Lewis Hamilton makes confident Ferrari statement despite Mexican GP technical problems

Outubro 31, 2026 lojamais44@gmail.com

Lewis Hamilton believes Ferrari could realistically fight for pole position at the Mexican Grand Prix, after team-mate Charles Leclerc finished fastest in both of Friday’s practice sessions.

The Briton had an issue in second practice that cost him the opportunity for a long run with high fuel, but the seven-time Formula 1 world champion still feels optimistic about his team’s chances on Saturday.

“It felt really good up until then. That was feeling great. And we did a good job with set-up changes. Car was in a good place and we were just actually strong,” Hamilton said.

“But even on my lap, we were losing power in a few places, so I lost three tenths already before as well. Underlying is a really good car this weekend.”

The Scuderia team is the fans’ favourite going into this race weekend, with its power unit expected to cope better with the high-altitude conditions thanks to its smaller turbocharger. Mercedes’ George Russell said on Thursday that this could give the Italian cars “quite an advantage” in the thin air of Mexico City.

But Hamilton is keen to rid himself of these high expectations.

“I don’t really agree on the turbo thing. If you look at the speeds to the Mercedes and the Red Bull, they’re still quick at the end of the straights, like they are every race. So the turbo is just not making a difference.

“It’s still pulling more at the end of straights. So I think we’re still losing a good two or three tenths, but the car is behaving very well.”

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

Photo by: James Sutton / LAT Images via Getty Images

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri also played down this theory, suggesting the Ferrari had looked “a bit slow on the straights”.

Despite that deficit, Hamilton is optimistic that Ferrari can fight for the front row, although he warned that rivals typically find extra pace in qualifying.

“Charles has been P1 for the two sessions, and I think you never know how qualifying goes. The others seem to take another step, but honestly feels like we could be really close to beating them for Quali.”

Having missed his long run, Hamilton admitted he will have to rely on data from others to set up the car for Sunday’s race.

“I don’t know how the car is for the long run. We didn’t get to do it, so I just have to take note of how others did and kind of guess where we need to be with the car, wing for example, and settings and the braking.”

Mercedes leads Ferrari by 133 points in the constructors’ championship and can clinch the title this weekend.