Lewis Hamilton admitted that he must "step it up" for the upcoming Hungarian Grand Prix after a challenging weekend at Spa-Francorchamps that left his team scrambling to replace a host of components. The seven‑time world champion reflected on the incident that forced a substantial rebuild of his Mercedes car following a crash in the final practice session on Saturday, an accident that effectively ended any realistic chance of fighting for victory on the Belgian circuit.
At Spa, Hamilton managed to finish fourth, but he believes that a smoother final practice could have seen him contest the win. The crash required the team to change numerous parts before qualifying, compromising the car's balance and hampering his ability to extract maximum performance.
Meanwhile, his teammate, Charles Leclerc, qualified ahead of him for the second consecutive race, taking advantage of a well‑timed Virtual Safety Car to gain valuable race time and ultimately crossing the line just two seconds behind race winner Kimi Antonelli, who leads the championship. Ferrari's resurgence on high‑speed tracks such as Silverstone—where Leclerc claimed a dominant victory—and Spa has led many analysts to predict a strong showing for the Scuderia at the Hungaroring. The Hungarian circuit favors cars with strong cornering abilities, a characteristic that appears to suit the current Ferrari package better than the Mercedes, which has been more competitive on faster, flowing layouts. When asked by Sky Sports F1 about his confidence for the remainder of the season, Hamilton responded, "I think so.
This weekend was a bit unfortunate and Silverstone again. It's really great to see the performance that we are bringing and we are improving the car constantly.
I think we have got more stuff coming in the pipeline to try and close that gap down. But to be here and have that pace generally that we did as a team is really encouraging. There's still a long, long way to go.
Can't afford weekends like this in a sense of my performance on Saturday so I'm going to step it up in terms of focus level for next week." Despite falling off the podium for only the second time in six races, Hamilton's result allowed him to retake second place in the Drivers' Championship, overtaking his fellow Mercedes driver George Russell after the two collided and Russell spun off on the opening lap. The stewards handed Hamilton a five‑second penalty for the incident, leaving him 45 points behind leader Antonelli. Hamilton's record at the Hungaroring is formidable; he has won the race eight times, more than any other driver, and it was also the venue where he secured his most recent Grand Prix pole position in 2023.
Those statistics give him a psychological edge as he prepares for the Budapest weekend, but he knows that the new 2026 regulations have reshaped the competitive landscape, demanding fresh approaches to both car development and race strategy. The performances of Ferrari at Silverstone and Spa also signaled a return to form for Charles Leclerc, who had previously struggled to adapt his driving style to the unique characteristics of the 2026 cars. Leclerc, however, remains cautious about labeling his progress a breakthrough.
"I'm confident in saying that I made a step forward. Whether I'm at the level where I want to perform, not yet," he said. "There are still things in the car that I need to drive around.
I cannot drive completely naturally, and that is slowing me down in some parts of the race." Leclerc added that he will continue to adopt a "one‑race‑at‑a‑time" mindset, acknowledging the difficulty of maintaining consistent performance when the cars are so sensitive to minute changes. "With what you do with your driving, it's never a given that you get the same deployment from one lap to the other, and that's maybe the frustrating bit about these cars," he explained.
As the Formula 1 circus heads to Budapest, all sessions will be broadcast live on Sky Sports F1, with streaming available via the NOW platform. Fans can expect a closely contested weekend, as both Mercedes and Ferrari work to fine‑tune their machinery for a circuit that rewards precision and cornering grip. Hamilton's determination to raise his focus level, combined with Ferrari's momentum, sets the stage for an intriguing battle at the Hungaroring, where history, technical development, and driver skill will converge to determine who can claim the next victory in a season that remains wide open.