macarena Wing performs as Ferrari expects, Monza is the place where the effect will be most visible and the data most conclusive. As Planet F1 wrote: the Monza circuit is one of the most demanding on the F1 2026 calendar for energy management, and the outing will likely allow Ferrari to further optimise their power unit.
The SF-26 has demonstrated in the first three races of the year that the direction Ferrari is taking in the new 2026 era is correct. The results read: third in Australia (Leclerc), third in China (Hamilton, his first Ferrari podium), third in Japan (Leclerc again). Three races, three third places, the same position every time. It is the consistency of a team that does not make big mistakes, that manages weekends intelligently and has a car with good balance and the best race launch performance on the grid. But it is also the picture of a team that still cannot win. Mercedes wins. McLaren finishes second. Ferrari accumulates podiums but not victories.
The technical diagnosis of the gap is clear and both Hamilton and technical director Fred Vasseur have pointed it out openly: it is on the straights. When Mercedes activates its maximum electrical deployment mode, the distance between the W17 and the SF-26 grows visibly. Hamilton described it before the Chinese Grand Prix: it seems mostly on the straight. It seems more so when they open up the ESM, that is when they take a huge step, so whatever is going on in that phase is an area we need to understand. Vasseur was more specific in Japan: we know that we have a deficit of performance on the straight and that we have to work on it.
The Macarena Wing is not going to resolve the engine power gap, which is where Mercedes’ real advantage lies. But reducing aerodynamic drag on straights allows the existing engine to do more with less effort, translating into top speed and better energy management. At Monza, with minimal corners and maximum straights, Ferrari will know on April 22 whether that wing represents the step forward their engineers are expecting.
Ferrari under chairman John Elkann arrives at the Monza filming day after the chairman sent signals that the team’s internal culture in 2026 is different from 2025. After a winless year last season, in which Ferrari lost the championship and Elkann publicly criticised his own drivers by asking them to talk less and race more, the 2026 start with three consecutive podiums and the most united team atmosphere in years is a much better starting point. But to go from being the third-best team to the first, Ferrari needs exactly what Monza will offer on Wednesday: data, answers and confirmation that the Miami package will reduce the gap.
Key quotes and curiosities
Hamilton before the Chinese Grand Prix: it seems the deficit happens mostly on the straight. It seems more so when they open up maximum electrical deployment, that is when they take a huge step.
Vasseur in Japan: we know that we have a deficit of performance on the straight and we have to work on it.
Leclerc after the Japanese Grand Prix: we will use the next three weeks to analyse and work to make some more progress before returning to the track in Miami and see where we are after the break.
Hamilton after Suzuka: with a month before the next race, we will use this time to analyse every detail of the first three races and make sure we come back stronger.
Among the curiosities: Monza is the circuit where Ferrari has the most victories in the history of the Italian Grand Prix, with more than 20 triumphs at the jewel of their calendar. The April 22 filming day will be the first time Hamilton drives at Monza in the 2026 season with the SF-26. The Autodromo Nazionale di Monza is also the oldest circuit on the Formula 1 calendar in continuous use, having been inaugurated in 1922.
Sources: Planet F1, Sky Sport Italia, Scuderia Fans, GPKingdom, Il Cittadino di Monza e Brianza, AutoRacer.it, Ferrari official ferrari.com, Motorsport.com, MBNews
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