F1 British Grand Prix: Why Ferrari failed Lewis Hamilton in Austria, and how they plan to fix it

Lewis Hamilton

Why Ferrari failed Lewis Hamilton in Austria, and how they plan to put it right at Silverstone

A number of issues with the SF-26 have been revealed from Austria

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Thursday 2 July 2026 14:00

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Lewis Hamilton will go in search of a record 10th British Grand Prix victory at Silverstone this weekend with his Ferrari team looking to put things right after the misery of Austria a few short days ago.

When Hamilton claimed his first Grand Prix victory in 686 days in Barcelona on June 14, he roared right back into world title contention by splitting Mercedes pair Kimi Antonelli in the standings.

But two weeks later at the Red Bull Ring, Hamilton and Ferrari came crashing back down to earth. They struggled to keep pace with not only Mercedes, but also Red Bull as Max Verstappen took a massive step forward in the upgraded RB22.

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It was a sobering Sunday for Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, who finished fifth and eighth respectively after qualifying strongly on Saturday (Leclerc in P2 and Hamilton in P3).

Now, Italian publication Corriere Della Sera is reporting the reasons for Ferrari's struggles at the Red Bull Ring, while hinting that the Scuderia has found some solutions for the upcoming Silverstone race.

What went wrong for Ferrari in Austria?

Corriere claims one of the biggest issues for Ferrari was the tyres that Pirelli brought to the track for the Austrian Grand Prix weekend.

The three compounds were the softest in Pirelli's range, and the SF-26 did not respond well to that, with Hamilton struggling to make ground on the cars ahead even when on the softs in his second stint.

It didn't help that when Ferrari tried to resolve an issue between qualifying and the race, this fix mitigated the initial issue but increased tyre overheating. This was not ideal given the soft tyres and the scorching temperatures on Sunday.

That initial issue related to corner entry, which had previously been a massive strength so far for Ferrari in 2026. You might remember Lando Norris saying recently that the Scuderia would be 'embarrassing' the other teams if they had better straight-line speed.

In Austria though that strength deserted the Italian giants with the SF-26 not responding well to corner entries, understeering and not providing Hamilton and Leclerc with the confidence they needed.

Corriere also claims that Ferrari's power unit struggled in the high temperatures and reduced oxygen at altitude during the race in the Styrian Mountains, which made them unable to be competitive over longer distances.

What is Ferrari doing to fix the issues?

Of course, the temperatures will be lower at Silverstone this weekend than in Austria and altitude will also not be in play.

Pirelli's tyre choices this weekend are also good news for Ferrari, with the F1 tyre supplier going a step harder for the British GP, a set of tyres which Ferrari will hope will be much more suited to the SF-26 as in Barcelona and Canada.

On top of this, Ferrari look set to introduce some specific technical innovations ahead of the weekend to reduce drag at a circuit which is filled with high-speed corners and long straights.

F1 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari Austrian Grand Prix British Grand Prix