A significant Ferrari SF-26 floor change between practice and Sprint Qualifying may have contributed to Lewis Hamilton’s difficult session at the Dutch Grand Prix, according to Sky Sports F1 analyst Naomi Schiff. Hamilton had looked considerably more comfortable during practice at Zandvoort before slipping to seventh in the decisive qualifying session.
Schiff revealed that information she had received from members of Ferrari suggested the updated floor was introduced only after practice and fitted for Sprint Qualifying. Although Hamilton had characterised the changes between the sessions as relatively subtle, the aerodynamic revision itself represented a far more substantial alteration to the car.
Ferrari floor change gave Lewis Hamilton a major adjustment
Schiff explained that changing such an important aerodynamic component immediately before a competitive session could represent a considerable transition for a driver. With the floor playing a central role in the generation and consistency of a modern Formula 1 car’s aerodynamic performance, Hamilton had little time to adapt before Sprint Qualifying began.
The decision also appears to have been influenced by Ferrari’s expectations for FP1. Schiff suggested that the team had originally anticipated a wet opening practice session and therefore wanted to avoid exposing the new floor to unnecessary risk of damage.
That meant Ferrari delayed running the updated specification until Sprint Qualifying rather than evaluating it throughout practice. The change fits into the wider development programme behind the SF-26 upgrade package introduced at Zandvoort, with the floor among the key areas targeted by the Maranello team.
Promising Ferrari practice pace did not translate into Hamilton’s qualifying result
The timing of the modification is particularly notable because Ferrari had shown encouraging pace earlier in the weekend. Schiff pointed out that the team’s longer runs had looked highly competitive, increasing the contrast between Hamilton’s promising practice performance and his eventual seventh place in Sprint Qualifying.
The seven-time world champion therefore had to learn the behaviour of a substantially revised aerodynamic package while simultaneously attempting to extract maximum performance in a qualifying format that allows little margin for adaptation. Ferrari had already approached the weekend knowing that Zandvoort’s Sprint format would make set-up work particularly demanding because of the limited practice running available.
Schiff expressed hope that Ferrari had been able to use the period after Sprint Qualifying to understand the new floor more thoroughly and make the necessary adaptations ahead of Saturday’s running. The challenge was not simply to assess whether the component delivered the expected performance, but also to give Hamilton a better understanding of how the revised SF-26 needed to be driven.
Ferrari now needs to understand the revised SF-26
Hamilton’s P7 therefore came against the backdrop of a meaningful technical change rather than an entirely unchanged car from practice. While Schiff did not present the floor as the sole explanation for his qualifying result, she highlighted the difficulty involved in introducing such a major component immediately before a competitive session.
The situation also places extra importance on Ferrari’s analysis of the data gathered at Zandvoort. The team arrived with growing confidence in its latest SF-26 development package, but Hamilton’s experience underlined the need to understand not only the aerodynamic gains but also how the changes affect the car from the driver’s perspective.
With Ferrari’s long-run performance having appeared competitive, the focus now shifts to whether Hamilton can adapt more effectively to the revised floor and convert that underlying pace into a stronger result during the rest of the Dutch Grand Prix weekend.
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