Lewis Hamilton believes that Ferrari is still far from Mercedes in the 2026 Formula 1 season due to the power difference between the cars. The Briton stated that the Italian team loses performance mainly on the straights, even managing to keep up with rivals in the corners.
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At the Canadian GP, Hamilton achieved his best result with Ferrari by finishing second, after overtaking Max Verstappen in an intense battle in the final laps. Despite this, the seven-time world champion was more than ten seconds behind Andrea Kimi Antonelli, winner for the fourth consecutive race after George Russell retired with power unit problems on the Mercedes.
Mercedes remains undefeated in the first five rounds of 2026, while Ferrari has yet to consistently threaten their rival. According to Hamilton, the main obstacle is precisely the power disadvantage of the Italian car.
“If you take away that power difference, we are in the fight with them. But unfortunately, it’s not like that today,” said the British driver.
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Hamilton explained that he can keep up with the Mercedes in the corners, but does not have enough speed on the straights to complete attacks or defend. “I can keep the pace in the corners, but I can’t press the pedal more. Then you see them pulling away on the straights and me catching up under braking. It’s very difficult,” he highlighted.
The driver also said that not even the extra power modes are enough to reduce the gap. “Even when you use the overtaking mode and get to less than a second, they still pull away. That shows how strong they are, and we are far behind. I hope the new rule allows us to improve performance to get back in the fight,” he added.
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