Ferrari Must Fix Power Deficit Over Winter, Hamilton Says
NXTbets Pro | Published On: October 8, 2026
Hamilton on Ferrari
Lewis Hamilton said Ferrari must improve its power unit performance for 2027 if it wants to close the gap to its rivals and fight for championships. He said the team is down on power compared with the cars it is chasing, and he urged Ferrari to use the winter to address that weakness. Hamilton did not frame the problem as a small one. He said Ferrari will have to live with a power deficit for the rest of the 2026 season, and he said that shortfall has already cost the team a chance to challenge for world titles this year.
Hamilton also laid out the bigger picture around the car itself. He said Ferrari has a strong car and innovative engineers, which gives the team a base to build from. Even so, he said the package has still left Ferrari as the third- or fourth-fastest car at times. That gap, he said, has kept Ferrari from matching its rivals and has made power a clear priority heading into the next development cycle. His message was that Ferrari can compete, but only if it closes the engine deficit that has held it back against its main rivals.
Bahrain podium return
Ferrari’s weekend in Bahrain offered both a reminder of its pace and a glimpse of what can go wrong at the front. The team started both cars on soft tires in wet conditions, and Hamilton said that call cost him a chance to win the Bahrain Grand Prix. He and Charles Leclerc still finished third and fourth, respectively, giving Ferrari a strong double points finish, but the result also showed how decisions can shape the outcome. Hamilton said the tyre choice at the start denied him a better result.
The podium mattered for Hamilton because it ended a six-race drought without a top-three finish. It also showed that Ferrari can still deliver a strong result. Third place is a step forward for Hamilton, but it did not change his view of the broader problem. He still pointed back to the power deficit and the need for stronger performance if Ferrari wants to turn good days into wins. Bahrain gave Ferrari a pair of top-four finishes. It also left Hamilton looking at what might have been if the start had gone differently.
Ferrari and Vasseur
Hamilton said he still feels fit, focused and hopeful of more strong results, which keeps the conversation centered on performance rather than frustration. That matters for Ferrari because the team is trying to solve a technical problem while keeping momentum in its garage. Hamilton’s comments suggested he still believes the package can produce results, even if the current power gap limits how far it can go. He did not retreat from the scale of the challenge. He said Ferrari needs to be better over the winter, and he tied that directly to the team’s hopes for the years ahead. The message was clear. Ferrari has pace in the chassis and talent in the engineering group, but it needs more from the power unit to turn podiums into a real championship push.
His comments also landed as Ferrari faced speculation about principal Frederic Vasseur’s future. Hamilton’s focus stayed on the car and the task in front of the team. He described a crew with a strong base and a clear weakness, and he said that weakness has to be fixed if Ferrari wants to move from competitive to title-ready. The view from Hamilton was straightforward. Ferrari can fight at the front, but only if it closes the power gap that has defined too many of its weekends.
