Miami GP: Ferrari shows progress but Lewis Hamilton points to missed opportunity. Lewis Hamilton highlights Ferrari’s progress at the Miami GP.

Encouraging signs from Ferrari’s upgraded package

The Miami Grand Prix qualifying session delivered a nuanced picture for Ferrari, where clear signs of improvement are becoming more consistent, but are not yet fully reflected in the final result. Lewis Hamilton’s comments perfectly capture this balance between visible technical progress and a missed opportunity.

The SF-26 appears to be a more effective car both in slow and high-speed corners, but Ferrari is still not extracting its full potential over a complete qualifying lap.

The British driver highlighted how changes made to the car before the session significantly improved its behaviour, particularly in the middle phase of qualifying. However, Q3 left untapped performance that weighs heavily on the overall assessment.

A more stable and predictable package

“In qualifying we made a good step forward: we made many changes to the car before the session and the feeling in the cockpit was definitely better, especially in Q2, where we were quite competitive.”

The reference to cockpit feeling is a key technical indicator. It suggests that Ferrari has widened or at least stabilised its operating window. This is particularly important on a circuit like Miami, where the balance between traction and stability under braking is crucial for lap time performance.

Unfinished Q3 and untapped performance

“In Q3 it was more complicated, I wasn’t able to extract the maximum performance, and I am convinced there was margin to do better. I am really grateful to the whole team for the hard work they are doing, both in introducing upgrades and in continuing to push us forward. It is a step in the right direction: we need to keep working together to get even more out of our car package,” said the seven-time world champion.

The key takeaway is the reference to “margin”. Lewis Hamilton suggests that the limitation was not purely structural, but also related to execution in Q3, where Ferrari failed to convert the potential shown in Q2.

From a technical perspective, this may indicate a qualifying window that is still too sensitive to tyre temperature fluctuations or balance changes under peak conditions in a flying lap.

Ferrari’s development path continues

For Ferrari, Miami represents an intermediate step in the ongoing development process. The direction appears correct, but the ability to consistently maximise performance remains the true benchmark for future progress.