F1 News: Lewis Hamilton coming to terms with Ferrari false dawn

Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton coming to terms with Ferrari false dawn

Hamilton and Ferrari still look a long way off

Matthew Hobkinson Lead Editor

F1 Editor & Journalist

Friday 8 May 2026 09:43

Lewis Hamilton arrived at the Miami Grand Prix with good reason to believe Ferrari's season might be about to change.

After a five-week break, the Scuderia turned up in Florida with a major upgrade package, fresh optimism and a car that had already been good enough to claim podiums across the opening rounds of the 2026 season.

This was supposed to be the moment Ferrari took a proper step towards Mercedes. Instead, Hamilton left Miami talking about being in 'no man's land', while the team were forced to explain why another promising weekend had ended without them looking like genuine winners.

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Hamilton facing Ferrari reality check

The danger with Ferrari is always emotion. One good session can feel like the start of a title charge, one difficult Sunday can feel like the end of the world, and the truth is usually somewhere in between.

But Miami was still a damaging weekend because of the expectation around it. Ferrari did not simply arrive and hope for the best. They arrived with 11 upgrades, with work done over the break and with Hamilton having spoken before the weekend about getting on top of previous power-related concerns.

"It's been good for everyone to step back and have a look at analysing their first three races and obviously the last race I felt I was down on power," Hamilton said.

"We did a deep dive and understood that it wasn't the engine but the systems all together including several things coming together to the eight, nine tenths of straightline power.

"We got on top of that, worked in the sim at the factory every week training a huge amount and I felt refreshed."

That made what followed harder to ignore. Hamilton was seventh in sprint qualifying, seventh in the sprint, sixth on the grid for the grand prix and then seventh at the flag before Charles Leclerc's penalty promoted him to sixth.

There was damage after contact with Franco Colapinto, and Hamilton was right to point out that the race was badly compromised from there, but the uncomfortable part is that the weekend already looked underwhelming before that moment.

"Obviously not a good weekend at all," Hamilton said. "Seventh and a seventh. Just in no man's land on both races, but particularly today with the damage there was nothing I could do.

"Really unfortunate because the team worked so hard, so to come away with a few points is... We have to move on from here."

Ferrari upgrades did not transform Miami hopes

The balanced view is that Ferrari's upgrades may not have failed. Leclerc was clear after Miami that he did not think the package itself was the problem.

"The upgrade package is working," Leclerc said. "The thing is others are pushing as well and probably the upgrade package was a little bit better.

"We've got other things coming soon and hopefully that will help us to get back a little bit in front. It's fine details, but with this generation of cars, especially on this first year, it will all be about the development. So we'll have to make sure we do everything perfect in terms of development."

That is probably the fairest read of the situation. Ferrari improved, but not enough. Worse still, McLaren and Red Bull appeared to improve too, while Mercedes remained the reference point.

Leclerc had warned before the weekend that he doubted Ferrari's Miami package would be enough to catch Mercedes, saying they were too far ahead for one upgrade to close the gap completely.

He was right.

Ferrari's problem is not that they have gone backwards into oblivion. The problem is that they needed Miami to be a statement and instead it became another reminder that development in F1 is relative. Standing still is fatal, but making progress while others make more progress can feel almost as bad.

Ferrari still searching for answers

Team principal Fred Vasseur also had reason to avoid pure doom after the race. Leclerc had shown strong pace in the opening stint and was in the fight at the front before tyre management and the hard compound changed the tone of the grand prix.

"It's a mega tough Sunday," Vasseur said. "I think that the weekend went pretty well until the race.

"Lap one we lost part of the front bargeboard with Lewis and it was almost the end of the race. Charles we are fighting for P3, we can also see the good side of this and he could have parked the car at Turn 4 [after the spin], but it's tough."

Vasseur then pointed to the key weakness Ferrari must solve.

"It was the story from the beginning of the weekend about tyre management, tyre temperature," he added.

"As soon as you are in a good position the pace is there. It was true for us but it was true for everybody with a big swing of performance and it's quite easy to overheat and to go on the other side."

That is the balance Ferrari must cling to, but Hamilton will know how this story can spiral. He did not join Ferrari to celebrate being best of the rest, or to wait for every upgrade package to be followed by another explanation of why the picture is more complicated than it first looked.

Miami was not a disaster in isolation. Hamilton had damage, Leclerc made a costly mistake, and Ferrari's new parts may yet prove more useful elsewhere.

But it was undeniably a false dawn because of what it was meant to represent. Ferrari needed their Miami package to make rivals nervous. Instead, it left Hamilton sounding resigned, Leclerc asking for more and Vasseur talking about tyre temperature.

For Hamilton, coming to terms with Ferrari reality does not mean giving up on the season. It means accepting that the car might never be close enough, even when the upgrades arrive.

Written by

Matthew Hobkinson - Lead Editor

After four years working for a Lloyd's of London insurance syndicate, lockdown gave Matt the chance to chase a career in sports journalism - he hasn't looked back. Matt has found a home here at GPFans where he can showcase the weird and wonderful world of F1 to the millions of fans around the world who are just as passionate as he is about the best sport in the world.

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