Ferrari was pushing Lewis Hamilton to commit fully through Madrid’s demanding Turn 12 during Friday practice, with F1 analyst Alex Brundle revealing that the instruction was linked not only to lap time but also to the SF-26’s energy deployment strategy. The corner, known as La Monumental, became a key reference point as the Maranello team worked to understand why Hamilton was losing performance around the new Madring circuit.
Friday was largely about learning for the entire Formula 1 field as teams tackled the newest venue on the calendar. George Russell led FP1 before Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli set the pace in FP2, while Ferrari emerged as the closest challenger. Charles Leclerc was the quicker of the two Scuderia drivers in both hour-long sessions, with Hamilton finishing less than a tenth behind his team-mate each time.
Ferrari pressures Lewis Hamilton to go flat through Turn 12
During FP2, Alex Brundle explained that he had been following Ferrari’s team radio and noticed both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton being encouraged to take Turn 12 flat-out. The instruction was particularly significant for Hamilton, who was being told that the corner represented one of the areas where he was struggling most.
Brundle indicated that Ferrari’s motivation extended beyond simply gaining time through the corner. The team also needed the drivers to remain flat because the behaviour of the power unit and the way electrical energy was delivered around the lap appeared to depend on how the car was driven through that section.
That made La Monumental an important part of Ferrari’s learning process. The corner features a 24% gradient and is intended to reward full commitment, with drivers experiencing more than four G of lateral load at speeds exceeding 250km/h. For Hamilton, the challenge was therefore tied to both confidence in the car and the way Ferrari was trying to understand its deployment strategy.
The Briton was also losing performance in the final sector, an area he had already identified as one of Ferrari’s main concerns after Friday running. A closer look at his own assessment of the SF-26 is available in our report on Lewis Hamilton’s Madrid FP2 balance problem.
Mercedes holds clear advantage in Madring final sector
The second Friday session produced lap times in the 1:33 range, but the sector breakdown exposed a clear difference between Ferrari and Mercedes. The SF-26 was competitive through the opening two sectors, while the W17 was considerably stronger in the final part of the lap.
Former Formula 1 driver Jolyon Palmer highlighted that difference after Charles Leclerc completed a lap matching his previous personal best. Despite that consistency, Palmer noted that Leclerc remained six tenths slower than Kimi Antonelli through the final sector alone.
Palmer’s assessment was that Ferrari’s overall lap time remained respectable if the driver could combine all the strongest parts of the lap, but the SF-26 was not yet delivering that performance with enough consistency or predictability. That distinction mattered on a completely new circuit, where confidence and repeatability were crucial while drivers continued learning the limits.
Ferrari’s Turn 12 request reveals wider energy challenge
Brundle’s radio observation offered another explanation for why Ferrari’s Friday performance could not be judged solely from headline lap times. If the team needed Hamilton and Leclerc to remain flat through Turn 12 in order to properly evaluate engine delivery and energy deployment, then driver inputs through La Monumental were directly affecting Ferrari’s ability to optimise the SF-26.
The energy-management aspect is particularly important around a layout that mixes high-speed commitment with technical sections and places unusual demands on the power unit. ScuderiaFans’ wider Ferrari technical analysis follows how deployment, balance and aerodynamic behaviour are shaping the SF-26 throughout the 2026 season.
For Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari’s instruction suggested that the team wanted more commitment specifically through the corner where his driving was disrupting that learning process. The request was therefore not simply an instruction to take more risk for a faster sector time; it was part of understanding how the entire lap should be managed from an energy perspective.
Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton remain closely matched
Despite the different areas each driver was working on, the two Ferraris remained closely matched across Friday. Charles Leclerc led the Scuderia in both sessions, but Lewis Hamilton stayed within a tenth of his team-mate in each case.
That gave Ferrari a useful baseline even as Mercedes retained a clear strength in the closing sector. The margin suggested that the Italian team had competitive underlying pace, but the challenge was putting together a complete lap without giving away too much time in the final sequence.
Further updates on the two drivers throughout the Madrid weekend can be found in the dedicated Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc sections.
Friday therefore left Ferrari with two connected priorities: finding greater consistency through the final sector and understanding how commitment through La Monumental influenced power-unit deployment. Mercedes had the stronger final sector, but Ferrari’s pace elsewhere around the lap meant there was still performance to unlock if the SF-26 could be brought into a more predictable window.
Leave a Reply