Lewis Hamilton has referred to as on Ferrari to be “absolutely centered” on creating their 2026 F1 challenge, declaring that Mercedes are already “centered on subsequent yr.”
Ferrari loved an upturn in kind on the Austrian Grand Prix as they completed third and fourth.
Sadly for Ferrari, they have been a distant second-best behind McLaren, with Charles Leclerc ending almost 20s behind race winner Lando Norris.
Ferrari at the moment are 207 factors behind McLaren within the race for the F1 constructors’ title.
Talking after the race in Austria, Hamilton dismissed the opportunity of catching McLaren this yr.
“Effectively in comparison with McLaren, I don’t assume anybody’s catching them. By no means say by no means,” Hamilton stated on Sunday. “Hopefully with our subsequent improve… hopefully that works the best way we hope it really works. Perhaps that may convey us a bit nearer. We’re not a minute down this weekend.
2026 will see vital adjustments to the technical rules on each the engine and chassis aspect.
Purple Bull boss Christian Horner described the adjustments as the largest within the sport’s historical past.
The facility models might be run on sustainable fuels and grow to be extra electrified, whereas the vehicles may have much less downforce and be barely smaller.
With each F1 titles extremely unlikely this yr, Hamilton needs Ferrari to change their focus completely on 2026, like his former staff, Mercedes, have.
“We must be absolutely centered when it comes to growth onto subsequent yr’s automobile,” Hamilton added.
“I’m positive all of the groups are doing that already. I do know Mercedes have already centered on subsequent yr. The secret is going to be creating that engine.
“Ensuring whoever comes up with the proper philosophy suspension sensible and every thing. I’m making an attempt to work with the engineers to verify we rectify a number of the points with this automobile as a result of there’s a couple of issues that want fixing subsequent yr.”
Hamilton reveals setup bother
Hamilton additionally revealed that this weekend was the primary time he’s operating a setup nearer to what Leclerc ran.
Nonetheless, a disparity in driving fashion has made it troublesome for Hamilton to adapt to the SF-25.
“Simply fighting the stability,” Hamilton defined. “He drives a massively oversteery automobile. He slides the rears and doesn’t have degradation.
“Once I slide the rears I get large degradation. Supposedly it took Carlos a few years to get used to.
“I do not wish to try this. I feel I’ve improved as I stated. I used to be loads nearer in quali. I didn’t have the race tempo.”
