Lewis Hamilton battling ongoing Ferrari struggles as concerns grow after Miami

Lewis Hamilton, generic, Ferrari, Miami, 2026 — Photo: © IMAGO

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Lewis Hamilton battling ongoing Ferrari struggles as concerns grow after Miami

Hamilton only picked up 10 points to add to the Scuderia's tally in Miami

By Kerry Violet.

Thursday 7 May 2026 21:00

Lewis Hamilton left the Miami Grand Prix frustrated after another underwhelming performance, with reports in the Italian media suggesting the Ferrari driver looked more focused on managing his car than truly competing at the front.

The seven-time world champion arrived in Miami determined to reset following an extended break in the Formula 1 calendar. Speaking ahead of the season’s second sprint weekend, Hamilton struck a calm but confident tone as he prepared to return to action.

Formula 1 had not raced since early spring after the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix were removed from the schedule due to escalating conflict involving Iran, the United States, and Israel. No replacement events were added to the calendar during the pause.

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Instead, many teams including Ferrari used the unplanned time off to finetune their 2026 setups, with Hamilton making use of the Scuderia's private testing track in Fiorano and their state-of-the-art simulators.

But they weren't the only constructor who put in the work during the spring break, with reigning champions McLaren and rivals Red Bull showing off significant improvements in Miami.

Following an underwhelming weekend for both he and Charles Leclerc, the cracks are starting to show for the Italian squad once again.

Ferrari taking backwards steps, Italian media not impressed

After Sunday's main event had concluded, Hamilton told media he felt as if he was in 'no-man’s land' having been way off the pace in both the 100km event and 57-lap race.

Italian outlet La Gazzetta dello Sport wrote of Hamilton's Miami weekend: "It was a weekend of survival rather than racing. The causes overlapped in an almost cruel way," before going on to claim the a major issue with Ferrari's power unit was holding the 41-year-old back.

"The Ferrari power unit showed a chronic lack of power, exacerbated by the high temperatures that forced Hamilton to manage his pace.

"Added to this was an early-race collision with Franco Colapinto that damaged the underbody of the SF-26, resulting in an estimated loss of between 10 and 15 downforce points: enough to make the car unpredictable in high-speed corners.

"What weighs most heavily, however, is perhaps the lack of correlation between the simulations and the actual feel on the track. Despite intensive work on the simulator in the preceding weeks, the seven-time world champion failed to set the pace. He is expected to be in constant battle with Leclerc throughout qualifying and the race. Yesterday, he only stayed ahead of him because of the Monegasque driver’s penalty."

And it wasn't just the above publication who were less than impressed by the Scuderia's decline. Corriere della Sera reported similar after the results in Miami seemed to indicate a step in the wrong direction, writing: "The impression remains that he’s taking a step backward (or rather, on the Scuderia) compared to the promising signs from the first few races.

"Yellow card: the much-hyped evolution of the SF-26 has, for now, produced only the worst result of the season in the main race (and please don’t cling to Leclerc’s podium finish in the sprint). Are we back to bold claims that are then contradicted by the facts? They wanted to dance the Macarena with the new rotating wing (named after the dance that became famous in Spain in the ’90s), but all we saw was the “qua qua” dance."

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