Lewis Hamilton questions Ferrari’s Formula 1 race weekend strategy

Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton questions Ferrari’s Formula 1 race weekend strategy

Lewis Hamilton could only finish sixth in Miami

Originally written by Sam Cook. This version is a translation.

Wednesday 6 May 2026 19:00

Seven-time Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton has suggested he may rethink how he prepares for upcoming Grand Prix weekends following another frustrating outing with Ferrari.

The British driver endured a difficult weekend at the Miami Grand Prix, crossing the line seventh in the sprint before qualifying sixth and finishing in the same position during Sunday’s main event.

Ferrari arrived at the Miami International Autodrome with an extensive package of 11 upgrades and expectations of competing near the front with McLaren and Mercedes. Instead, the team struggled to match the pace of the leading contenders throughout the weekend.

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Ferrari had a five-week break to try and build on what had been a positive start to the season, with the team having claimed podiums in each of the first three grands prix of the season.

But they only took 22 points from Miami, their lowest total at a grand prix weekend of the season despite there being more points available at the sprint race weekend.

"I'm going to have a different approach in the next race because the way we're preparing at the moment is not helping and so we'll see how that goes for the next race," Hamilton told media in Miami. "But we're going to another track with long straights. We're losing three to four tenths just on straight line speed. So that's there, and it's going to be there until we fix it."

Talking about his simulator work, Hamilton continued: "Ultimately, it's always correlation. We go on it and then we get to a track and it's always different when we get to a track. What I mean by it is that I spend time on the simulator. I don't like simulators in general, but I sat in the simulator every week in the build-up to this race and working on correlation constantly.

"You go on it, you prepare for the track, you drive it and you get the car set up to a certain place and then you come to the track and that set up doesn't work."

Hamilton searching for first Ferrari grand prix win

There was real hope at Ferrari that their multitude of upgrades would turn them into championship challengers.

But, as a result of other teams' improvements, Ferrari have actually appeared to have gone backwards, no longer the outright second-fastest team on the grid.

McLaren and Red Bull - mainly Max Verstappen - were providing a real challenge to Ferrari throughout the weekend, while Mercedes remain the outfit to beat.

It means that the illusive first grand prix win in Ferrari red feels further away from Hamilton now than it did at the start of the year, and he will need to be outperforming team-mate Charles Leclerc consistently if he has any chance of getting in the mix for race wins.

Back to the drawing board for Ferrari and, it seems, Hamilton.

F1 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari Miami Grand Prix