Lewis Hamilton’s debut Ferrari season has already delivered flashes of promise, but recent race weekends have raised fresh questions about whether the seven-time Formula 1 world champion can sustain a genuine challenge alongside Charles Leclerc over the course of the 2026 campaign.
After an encouraging start to life in red — including a strong fourth-place finish in Australia and a first podium with Ferrari in China — momentum appears to have shifted. While Ferrari has shown clear pace at the front of the field, Lewis Hamilton’s performances in recent events have not matched the early optimism surrounding his arrival at Maranello.
In Japan, Lewis Hamilton slipped back to sixth while Charles Leclerc secured a podium finish, underlining the Monegasque driver’s growing confidence with the SF-26 package. Miami proved even more challenging. Although post-race penalties reshuffled the final Ferrari order, the overall picture suggested Charles Leclerc had the stronger weekend pace, with Lewis Hamilton finishing seventh in the Sprint and sixth in the Grand Prix after struggling to extract the final performance from the car.
Jolyon Palmer sees Canada as a turning point for Lewis Hamilton
Former Formula 1 driver Jolyon Palmer believes the upcoming Canadian Grand Prix could become a defining moment in Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari season, especially given the Briton’s exceptional record at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
Montreal has long been one of Lewis Hamilton’s strongest venues in Formula 1. Only Silverstone and the Hungaroring have delivered more victories for the British driver, making Canada a circuit where confidence, familiarity, and instinct have historically combined to produce standout performances.
Speaking on the F1 Nation podcast, Jolyon Palmer suggested that Lewis Hamilton needs to stop the recent slide before a worrying trend develops. Palmer pointed out that the Briton had started the year with visible confidence, appearing comfortable with Ferrari’s direction and the car’s competitiveness, but recent weekends have created a different impression.
According to Jolyon Palmer’s analysis, Canada offers the perfect opportunity for a reset. The former Renault driver argued that Lewis Hamilton should naturally arrive with greater confidence at a track where he has consistently excelled, adding that Ferrari should still have a sufficiently competitive package to allow him to fight near the front.
Ferrari teammate battle with Charles Leclerc becoming a key storyline
For Lewis Hamilton, the issue is not necessarily needing to dominate Charles Leclerc immediately — but rather ensuring the performance gap does not widen further.
Jolyon Palmer’s view was that simply seeing both Ferrari drivers operating in the same competitive window would already represent a positive step. The concern is less about outright beating Charles Leclerc this weekend and more about preventing the internal balance at Ferrari from shifting too heavily toward the Monegasque driver.
Miami highlighted that concern clearly. While the Monegasque remained engaged in battles closer to the front, the seven-time world champion appeared to be fighting a more difficult race, lacking the final few tenths required to stay fully in contention. Even accounting for race complications, the broader competitive trend has become harder to ignore.
If that same pattern continues in Canada — a circuit traditionally tailored to Lewis Hamilton’s strengths — questions will inevitably intensify.
Monaco could make the Ferrari situation even tougher for Lewis Hamilton
The pressure becomes even more significant when looking at the calendar ahead. Monaco follows immediately after Canada, and while Lewis Hamilton has historically performed respectably on the streets of Monte Carlo, Charles Leclerc’s advantage there is potentially far more pronounced.
Ferrari’s chassis characteristics suggest the team could be especially competitive in Monaco, where mechanical grip and low-speed performance often outweigh pure engine power. That scenario could place Charles Leclerc firmly in the spotlight at his home race, creating an even more difficult environment for Lewis Hamilton if he arrives already on the back foot.
Jolyon Palmer warned that if Lewis Hamilton cannot produce a convincing performance in Canada, the narrative around his Ferrari adaptation may start to become uncomfortable. A continued deficit to Charles Leclerc would risk creating the impression that the championship campaign is slowly slipping away before the European phase properly gathers momentum.
For Ferrari, the bigger objective remains maximising points in both championships. But internally, the Lewis Hamilton versus Charles Leclerc battle is rapidly becoming one of the most fascinating storylines of the 2026 Formula 1 season.
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