Lewis Hamilton’s Austrian GP tyre collapse exposed Ferrari’s biggest weakness in 2026
Lewis Hamilton’s fifth-place finish at the Austrian Grand Prix was shaped by far more than strategy alone. While Ferrari once again opted for an aggressive race plan designed to maximise outright pace, the SF-26 simply could not preserve its tyres long enough to challenge the leaders at the Red Bull Ring.
For much of the opening stint, Lewis Hamilton looked capable of fighting near the front after climbing into second place. However, as the race developed, Ferrari’s tyre degradation became impossible to ignore, forcing the team onto an aggressive three-stop strategy that ultimately failed to deliver the intended reward.
Instead of repeating the success achieved in Spain, the Briton gradually slipped away from the battle for victory and crossed the finish line in fifth, unable to take advantage of the fresher tyres that should have offered a strategic advantage during the closing stages.
Ferrari’s tyre problems appeared almost immediately
During Sky Sports F1’s live coverage of the race, former Formula 1 driver Karun Chandhok highlighted just how quickly Lewis Hamilton’s tyre condition had begun to deteriorate.
Only a handful of laps after fitting a fresh set of tyres, visible signs of wear had already appeared on the inside shoulder of the front-left tyre—the most heavily loaded tyre around the clockwise Red Bull Ring.
Lewis Hamilton had left the pits on new rubber only a few laps earlier, meaning the tyres had covered little more than 20 miles before clear degradation became visible. For a driver attempting to execute an aggressive strategy, that level of wear represented a major warning sign.
Karun Chandhok observed during the broadcast that the front-left tyre already appeared to be in poor condition through the middle phase of the stint, reinforcing how severely Ferrari was struggling to keep its tyres within the correct operating window.
With track temperatures climbing into the mid-30°C range and asphalt temperatures considerably higher, Ferrari found itself fighting an increasingly difficult battle against overheating throughout the afternoon.
Lewis Hamilton struggled on every compound
Following the race, Lewis Hamilton made it clear that Ferrari’s difficulties were not limited to one particular tyre compound.
When asked whether the hard tyres had failed to suit the SF-26, the seven-time Formula 1 world champion explained that Ferrari had experienced problems regardless of which compound was fitted during the race.
Lewis Hamilton also indicated that rear tyre degradation had become a recurring issue across every stint. According to his assessment, each new set of tyres experienced a rapid loss of performance for reasons the team still needed to fully understand.
The same trend affected Charles Leclerc.
The Monegasque also completed a three-stop race after his pace declined dramatically during the middle stages. Having already dropped behind rivals and with a comfortable gap over the midfield, Ferrari had little to lose by committing to an additional pit stop in an attempt to recover some performance.
Tyres were only part of Ferrari’s problems
Although tyre degradation dominated much of the post-race discussion, it was far from Ferrari’s only concern in Austria.
Throughout the Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton repeatedly received instructions from the pit wall to switch to more conservative engine modes in order to keep temperatures under control and protect the reliability of Ferrari’s upgraded power unit.
Those precautions inevitably reduced straight-line performance, making overtaking even more difficult on one of Formula 1’s most power-sensitive circuits.
The combination of overheating, rapid tyre wear and limited engine deployment created a perfect storm that prevented Ferrari from converting its strong qualifying pace into a competitive race result.
Austria exposed Ferrari’s wider performance limitations
While questions have naturally been asked about Ferrari’s strategic execution, Team Principal Frédéric Vasseur suggested after the race that strategy was not the decisive factor behind the disappointing result.
From Ferrari’s perspective, the more fundamental issue was a lack of overall competitiveness at the Red Bull Ring. The SF-26 simply did not possess the race pace required to challenge Mercedes, Red Bull or McLaren consistently over a full Grand Prix distance.
Austria therefore showed that Ferrari’s 2026 package remains highly competitive over a single lap but considerably more vulnerable during long race stints. Until the team improves tyre management, controls overheating more effectively and extracts additional performance from its power unit, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc are likely to continue facing an uphill battle against the frontrunners despite the undeniable potential of the SF-26.
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