Lewis Hamilton Agrees Ferrari Is “The Car to Beat” — Once Maranello Fixes the One Thing Holding It Back
The paddock consensus on Ferrari in 2026 is that the chassis is exceptional, the aerodynamics are among the best on the grid, and the SF-26 is genuinely fast through the corners. The problem is everything that happens on the straights. When an interviewer suggested that ‘if you can get that extra bit of power you are the ones to beat,’ Lewis Hamilton was confident in his response.
“Yes, absolutely,” he said. “I mean the guys at the factory have done an amazing job with the car and we still have improvements to make but the car is fantastic. ” It’s about as unambiguous as Hamilton gets.
The Power Gap Is Real, and Ferrari Knows It Ferrari has emerged as one of Mercedes ‘ closest challenger in 2026, but the team is under no illusions that it carries a deficit of around half a second. Ferrari holds an edge in corners and has an advantage at race starts, while Mercedes is well clear when it comes to power and top speed . Hamilton has been living this every weekend, and his words reflect it: “It’s just a battle of development the rest of the season… we are at the mercy of the lack of power that we have.
” The engine performance deficit to Mercedes is believed to be in the region of 30 horsepower. Some estimates put it slightly lower – sources indicate an approximate shortfall of 25 horsepower compared to the benchmark Mercedes power unit – but the direction is consistent. Ferrari prioritized reliability at the start of the 2026 season, and the cost is a power unit with, per reporting from AutoRacer.
it , no meaningful development potential, representing more of a backup plan to comply with new 2026 fuel requirements. The roots of the problem go back further. The original power unit project developed under Wolf Zimmermann – who later departed Ferrari to join Audi – ultimately failed due to an inaccurate estimate regarding combustion efficiency and the degradation process, which created significant reliability problems during dyno testing.