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Lewis Hamilton believes Ferrari have the potential to take themselves to a “magical place” based on their progress, insisting that where they are so far in 2026 is “not the case” for the team’s ambitions.
Hamilton arrives at this weekend’s Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix aiming to produce the best result of his 17-month Ferrari career after finishing second to Mercedes’ title-leader Kimi Antonelli in each of the last two races.
After a difficult 2025 season, the end of the previous rule to sign teams and new stars last year, Ferrari have finished second to unbeaten Mercedes in the constructors’ championship with one podium finish in six grands prix so far.
And Hamilton, who has so far emerged as a resurgent force, said: “My approach is full attack, full commitment, constantly trying to strengthen the team and push in the right direction.
“I think we have a North Star. We know where we have to go.
“It takes a lot of work to get there, and it’s not as easy as just fixing something for next week. And just staying all aligned and keep pushing.
“If we’re all rowing in the same direction with the same energy. I think we can probably get to a magical place.”
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Lewis Hamilton inspects Kimi Antonelli’s W17 Mercedes car after winning the Italian Monaco GP
For all Ferrari’s improvement, however, Mercedes remains an immovable force at the front of the grid with six wins from as many pole positions so far.
“It’s going to be hard to beat Mercedes and we’re just trying to focus on ourselves and improve every weekend,” Hamilton said.
“But it’s really the start for us as a team. Obviously from a tough year (in 2025) it’s really positive to see the changes this season and I think we’re going in the right direction. But it’s not.
“We have more to come; we have to improve.
“I hope we can be there for a scenario like that but we’re there to win and I think we’re not there to win by default. It’s pure performance and commitment to win and that’s what we’re working towards.”
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After finishing on the Monaco podium with Kimi Antonelli and Isaac Hajjar, Lewis Hamilton joked that he was the bigger of the two!
‘Never say never’ – do Ferrari retain world title hopes?
With George Russell failing to score points in the last two races, Hamilton moved into second place in the drivers’ championship ahead of this weekend’s race in Barcelona, ahead of his former Mercedes team-mate.
However, the seven-time champion’s points deficit to leader Antonelli – winner of the last five races – is significant at 66 points.
Despite Hamilton quickly reducing the chances of Ferrari closing their engine deficit Under the ADUO terms of the sport, two development upgrades have been awarded for this year rules, though they believe they can make ground aerodynamically on their Ruvals.
“In terms of titles, we can still outdo people in terms of how we develop the car. Our car is very good. The downforce package we have is really good.
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Speaking about Paddock Uncut, Craig Slater, Ted Kravitz and Harry Benjamin responded that the FIA had admitted there was a possibility of the penalty being wrong in Monaco, after Alpine’s appeal was accepted.
“We’ve got to double up, make sure we’re always one step ahead of it going forward, so we can go into the corners faster and catch the deficit. We can lose the straights, improve efficiency, so maybe we can improve the drag, for example, to try and close that gap of speed.
“There are so many different things happening between all these different tracks. Never say never. I’m going to keep pushing and give absolutely everything.”
Sky Sports F1’s Barcelona-Catalunya GP schedule
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Ahead of this weekend’s Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, we look back at some of the most dramatic moments from previous races at the circuit.
Friday 12 June
8.50am: Exercised F3
10am: F2 exercise
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 13 June
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 14 June
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: Barcelona-Catalonia Grand Prix*
4pm: Barcelona-Catalunya GP Reaction: Checkered flag
5pm: Ted’s Notebook
*Also on Sky Sports main events
Formula 1 is in Spain for the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix with live coverage on Sky Sports F1 from Friday. Stream Sky Sports now – no contract, cancel anytime
