Lewis Hamilton believes Ferrari is not far from the leading pace at Sepang despite struggling to find the right balance with the SF-26 during Friday practice for the 2026 Bahrain Grand Prix. The seven-time world champion’s difficult day also ended with an FIA warning for impeding Gabriel Bortoleto in FP2, while Ferrari received a €10,000 fine.
Extremely low grip made conditions challenging across the field and complicated Ferrari’s attempts to find the optimum setup. Hamilton experimented with different directions during the two sessions and was left with more work to complete before Saturday, although his assessment of the SF-26’s underlying pace provided some encouragement.
Lewis Hamilton struggles for grip with Ferrari SF-26
The particularly slippery Sepang surface was one of the defining factors of Friday’s running. It made the SF-26 difficult to balance and left Ferrari working to understand how the car was behaving as track conditions evolved.
“It was a difficult day overall, with very little grip available on track. Finding the right balance wasn’t easy, but it seemed to be a common problem across the whole field,” Lewis Hamilton explained.
The Briton’s assessment highlighted why the Friday picture cannot be judged purely from the timesheets. With the circuit providing unusually little grip, the teams were focused heavily on understanding their cars and identifying a configuration capable of working effectively as conditions changed.
Ferrari nevertheless showed encouraging signs during the second session, with Charles Leclerc setting the fastest time. The wider performance picture can be explored through the ScuderiaFans F1 Practice & Long-Run Analysis, which provides additional context beyond the headline FP2 classification.
Ferrari continues search for the right SF-26 setup
Across the two Friday sessions, Ferrari explored more than one setup direction as it searched for the best compromise between outright lap time and the overall behaviour of the SF-26. According to Hamilton, that process is not yet complete, making the team’s analysis of Friday’s data particularly important before the car returns to the track on Saturday.
“During the sessions we explored a couple of different directions with the setup and now the focus is on understanding the data and finding the right compromise. We don’t seem to be too far off the pace, but we know there is still work to do to put the car in the best possible position for tomorrow,” Lewis Hamilton explained.
That assessment captures Ferrari’s position at the end of Friday. Hamilton does not consider the SF-26 to be completely out of contention, but nor does he believe the car has already reached its ideal operating window. There therefore remains significant scope for adjustment, with the work carried out between Friday evening and Saturday morning potentially determining how effectively Ferrari can convert the information gathered in practice into a stronger setup.
Hamilton’s weekend can be followed through the dedicated Lewis Hamilton Ferrari news and results section, including the latest developments surrounding his 2026 campaign.
Lewis Hamilton warned as Ferrari receives €10,000 fine
Friday also ended with action from the stewards involving Hamilton and Ferrari. The British driver received a warning after impeding Gabriel Bortoleto during FP2, while the Scuderia was fined €10,000.
According to the stewards’ findings, the right-hand rear-view mirror on Hamilton’s Ferrari was damaged. As a result, responsibility for providing the driver with adequate radio information about approaching cars was considered to rest with the team.
The full FIA decision followed an investigation into the incident and adds another element to Hamilton’s eventful Friday, although it does not alter the competitive picture produced by the practice sessions. The details of the stewards’ ruling and the circumstances surrounding the damaged mirror can be found in our report on the FIA verdict over the Lewis Hamilton-Gabriel Bortoleto incident.
Ferrari sees reasons for optimism despite difficult Friday
Hamilton’s attention now turns fully towards preparing the SF-26 for Saturday and converting Ferrari’s work from the opening two sessions into a more competitive package. The challenge is to identify the setup compromise that can give him greater confidence while preserving the underlying pace he believes is already present.
Friday should not yet be treated as a definitive indication of the competitive order. The lack of grip complicated the programme for the entire field and made it harder to establish the true potential of each car. Charles Leclerc reached a similar conclusion after finishing fastest in FP2, warning Ferrari that it will need to anticipate how dramatically the Sepang surface evolves as more rubber is laid down. His assessment of Sepang’s changing grip and high tyre degradation underlines another important variable Ferrari must account for before qualifying.
For Hamilton, however, there is at least one positive foundation on which to build: the SF-26 does not appear to be far from the pace. Ferrari’s task is now to find the setup compromise that allows the car to express that potential when the weekend reaches its decisive stages.
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