Lewis Hamilton has rejected the suggestion that Ferrari should now be considered Formula 1’s fourth-fastest team after another difficult round of the 2026 season, as the Azerbaijan Grand Prix exposed the Scuderia’s straight-line limitations. The seven-time world champion finished sixth in Baku and acknowledged that Ferrari is not currently operating as the second-quickest package, but he was unwilling to accept a more pessimistic assessment of the team’s position.
The Briton spent much of the race isolated from the main battles, with Baku’s long full-throttle sections again highlighting a Ferrari weakness that has affected the team throughout the season. He crossed the line 22.382 seconds behind race winner George Russell, while Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar completed the podium for Red Bull.
Lewis Hamilton unable to attack on Baku straights
Lewis Hamilton qualified sixth but slipped away from podium contention once the race developed. Baku’s 2.2-kilometre full-throttle section placed particular emphasis on straight-line performance, an area where Ferrari has struggled relative to its strongest rivals.
The British driver described his race as one spent largely in isolation, without a realistic opportunity to influence the cars around him. When discussing the difficulty of defending on the straights, Lewis Hamilton accepted that the situation was frustrating but indicated there was little he could do from inside the cockpit.
The problem fits with the broader technical picture seen throughout the Azerbaijan weekend. Ferrari’s Baku telemetry analysis highlighted the SF-26’s contrasting strengths and weaknesses, while the recorded straight-line differences can also be examined through the ScuderiaFans F1 Top Speed Comparison.
Ferrari straight-line deficit remains a major limitation
Ferrari has publicly acknowledged that straight-line speed remains a weakness during the 2026 season. The deficit has been linked to the power unit relative to Mercedes, even though the SF-26 remains competitive through the corners.
That imbalance was particularly costly in Azerbaijan because Baku places an unusually high premium on acceleration and maximum speed. A car can recover time through the technical sections, but the long run to the braking zone makes it extremely difficult to attack or defend when a rival has a significant advantage in a straight line.
Ferrari had already been working on those limitations during practice, with the team making progress with deployment and setup in FP3 without completely eliminating the underlying problem.
Lewis Hamilton refuses to put Ferrari fourth
The Azerbaijan result nevertheless reopened the debate over Ferrari’s position in the Formula 1 competitive order. Mercedes and Red Bull were both clearly stronger in Baku, leading to questions over whether the Maranello team had now dropped behind three rivals.
Lewis Hamilton rejected the idea that Ferrari should automatically be placed fourth. He questioned the value of making such a definitive ranking and admitted he was unsure exactly where the team currently stood. His own assessment was that Ferrari was clearly not the second-fastest car at present, but the fact that the Scuderia finished ahead of McLaren in Azerbaijan led him to suggest third place could be a more reasonable interpretation.
That distinction matters because Ferrari has continued developing the SF-26 rather than abandoning the current car entirely in favour of 2027. Another upgrade package is expected before the end of the season, meaning the Italian team still intends to improve its competitive position before attention shifts completely towards the next project.
Ferrari still searching for answers before 2027
The broader concern is that Ferrari’s recent results have not matched the level expected earlier in the campaign. Lewis Hamilton’s sixth place in Azerbaijan therefore became another reminder that the team still has significant performance areas to address, particularly when circuits place heavy emphasis on energy deployment and straight-line speed.
At the same time, the British driver is not prepared to accept that the Scuderia has definitively fallen to fourth in Formula 1’s hierarchy. His assessment leaves Ferrari somewhere between the leading pair and McLaren based on the Baku evidence, rather than at the bottom of that group.
With further development still planned, the remaining races will provide another indication of whether Ferrari can reverse its recent trend before the focus increasingly turns towards the longer-term challenge. Lewis Hamilton has already made clear that 2027 is becoming an increasingly important test for Ferrari, but the SF-26 programme is not finished yet.
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