F1 legend Lewis Hamilton calls for Ferrari to 'crack the whip' at Belgian Grand Prix

An edit of a picture of Lewis Hamilton looking surprised — Photo: © IMAGO

Belgian Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton calls for Ferrari to 'crack the whip' at Belgian Grand Prix

Hamilton has urged the Scuderia to not rest on their laurels

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Saturday 18 July 2026 08:55

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Seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton finally secured his first grand prix victory in red last month, but with a title battle in sight, he isn't willing to stop there.

It's often easy in sport to take the first small win and be done with the fight (England, Thomas Tuchel, I'm looking at you) but even at the age of 41 with seven drivers' championships to his name, Hamilton is still demanding every last ounce of effort from the Scuderia.

Since the British legend's win in Spain, Fred Vasseur's squad have edged closer to Mercedes in the constructors' standings and are now only 78 points behind them.

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Heading into the Belgian Grand Prix weekend, Hamilton is also only 32 points behind drivers' championship leader Kimi Antonelli, with only seven points separating him from former team-mate George Russell who is clinging onto P2.

But with Hamilton's determination and ability to move Ferrari on even further from the lacklustre team they were in 2025, a positive result for he and Charles Leclerc in Spa could give the Maranello-based squad an opportunity to leap ahead of Mercedes before the summer shutdown. Especially if the Silver Arrows face further reliability concerns in Spa.

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Hamilton needs more from Ferrari

Ferrari have been helped by Mercedes' recent reliability issues, but the 106-time grand prix winner isn't keen to rely on this moving forward, urging the Scuderia to do more heading into the Belgian GP.

"It's time to really crack the whip and do better," Hamilton said during Thursday's media day in Spa when asked how he felt about the race weekend ahead.

"Don't know what to expect this weekend if I'm honest with longer straights. But I love this track, the weather is great and I'm really proud of the team and incremental steps that we're taking."

When asked about the Scuderia's positive performance trajectory, Hamilton explained: "It's a combination of a lot of things.

"Better execution through the weekends, better understanding of the car, how hard the team has worked to develop the car and move it in the direction that both drivers are pushing it towards."

The 41-year-old then addressed how strong Ferrari have been from a reliability side of things this season, especially considering it is an area that continues to plague his former team, Mercedes.

"Often in championships that is the case, and that's really down to the amazing work that the team has done in building us a reliable car," he said.

"That's no easy feat to build a fast and reliable car. Very grateful to them for that, and then just try my best to extract everything, every single lap and every single point out of the car."