Ferrari is set to hold a filming day with its F1 2026 car next month following the cancellations of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian grands prix, PlanetF1.com has learned.
Ferrari has enjoyed a fine start to the F1 2026 season, claiming podiums at the opening two rounds in Australia and China.
Ferrari planning filming day during F1 2026 April break
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Charles Leclerc came home third in Melbourne before Lewis Hamilton equalled the result in Shanghai, claiming his first podium finish since he joined Ferrari at the start of 2025.
It was confirmed last week that the races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia will not take place next month, reducing the F1 2026 calendar to a maximum of 22 races.
It also means no race will take place between the Japanese Grand Prix on March 29 and the Miami Grand Prix on May 3, a gap of five weeks.
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PlanetF1.com understands that Ferrari is planning to hold a filming day with its current car, the SF-26, during the upcoming break.
It is believed that Ferrari has not yet utilised any of its two allowed filming days for the F1 2026 season, with the car’s post-launch shakedown at Fiorano in January officially classed as a so-called demonstration event.
As such, it is understood that Ferrari is keen to hold a filming day during the April break to produce more content for its commercial partners, with the team’s offering currently limited to post-launch material from January.
Under F1’s rules, teams are permitted to a maximum of two filming days – each consisting of 200 kilometres of running – with current cars per season.
PlanetF1.com understands from sources close to the situation that Ferrari is still evaluating where to hold its filming day despite reports in Italy suggesting it will take place at Monza, the venue of F1’s Italian Grand Prix.
It has been speculated that Monza would be the preferred venue for Ferrari given the circuit’s high demands in terms of energy management for the F1 2026 power units.
As the fastest circuit on the F1 calendar, a filming day at Monza would allow Ferrari to further optimise its new power unit in its bid to close the gap to Mercedes, the winner of the first two races.
Speaking ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix last weekend, Hamilton admitted that Ferrari needs to get to the bottom of Mercedes’ advantage on the straights.
Asked where Mercedes’ performance advantage is manifesting itself on track, Hamilton said: “It seems mostly on straight.
“It seems more so when they open up the ESM – that’s when they take a huge step, so whatever’s going in that phase is an area we need to understand.
“They seem to have a little bit more deployment, so less de-rating at the end of the straights than some of us.
“So we’ve just got to work on trying to see how we can eke out more from our engine.”
Additional reporting by Mat Coch
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