Ferrari’s upgraded SF-26 showed that the performance is finally there at Zandvoort, but the Dutch Grand Prix also exposed a problem that can no longer be blamed purely on the car. Lewis Hamilton finished fourth and Charles Leclerc fifth despite having considerably stronger race pace, with qualifying, strategy and a series of small execution errors preventing the Scuderia from turning that speed into the result it appeared capable of achieving.
Meanwhile, Lando Norris delivered again. After McLaren’s dominant showing in Hungary had demonstrated that the British team was back as a major force, Norris reinforced that impression in the Netherlands and kept alive his extremely difficult attempt to bring himself back into the World Championship fight.
McLaren turns promises into performance as Norris fights back
McLaren has increasingly built a reputation for delivering on its development promises through organised, well-directed teamwork rather than bold declarations. After the team’s difficult opening phase of the 2026 season, Andrea Stella had been confident that McLaren understood where it needed to improve.
“Give us a little time, we know where to work to make the car competitive,” Andrea Stella said after the British team’s early setbacks.
A few months later, Lando Norris has returned to the front with a car improved across several areas, particularly in its understanding and exploitation of the power unit. Norris himself has also looked transformed: more decisive in overtaking situations, more assured strategically and capable of producing another dominant performance against Mercedes.
Oscar Piastri, driving the same car, finished around half a minute behind, with the lower-grip characteristics of this generation of Formula 1 machinery appearing less suited to him.
Norris remains 83 points behind Andrea Kimi Antonelli, an enormous deficit, but his recent form ensures the championship battle has not completely lost its intrigue.
Mercedes makes the decisive team-order call Ferrari avoided
Zandvoort also appeared to underline Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s status within Mercedes. Whatever ambiguity may remain in the team’s public statements, the pit wall made a clear decision during the Dutch Grand Prix.
George Russell had hoped to pit during the Virtual Safety Car and protect second position, but Mercedes instead instructed him not to interfere with Antonelli’s progress and to move aside, with the Italian running on fresh Soft tyres. Russell obeyed, although Antonelli’s tyre advantage meant he was likely to complete the pass regardless.
The result was two Mercedes cars on the podium. McLaren had beaten them with its renewed pace, but Mercedes still scored more points than Ferrari in the Constructors’ Championship. That contrast became even more significant because Ferrari had already acknowledged that unpopular team orders could become necessary as the championship developed.
Ferrari SF-26 pace was better than the Dutch GP result
Ferrari was the disappointing element of the Dutch weekend, particularly after arriving with ambitions of fighting for victory following substantial updates to the car. Instead, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc qualified on the third row and ultimately finished fourth and fifth.
Yet the result does not tell the whole story. The updated SF-26 performed very well in race trim, continuing the encouraging signs seen in the latest analysis of Ferrari’s Zandvoort upgrade. Once again, however, details and small errors prevented the car from being used to its full potential.
That is increasingly important for a team that wants to fight for championships. The technical side is no longer the only concern. Ferrari’s Dutch GP showed that execution, timing and decision-making can be just as costly as a lack of outright performance.
Lewis Hamilton’s podium challenge hurt by Ferrari strategy
Strategy certainly compromised Lewis Hamilton’s attempt to take third place from George Russell. From the middle of the race, the seven-time world champion produced pace comparable to the leaders, yet Ferrari waited too long before making his first tyre change.
Later, Hamilton caught Charles Leclerc while operating on a different strategy but was not immediately given a clear route past his team-mate. Valuable seconds were lost, and they became particularly painful when Hamilton eventually finished just short of Russell and the podium.
Hamilton subsequently made his frustration clear, contrasting Ferrari’s handling with Mercedes’ willingness to issue instructions to its own drivers. His criticism of Ferrari’s team-order handling highlighted precisely the type of operational detail that Maranello must improve if it intends to capitalise on a more competitive car.
The relationship between the two Ferrari drivers also became part of the strategic complication. Charles Leclerc had his own view of how his stint should have been extended to attack George Russell, later explaining his disagreement with the Ferrari pit wall while insisting there was no underlying problem with Lewis Hamilton.
Qualifying remains Ferrari’s recurring weakness
The deeper problem, however, started on Saturday. Once again, Ferrari failed to translate an aerodynamic step forward into the qualifying result required to fight from the front. The new floor and the rest of the SF-26 package represented genuine progress, but the stopwatch did not reflect that potential when it mattered most.
From the moment Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were left on the third row, it was obvious that the Dutch Grand Prix would become a recovery race. Zandvoort’s narrow layout and limited overtaking opportunities only magnified the consequences.
The complete Ferrari Dutch GP race analysis showed just how much more competitive the SF-26 became on Sunday compared with its grid positions. That makes the missed opportunity more frustrating rather than less.
Hamilton ultimately lost nine points in the Drivers’ Championship, while Ferrari surrendered further ground to Mercedes in the Constructors’ standings despite having the conditions to achieve considerably more.
Monza will test whether Ferrari can complete the final step
The focus now shifts to Monza in two weeks’ time. Ferrari is expected to introduce its new ADUO 2 power unit for its home Grand Prix, while Andrea Kimi Antonelli is set to start further back because of a Mercedes power-unit change.
That creates another major opportunity. The question is whether Ferrari can finally convert the performance of its car into the result it deserves.
The SF-26 now appears capable. What remains missing is the operational discipline that was one of Ferrari’s defining strengths during the Michael Schumacher era: management, handling the drivers and, above all, making the right decisions quickly enough.
Maranello has already done a huge amount of work to address the technical weaknesses that held Ferrari back for years. Zandvoort suggested that the next step may no longer be primarily about finding more downforce or performance. It is about extracting everything from what the team already has.
