Lewis Hamilton has expressed his concern about the potential regression of Ferrari in the Formula 1 standings. According to him, the Italian team could be surpassed by McLaren once the latter has completed its adaptation to the Mercedes engine, which is currently dominating the competition.
Ferrari currently stands in second place in the 2026 championship, with 31 points behind Mercedes after two races. In contrast, McLaren has had a more complicated start, sitting in third place with only 18 points due to various mechanical failures.
Despite the challenges, McLaren is powered by the Mercedes engine, which has proven to be remarkably strong in this new regulatory era. As a result, the Woking team showed a significant improvement in their performance during the recent race in Japan, where Oscar Piastri achieved a notable qualifying result.
Hamilton expressed his frustration after qualifying, admitting that Ferrari is far from the competition, specifically seven-tenths of a second off the best time set by Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes. The English driver highlighted that McLaren has a promising car and that as they learn to extract maximum performance from the engine, the competition will become tougher.
Additionally, Hamilton revealed that Ferrari has yet to identify the causes of its inferiority in terms of power compared to Mercedes. Despite a reasonably positive start, he emphasized the need to work harder to stop the regression in the championship.
Charles Leclerc, Hamilton’s teammate at Ferrari, also acknowledged McLaren’s strength and expressed that in this championship, car development will play a crucial role in determining who will compete for victories in upcoming races.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
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