Lewis Hamilton believes Ferrari have the potential to get themselves to a “magical place” if they build on their improvement, insisting where they are at now so far in 2026 is “not it” for the team’s ambitions.
Hamilton arrives at this weekend’s Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix aiming to build on the best results of his 17-month Ferrari career after finishing second to Mercedes’ title-leading Kimi Antonelli in each of the last two races.
After a difficult 2025 season, the last of the previous ruleset, for team and new star signing last year, Ferrari are second to unbeaten Mercedes in the Constructors’ Championship with podium finishes in all-but one of the six grands prix so far.
And Hamilton, who has appeared a rejuvenated force so far, said: “My approach is full attack, full commitment, trying to continuously galvanise the team and push in the right direction.
“I think we have a North Star. We know where we need to go.
“Getting there takes a lot of work, and it’s not as easy as just fixing something for next week. And just staying all aligned and continuing to push.
“If we’re all rowing in the same direction at the same strength. I think we can potentially get to a magical place.”
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Lewis Hamilton inspects Kimi Antonelli’s W17 Mercedes car after the Italian won the Monaco GP
For all of Ferrari’s improvement, however, Mercedes has hitherto remained an immovable force at the front of the grid with six wins from as many pole positions so far.
“It’s going to be tough to beat Mercedes and we’re just working on trying to focus on ourselves and improve each weekend,” said Hamilton.
“But this is just the beginning really for us as a team. Obviously from a difficult year [in 2025] seeing the changes into this season it’s just really positive and I think we’re moving in the right direction. But this is not it.
“We’ve got more to come; we’ve got more improvements to make.
“I hope we can be there for a scenario like that but we exist to win and I think we don’t exist to win by default. It’s to win by pure performance and commitment and that’s what we are working towards.”
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After finishing on the Monaco podium alongside Kimi Antonelli and Isack Hadjar, Lewis Hamilton joked that he was older than the two combined!
‘Never say never’ – do Ferrari retain a world title hope?
With George Russell having failed to score points in the last two races, Hamilton has moved ahead of his former Mercedes team-mate into second place in the Drivers’ Championship ahead of this weekend’s race in Barcelona.
However, the seven-time champion’s points deficit to leader Antonelli – the winner of the last five races – is significant, at 66 points.
Hamilton has downplayed the chances of Ferrari quickly closing their engine deficit despite being awarded two development upgrades for this year under the terms of the sport’s ADUO rules, although believes they can make ground on their ruvalss aerodynamically.
“In terms of the title, we can still outdo people in terms of how we develop the car. Our car is very good. The downforce package that we have is really good.
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Speaking on Paddock Uncut, Craig Slater, Ted Kravitz and Harry Benjamin give their reaction to the news of the FIA admitting the penalties in Monaco are likely to be inaccurate, after Alpine’s appeal was accepted.
“We’re going to have to double up, make sure that we’re always one step ahead of it all in terms of advancing that, so we can go through corners quicker and catch up the deficit we may lose down the straights, improve efficiency, so we maybe can improve on drag, for example, to try and close that gap in speed.
“There’s lots of different things happening in all these different tracks. Never say never. I will keep pushing and give it absolutely everything.”
Sky Sports F1’s Barcelona-Catalunya GP schedule
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Ahead of this weekend’s Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, we take a look back at some of the most dramatic moments from previous races at the circuit.
Friday June 12
8.50am: F3 Practice
10am: F2 Practice
12pm: Barcelona-Catalunya GP Practice One (session starts at 12.30pm)
1.55pm: F3 Qualifying
2.50pm: F2 Qualifying
3.35pm: Barcelona-Catalunya GP Practice Two (session starts at 4pm)*
5.30pm: The F1 Show
6.30pm: Team Bosses’ Press Conference
Saturday June 13
9am: F3 Sprint
11.15am: Barcelona-Catalunya GP Practice Three (session starts at 11.30am)
1.10pm: F2 Sprint*
2.15pm: Barcelona-Catalunya GP Qualifying build-up*
3pm: BARCELONA-CATALUNYA GP QUALIFYING*
5pm: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook
Sunday June 14
7.35am: F3 Feature Race
9.05am: Porsche Supercup
10.20am: F2 Feature Race
12.30pm: Barcelona-Catalunya GP build-up: Grand Prix Sunday*
2pm: THE BARCELONA-CATALUNYA GRAND PRIX*
4pm: Barcelona-Catalunya GP reaction: Chequered Flag
5pm: Ted’s Notebook
*Also on Sky Sports Main Event
Formula 1 is in Spain for the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix with live coverage on Sky Sports F1 from Friday. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime
