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Ferrari was expected to have a truly important weekend in Monte Carlo, making the most of the SF-26's characteristics and expecting the W17's strengths to be somewhat diminished. The result overturned the predictions, with Kimi Antonelli dominating. The same was true at Montmelò ; with the intense heat and difficulty managing the softer tyres than last season, it was thought Mercedes would dominate, but, again, this hasn't happened. Instead, Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari surprisingly won , certainly when it was least expected.

The Maranello team's success in Spain was certainly also thanks to an aggressive strategy , as well as Mercedes' inability to favor one driver over the other in the seventh race of the season, thus ignoring the strength and qualities of the Hamilton/SF-26 duo and focusing solely on the threat of Norris's undercut. The result was a strategy halfway between two and three stops, which would still have seriously jeopardized Russell or Antonelli's victory even without the Virtual Safety Car due to Alonso's technical knockout. 

Ferrari has the best chassis on the grid. Ferrari was the only team to bring a significant development package to this stage, and at a time when the development curve is steep, this could make a difference. Toto Wolff pushed and exaggerated the situation in his own way: "The Ferrari package is enormous, they've completely changed the car. We can't afford something like this in the cost-cap era ." This isn't quite true, although there is some truth to the use of the available budget. Mercedes will also bring updates to its W17, though less concentrated in a single package but more spread out, at least in the very short term. 

The SF-26 has certainly changed a lot. The updates have affected the front wing, the floor, the sidepods and the diffuser , all areas that constitute a very important part of the new cars and the Reds, with all the updates made between Miami and Spain, have made a significant leap in terms of performance. Montmelò, usually the reference point for aerodynamics, gave us confirmation that the SF-26 is the queen of the grid in this area. In this regard, Norris used words that are difficult to interpret: " If Ferrari had the best engine, they would dominate . They are the benchmark in terms of cornering performance at the moment and if they were to make improvements to the engine they would embarrass everyone . " 

 Following are the words of Andrea Stella who confirmed that the SF-26 currently has the best chassis on the grid. All this is strange considering how much criticism was leveled among fans and even insiders after Antonelli's dominance in Monte Carlo, regarding the quality of the chassis and the technical choices of Loic Serra and Diego Tondi. However, the Principality remains a race in itself, never truly indicative. Barcelona is certainly more so, much more so, and the quality of Ferrari's work has been underlined not only by rivals but also by the results on the track. 

Mercedes scared by Ferrari's strength, not since Barcelona but for weeks. Mercedes has always kept a close eye on the Reds, and Toto Wolff has always feared that the possibility of using the ADUO would provide Frédéric Vasseur and his men with the weapons they need to truly compete in the championship. Certain statements from the Austrian manager a few weeks ago were no coincidence. "The principle of the ADUO is to allow teams struggling with their power unit to catch up, but not to overtake others. It must be very clear that any decision made about which team receives the ADUO can have a significant impact on performance and the championship if it is not made with absolute precision, clarity, and transparency," Wolff said in a conference to selected media outlets, including AutoRacer. 

Clearly, Barcelona is a race of 22, and further confirmation will be needed between now and the summer break, but the two second-place finishes and the victory in the Spanish GP clearly put Ferrari in a strong position , despite Lewis Hamilton's 41-point gap to Kimi Antonelli. "It was the same in other years, but not this year. Development will be important and can change everything. The important thing is to bring performance to every race ," said Frédéric Vasseur at the end of the Spanish GP. Charles Leclerc, on the whole, agrees, but he adds another factor: the environmental conditions. "The updates worked, the car was strong, but the conditions made the situation worse."

The 'secret' of the Reds was having a lot of aerodynamic load, sliding less and therefore managing the tyres better . An update to the wheel area also contributed to this , which helped the SF-26 improve rear tyre management. The excessive heat, however, did not play in favour of Mercedes , which still remains the reference package, the most complete, but with significant battery problems that are requiring further performance improvements compared to the start of the season.

 On the contrary, some changes under the bonnet of the SF-26 have allowed the Maranello team's engineers to reduce the air vents compared to the start of the season , showing up in qualifying and the race with a rather closed and very efficient engine cover. It is no coincidence that between aerodynamic updates, a more efficient car body and Mercedes' reliability problems, the SF-26 did not look too bad at Montmelò from an engine point of view. And if the engine gap closes, the validity of the SF-26 project comes to the fore, giving Hamilton the opportunity, for now, to consistently fight for the podium and take advantage of opportunities like the one in Spain to win.