Mercedes dominated the race, with a car advantage that few could have predicted to be so significant, along with a clear engine edge—perhaps helped by the additional “plus” of the hot compression ratio. But even in defeat, Ferrari showed that it has strong cards to play, perhaps as early as next Sunday in China, or at least later in the season.
What are those cards? First of all, a solid car concept in which the issue of tyres failing to warm up or wearing out too quickly now seems to belong to a sad past. Then there is the power unit, which benefits from a small and responsive turbo that allows the Ferrari to launch brilliantly off the line when the lights go out, forcing rivals to chase from the very start.
But finally, Ferrari is racing with two drivers again. Alongside the ever-impressive Charles Leclerc, it truly seems that the real Lewis Hamilton has returned—the one we saw during the best years of his Mercedes career. If this continues, it would be wonderful news, because no team can match Maranello’s driving firepower when both of its drivers perform at their peak.
A strong start is exactly what Italy’s motorsport community had been hoping for. Leclerc’s launch was almost legendary: starting fourth on the grid, he emerged ahead of everyone by the time the field reached the first corner. His duel with George Russell, with the necessary caution in making comparisons, brought back memories of the iconic battle at Dijon in 1979 between Gilles Villeneuve and René Arnoux. There were five overtakes and counter-overtakes, breathtaking moments rarely seen in modern Formula 1.
After that spectacular exchange, it took another seven laps before Russell finally began to pull away. One comment from Russell himself says a great deal about the Ferrari SF-26: “The Ferrari was faster than us in the right parts of the track.” From a technical standpoint, that is a very encouraging compliment.
On the other hand, considering the exceptional race from Andrea Kimi Antonelli—built on repeated comebacks—it remains possible that Mercedes still had some performance in reserve if they had needed it. This suspicion is reinforced by Russell’s own comments before the race, when he expressed doubts about Mercedes’ reliability over long distances. Once he took the lead, it is likely that he focused more on maintaining position rather than pushing further to extend the gap to his rivals.
Should Ferrari have taken the risk of pitting during the first Virtual Safety Car? Yes, that option certainly existed, at least with one car. However, the overall outcome probably would not have changed, and it might have sparked internal debate between Leclerc and Hamilton about which driver should have stopped first. At this stage of the season, it may have been wiser to avoid that situation.
The verdict on the new regulations remains uncertain. No one could fully understand whether certain overtakes were purely the result of driver skill or the fluctuating levels of available electrical energy. What is certain is that drivers are now forced to drive in an unnatural way, which is not particularly appealing. Yet in the end, even this contributed to making the race more lively. Honestly, we expected worse.
Still, some teams already appear to be struggling. McLaren, for example, runs the same Mercedes engine but seems weaker in other areas of the car. Max Verstappen delivered a champion’s comeback, climbing from 20th to sixth place with a brand-new engine—a remarkable performance. But the question remains: what is the true level of Red Bull?
In just a few days the championship moves to Shanghai, a completely different circuit with new uncertainties to face. Mercedes will want to maintain the advantage it currently holds over everyone else, McLaren and Red Bull will already be under close scrutiny, and Ferrari quietly has good reasons to hope for a major breakthrough. A quick coffee and we’ll already be in China…
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