Lewis Hamilton believes Ferrari has lost performance since Friday and does not expect to challenge Mercedes over the full distance of the British Grand Prix, despite securing another strong qualifying result at Silverstone.
Hamilton pessimistic despite strong qualifying
Lewis Hamilton enjoyed an impressive start to the Silverstone weekend by claiming Sprint pole before finishing second in Saturday’s Sprint race behind Andrea Kimi Antonelli. The Ferrari driver then continued his strong qualifying form by setting the third-fastest time, earning a place on the second row of the grid for Sunday’s British Grand Prix alongside Charles Leclerc, with Antonelli starting from pole position.
Despite the encouraging result, Hamilton admitted he never felt as comfortable with the Ferrari SF-26 as he had on Friday, suggesting the team’s performance had slipped over the course of the weekend.
“I didn’t feel the car as well as I did yesterday,” Lewis Hamilton said. “Yesterday the balance was perfect, but today the rear was stepping out, and under braking it also had a tendency to lock up. We’ve gone backwards.”
Mercedes expected to be too strong in race trim
Looking ahead to Sunday’s race, Lewis Hamilton was not optimistic about Ferrari’s chances of fighting the Mercedes drivers over a full Grand Prix distance. While he believes Ferrari may be able to stay in contention during the opening laps, he expects the Silver Arrows to have a decisive pace advantage once the race settles down.
“I don’t want to sound negative, but the Mercedes are clearly much faster. Even if we manage to stay with them in the opening laps, they’ll disappear over the race distance.”
Lewis Hamilton’s assessment reflects Ferrari’s concerns about long-run pace, with Mercedes appearing to hold the upper hand throughout the Silverstone weekend despite the Scuderia’s strong one-lap performance.
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