Lewis Hamilton’s radio traffic during the Italian Grand Prix underlined one of Ferrari’s most worrying problems at Monza, with the seven-time Formula 1 world champion repeatedly asking for more power despite the arrival of the Scuderia’s much-anticipated ADUO-2 engine upgrade.
Hamilton complained about Ferrari’s power and straight-line performance on seven separate occasions during a difficult race that ended with him in sixth place. The messages were particularly significant because the Briton had already warned before the Grand Prix that the latest Power Unit development represented progress without being enough to eliminate Ferrari’s remaining deficit.
Lewis Hamilton repeatedly reports Ferrari power deficit at Monza
Hamilton’s afternoon had already been compromised in the opening stages. He attempted to pass Charles Leclerc at the start, but his team-mate defended robustly and Hamilton dropped from fourth to 10th after putting wheels into the gravel.
The complexion of the race changed again when Leclerc crashed and triggered a red flag. Ferrari switched Hamilton to Medium tyres for the restart, effectively committing him to a zero-stop strategy from that point. The British driver later felt that this had been the wrong decision as his pace deteriorated significantly towards the end of the Grand Prix.
Strategy and Ferrari’s handling of its two drivers consequently became major talking points, but the underlying performance deficit was potentially even more concerning for team principal Fred Vasseur. Even with improved execution, Hamilton might have been able to fight for a podium, but the SF-26 did not appear to possess the pace required to challenge the two Mercedes cars.
Hamilton ultimately crossed the line almost 25 seconds behind second-placed George Russell, despite the Mercedes driver also effectively following a zero-stop strategy. The result added to the wider concerns surrounding Ferrari’s SF-26 power and straight-line speed deficit at Monza.
Seven radio messages reveal Hamilton’s concern over straight-line performance
The significance of the problem was reflected in Hamilton’s communications with Ferrari during the race. Across seven separate messages, the Briton repeatedly returned to the same fundamental issue:
- He reported that a rival was pulling away from him on the straight.
- He indicated that the SF-26 appeared to lack straight-line speed.
- He asked the team for additional power on Monza’s straights.
- He requested greater energy deployment.
- He urged Ferrari to provide him with more power.
- He explained that he could not keep up because he needed additional power.
- He eventually reported that he had no power available.
Those complaints came during the first race weekend for Ferrari’s second major Power Unit development step of the season. The Scuderia had already used its first ADUO token in Austria, while the second was introduced at Monza with the hope of extracting further performance from the package.
The development had generated considerable attention before Ferrari’s home race, including technical scrutiny of the ADUO-2 turbo and compressor changes prepared for Monza. Charles Leclerc had also discussed the significance of Ferrari’s engine and floor developments ahead of the Italian Grand Prix.
Hamilton had already warned Ferrari upgrade would not close entire gap
Lewis Hamilton had tempered expectations before the race. During the pre-Grand Prix press conference, he acknowledged that the upgrade was a step forward but emphasised that it did not represent the full improvement Ferrari still required.
What followed on Sunday reinforced those concerns. Ferrari may still require additional time to optimise the new specification, while Monza may not have provided an entirely representative assessment because Hamilton spent much of the race running in trains of cars using overtake modes. Nevertheless, the initial competitive picture was not encouraging.
For Ferrari, the importance of the upgrade extended beyond the Italian Grand Prix itself. It represented the team’s best and only remaining opportunity through Power Unit development to strengthen its hopes of fighting for the world championship.
Ferrari’s championship situation worsens after Italian GP
The Monza result has made that objective considerably more difficult. Hamilton is now 76 points behind championship leader Kimi Antonelli, while McLaren is also moving closer to Ferrari in the fight for second place in the constructors’ standings.
With both gaps becoming increasingly difficult to overcome, Ferrari’s prospects in the drivers’ and constructors’ championships now appear remote. Hamilton himself has subsequently acknowledged that his 2026 Formula 1 title hopes are effectively over after Monza.
The immediate question for Vasseur and Ferrari is therefore not simply whether the Italian Grand Prix strategy could have produced a stronger finishing position. Hamilton’s repeated calls for additional power highlighted the larger issue: even after bringing an important engine development to one of Formula 1’s most power-sensitive circuits, the Scuderia remained unable to match the performance of its strongest rivals on the straights.
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