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Damon Hill has suggested that Ferrari only revealed their ‘true identity’ at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix last weekend.
Lewis Hamilton took his first victory as a Ferrari driver, while the team ended a drought that dated back to the 2024 Mexico City GP, when Carlos Sainz was still in the cockpit.
Hamilton’s winning margin on Sunday – 19.561 seconds – was the largest of the season so far as Mercedes’ perfect start to the season was emphatically ended. A cheap pit stop under a virtual safety car contributed significantly to that gap, but this was still a performance that transforms the 2026 narrative.
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Damon Hill found the timing of Ferrari’s win convenient after ADUO ruling
After the Monaco GP – a week before Barcelona – it emerged that Ferrari would be granted two engine upgrades through the ADUO system. The FIA had measured the performance of each team’s ICE across the first five rounds, and determined that they were four to six percent off the pace.
The biggest headline was that Mercedes, for all their dominance, were adjudged to be behind Red Bull. The FIA are reviewing their findings after Red Bull challenged them.
Speaking on The Undercut podcast, Hill suggested that Ferrari and Mercedes may have been gaming the system, holding back some performance until the FIA’s measurement deadline. Hamilton’s weekend in Barcelona apparently lends weight to this theory.
“We’re now getting people gaming the system, it seems,” said Hill.
What are your thoughts on Mercedes being granted an engine upgrade through ADUO despite their 2026 dominance?
“We believe that some teams may have more power than they’re showing, because they know they’re going to be penalised at a date, so they’re going, ‘We’re not going to show you what I’ve got until you’ve brought in the changes, and after that I will take the cape off and reveal my true identity!’
Journalist Mark Hughes replied: “The first race at which you could see if there’s any change in performance after they’d announced, ‘Okay, this is what we’ve found’, what happens? Ferrari go and win the race.
Hill then said: “That’s an interesting observation, isn’t it? It just so happens that you’re saying the timing fits beautifully.”
And Hughes added: “They never qualified closer than two and a half tenths to pole, and suddenly they’re just about on pole, separated by hundredths – it could have gone either way – and they win the race.”
Ferrari introduced a major upgrade in Barcelona, and the team would say this was the reason for their sudden step forward. Indeed, Martin Brundle revealed that the entire paddock was impressed by their innovations.
If GPS data does show a sudden uptick in engine performance, then rival teams will no doubt raise similar suspicions about Ferrari. Until then, it should be assumed that the upgrade made all the difference.
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