Lewis Hamilton Praises Ferrari Push to Catch Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton has praised the work rate at Ferrari in its pursuit of Mercedes, after an aggressive development strategy helped the SF-26 reduce its deficit across the opening nine rounds of the Formula 1 season.

Ferrari has introduced upgrades at the majority of races this season for Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. The approach has allowed the Maranello-based team to make significant progress under the new power unit regulations and move closer to Mercedes’ performance level.

The development of the SF-26 has delivered victories in Barcelona through Hamilton and at Silverstone with Charles Leclerc. Leclerc’s British Grand Prix win came as a surprise because Mercedes had previously been expected to hold a major advantage at the circuit.

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However, Hamilton remains uncertain about Ferrari’s exact competitiveness at the Belgian Grand Prix. Spa-Francorchamps features longer straights than Silverstone, with that characteristic expected to expose Ferrari’s weakness against Mercedes more clearly.

“On this track, it is very difficult because the circuit is all about long straights. We went to Silverstone expecting to be much further down on power, but the car was very quick through the corners and it was far better than we anticipated,” Hamilton said.

Hamilton estimates that Spa contains around 30 per cent more straight-line sections, while Ferrari’s deficit to Mercedes at the previous race was still approximately three to four tenths of a second. That leaves Ferrari anticipating a greater challenge this weekend.

“We’re doing everything we can in terms of upgrades. I’m so proud of the team because they are continuing to push to optimise the car. We are making fine adjustments every week, which is great to see,” he added.

Ferrari is expected to introduce further new parts at Spa-Francorchamps. Hamilton hopes the steady flow of smaller upgrades at each race weekend can continue improving the SF-26 as Ferrari attempts to close the gap to Mercedes at the next round.