Ferrari: the key issue Lewis Hamilton must resolve ahead of 2026 F1 season. Lewis Hamilton’s first Ferrari season has been marked by qualifying struggles.

One of the problems that affected Lewis Hamilton’s journey at Ferrari during the 2025 Formula 1 season was, above all, his performance in qualifying.

Since joining Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton has been unable to secure a podium finish for the first time in his career. Charles Leclerc, on the other hand, ended the season with a total of seven podiums to his name. The difference between the two Ferrari drivers became particularly evident in qualifying sessions. On several occasions, Lewis Hamilton failed to reach Q3, and in the most recent sessions he was even eliminated in Q1. These difficulties did not go unnoticed, and Sky Sports F1 journalist Ted Kravitz, while analysing the seven-time world champion’s season, focused precisely on this aspect of his performance.

The qualifying problem

According to Ted Kravitz, the real issue for Lewis Hamilton this season was his qualifying performance, which on multiple occasions compromised his race results. During the latest episode of The F1 Show, the journalist admitted: “The only thing he needs to focus on is qualifying performance, because the rest depends solely on how much Ferrari will listen to the changes he wants to make.”

Ted Kravitz also referred to comments made by Carlos Sainz Jr. a year ago, when the Spanish driver left Ferrari and stated that the Maranello-based team had everything it needed to return to winning ways. Ted Kravitz continued: “So, coming back to the point, they have everything required to win a championship. But will they listen to Hamilton’s advice? Or will that small deficit he has — namely qualifying performance and pace, especially in Q3, with this generation of cars and tyres — be resolved? If this continues into 2026, I think that, most likely, we will see him complete his contract with Ferrari for another year.” – he pointed out.

The suggestion

To address this issue, Ted Kravitz suggested the idea of working with a qualifying tutor. However, according to Karun Chandhok, this would be impossible, as testing is limited and it would also be extremely difficult to replicate the level of pressure that drivers face during qualifying. Nevertheless, Chandhok believes that something can still be done: “Maybe during the first free practice weekends. Maybe it means using extra tyres and doing more practice to give him a bit more preparation for qualifying, or something like that. But something has to change. They have to do something to help him, because if you keep doing the same things, you get the same results. They need to try something different for next year, in order to improve this qualifying situation.”