Lewis Hamilton’s 2026 Miami Grand Prix quickly turned into a difficult and compromised race after an early-lap incident involving Franco Colapinto severely damaged his Ferrari SF-26 and prevented him from fully capitalising on the team’s latest Formula 1 upgrade package.
Ferrari arrived at the Miami Grand Prix with significant aerodynamic and performance upgrades introduced to the SF-26, aiming to close the gap to front-running rivals in both qualifying and race conditions. However, Lewis Hamilton was unable to extract the intended performance from the new package after his race was heavily impacted within the opening lap.
Despite showing competitive pace during the Sprint race, where Lewis Hamilton engaged in close battles with Max Verstappen and ultimately finished in seventh position, the main Grand Prix followed a similar pattern in terms of final result, but for entirely different reasons. On Sunday, Lewis Hamilton again crossed the line in P7, but this time after suffering early structural damage to his car that fundamentally altered his race strategy and performance ceiling.
The critical moment occurred when Lewis Hamilton made contact with the Alpine of Franco Colapinto while approaching turn 11 on the opening lap of the Miami Grand Prix. The impact caused immediate and visible damage to the left-hand side of the car, including both the floor and sidepod, severely affecting aerodynamic efficiency and downforce generation for the remainder of the race.
Lewis Hamilton immediately reported the situation to the Ferrari pit wall, informing his race engineer Carlo Santi that he had sustained damage and was losing performance, specifically on the left side of the car. Carlo Santi confirmed that telemetry data showed damage to both the sidepod and the floor, and also communicated that no immediate repair solution was available during the race.
Following this confirmation, the seven-time F1 world champion expressed concerns about a significant loss of downforce, noting that he was no longer able to maintain pace with the cars ahead. He also acknowledged over team radio that the race would likely become a long and difficult challenge due to the extent of the damage sustained in the opening lap incident.
Despite the setback, Carlo Santi encouraged Lewis Hamilton to continue pushing and attempt to recover as much performance as possible, maintaining a positive approach despite the compromised situation. During this exchange, the Briton also issued an apology for the contact with Franco Colapinto, acknowledging responsibility for the incident that led to the damage.
Carlo Santi responded by confirming that Ferrari had already calculated a significant performance loss, estimated at between 10 and 15 points of downforce-related performance deficit, particularly at high speed. It was also noted that there was a track marshal present in the area following the incident, which further highlighted the chaotic nature of the opening stages of the race.
While Lewis Hamilton was dealing with damage limitation, Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc was also involved in a turbulent and ultimately disappointing race. Charles Leclerc initially managed to take the lead at the start of the Grand Prix and maintained track position during the early safety car restart phase, demonstrating strong initial pace from the upgraded SF-26 package.
However, Charles Leclerc was eventually overtaken by both Lando Norris and Kimi Antonelli as the race developed, with tyre management and race pace becoming increasingly challenging for the Ferrari driver. Although a potential podium finish still appeared possible at one stage, Oscar Piastri eventually found a way past in the closing stages of the Grand Prix.
In the final moments of the race, Charles Leclerc experienced a further setback when he spun at turn three on the last lap and made contact with the wall, causing additional damage to his SF-26. This incident forced him to drop behind both George Russell and Max Verstappen, ultimately resulting in a P6 finish and a reduced points return for Ferrari.
Lewis Hamilton was reportedly surprised when informed of Charles Leclerc’s final classification and Ferrari’s overall race outcome, as the team had been positioned to score a significantly stronger points haul given their performance potential earlier in the weekend. Instead, strategic setbacks, on-track incidents, and late-race errors combined to leave Ferrari with a disappointing result despite their technical upgrades for the Miami Grand Prix.
Overall, the Miami Grand Prix highlighted the fragile nature of Ferrari’s current competitive position in Formula 1, where potential performance gains from upgrades can be quickly neutralised by race incidents and execution issues. For Lewis Hamilton, the combination of early contact with Franco Colapinto and resulting aerodynamic damage effectively defined his race, while Charles Leclerc’s late-race mistake further compounded Ferrari’s missed opportunity at a crucial stage of the season.
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