After Lewis Hamilton’s victory in Barcelona, hopes grew that Ferrari could become a genuine contender in this year’s Formula 1 title fight, but the seven-time world champion insists there is still a long way to go.
That is partly because of what Hamilton describes as the “phenomenal” strength of his former employer Mercedes, but also because Ferrari still lacks outright engine performance despite introducing its first ADUO upgrade of the season in Austria.
At the Red Bull Ring, Hamilton felt the gap to the Mercedes power unit remained significant.
“Obviously we had some great performances before. The fact is, as you could see in the race, we lose quite a lot of time. I think it’s like four tenths that we lose in a straight line. It’s hard to recover that through corners,” Hamilton said on Thursday at Silverstone.
“I think we’ve got a great car fundamentally, it’s just we’ve just got to continue to work to maximise what we can, score as many points as we can until we can close that deficit.”
According to Hamilton, the advantage of the Mercedes power unit lies not only in outright power, but also in energy management. That will become an even bigger factor at Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps than it has been over recent race weekends.
Lewis Hamilton warned that Ferrari may not fight at the front in his home grand prix
Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images
“It’s not that I’m not confident,” he added. “It’s that the fact is we’ve got long straights. I think this is going to be the most unprecedented weekend in terms of the power deployment.
“All us drivers have been talking on the drivers’ chat, [about] just how poor the power is going to be through this track. We run out of battery power.
“There’s only a few corners to charge the engine, so the MGU-K will be switched off for a large portion of the lap and that’s where we will struggle probably the most. The deficit could be twice as big.”
Team-mate Charles Leclerc offered a similar assessment. The Monegasque admitted he lacked race pace in Austria and, although Ferrari has identified lessons from that weekend, he expects even greater challenges at Silverstone and Spa.
“It’s true that in Austria, it wasn’t a struggle until the Sunday,” Leclerc said. “But on the Sunday, I definitely struggled. I think we pinpointed a few things that played a big role into the lack of performance on Sunday.
“We’ll change that, but it’s also fair to say that the next two races will be, I think, very tough for the team. But the best thing I can do is to keep my head down and keep pushing no matter where we are fighting.”
Charles Leclerc: “The next two races will be very tough for the team”
Photo by: James Sutton / Formula 1 / Formula Motorsport Ltd via Getty Images
Hamilton urges Ferrari to maximise Silverstone and Spa, strike in Budapest
With Ferrari’s power unit still trailing Mercedes, Hamilton is not yet willing to talk too much about a possible title challenge ahead of his home race.
Asked whether there is still anything he can do to catch Kimi Antonelli this season, the nine-time Silverstone winner laughed: “I think other than me going into Mercedes’ garage and undoing the bolts!
“Look, Mercedes is a phenomenal team. You’re seeing them perform at such an amazing level, and it’s really beautiful to see when a team’s fully in synergy.
“And what they’ve brought and what they’ve done this year is mighty, and I think it’s going to take a huge amount for anyone to close them down.”
Even so, Hamilton also knows that 2026 is more of a development race than ever before and that the competitive order can still shift, pointing to Red Bull as another example: “You’ve seen now also Red Bull have really taken a step. They made a massive step in the last race.
“So undoubtedly, I imagine Max is going to be a big contender for it, and he’s got the power also to match the Mercedes. So, I anticipate they’re going to be really strong.”
The Silverstone layout could prove challenging for Ferrari
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Hamilton’s message to Ferrari is simply to maximise every opportunity during the more difficult weekends and strike at circuits that better suit the SF-26, such as the Hungaroring.
“We just have to extract everything we can from each weekend, and even, if possible, a little bit more than maybe what performance-wise is possible,” he said.
“And then there are going to be some tracks where it neutralises a bit. I would imagine Budapest might be a little bit of a closer battle because it’s not got long straights. We need more of those sorts of circuits, to be honest.
“But yeah, I think it’s also too early. I mean, Kimi is far ahead. That is still a lot of points ahead, and he pulled some more points ahead in the last race.
“So that’s why I said it’s a good reality check for us, but it’s not over till it’s over. Every single person is so geed up and pushing as much as they can, so that’s all I can ever ask for.”
Additional reporting by Ed Hardy
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– The Autosport.com Team
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