An April without Formula 1 races allows teams to take stock, in a calmer and more in-depth way, of how their respective projects have performed in the first three rounds.

Over at Ferrari, it has had at its disposal an SF-26 that has proven to be a good F1 car from an aerodynamic downforce standpoint - but not on par with Mercedes in terms of engine performance.

And in Japan, McLaren showed that without technical issues it can step into that role of second force, making even baseline podium-scoring difficult for Ferrari.

The gap to Mercedes is clearly dictated by a difference in power unit performance. The delta would be around 20bhp, as previously reported - and, from what has been learned, this leaves the Italian team fairly confident of being allowed an upgrade under the Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities (ADUO) system.

The F1 Commission will meet on April 9 to discuss the current regulations, as well as to set the final deadline for establishing the power unit performance ranking for ADUO, which had the Miami race as its deadline. Without the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian races, this deadline could be postponed to Monaco - but in Maranello at least there is a preference towards maintaining the current deadline.

Starting from April 9, the Scuderia also has a scheduled program with Pirelli at Fiorano to test the 2027 wet tires in the new “super intermediate” tread specification.

Filming day with 'Macarena' v2

Ferrari has scheduled its first filming day (200km) of the year at Monza. Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc are set to alternate driving duties on a circuit that, in terms of layout, will be one of the most challenging for energy management.

The choice to use the fast Italian track was made immediately after Australia - and as far as we know, other teams are also considering holding one of the two permitted filming day sessions at Monza.

Ferrari has set April 22 as the date - which, weather permitting, will allow testing of most of the updates that will later be brought to Miami.

This is not the ideal scenario for the Maranello team, which had planned to split part of the developments across the two canceled races in Sakhir and Jeddah, bringing the main components to Bahrain.

Loic Serra’s guidelines were to implement updates in small increments, without introducing large macro packages, as was more common under predecessor Enrico Cardile’s management. With the cancellation of the two Middle Eastern races, this approach will inevitably be disrupted.

A revised floor - intended for Bahrain - is the main upgrade for increasing aerodynamic downforce. It will be fitted to the SF-26 that will run the 200km at Monza on April 22.

Some parts on the car will concern additional aerodynamic changes and weight reduction, while in Miami there will also be components related to cooling management.

In Miami we will also see again the two halo wings that popped up in China practice and were removed because they did not comply with a detail relating to the material used, which must be the same as the halo structure.

Monza is a crucial point because there is a race against time in Maranello to produce the new updated “Macarena” wing, which had originally been targeted for a Montreal debut.

The test in China confirmed what the team feared - namely that the specification used in Bahrain testing cannot yet be used in races because it does not provide sufficient rear stability under combined braking conditions (with a non-straight steering angle).

From what has been learned, the team is currently working to finalise the structural specification which, compared to the prototype version tested, will be both lighter and feature aerodynamic modifications.

The target is to test it at Monza - to evaluate any further small optimisation interventions ahead of Canada. For Miami use, the sprint format leaves some uncertainty, but a decision will be made after April 22.

Ferrari should still keep the option open regarding which of the rear wing specifications to use from time to time, the classic version (seen in the first three races) or the Macarena version. For now, this dilemma mainly exists on circuits such as Monte Carlo, where the traditional flap-opening specification might be preferred.