Lewis Hamilton claims it is a lack of engine power that is preventing Ferrari taking the fight to McLaren and Mercedes.
Asked if he agrees with paddock speculation that Ferrari has the best chassis, the seven-time world champion said: “Yes, absolutely. The guys at the factory have done an amazing job with the car and we still have improvements to make, but the car is fantastic.
“It’s just it’s a battle of development through the season,” he continued, “obviously some people bring upgrades one weekend and others the other. We’re just at the mercy of the lack of power that we have.
“I know that everyone worked really hard on the engine and reliability is obviously is very good,” he said. “It’s just when you’re lacking that straight line speed against the Merc it’s very, very tough.
“But nonetheless we have to expect that the rest of the season, that’s just the way it is so we’ll just try and see if we can continue to add on to the car and try and close the gap. If we can go quicker through corners in some races maybe we can get closer to a challenge in front of us.”
A potential ray of hope for the Briton and the Maranello outfit is ADUO, the Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities system introduced this season, the first measurement period being after this weekend’s race.
Any manufacturer between 2-4% behind the best ICE in terms of pure power will be allowed an upgrade for this year and 2027, while its development budget allowance will increase by $3m. Should the deficit exceed 4%, as is the case with Honda, two upgrades will be allowed together with an allowance of $4.65m.
While Ferrari has continually argued that it is eligible for the upgrade, Mercedes insists that it isn’t, claiming that it is merely the Scuderia attempting to “leapfrog” the opposition.
The situation isn’t helped by the fact that it is unclear what exactly the engine rules will be in 2027.
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