Lewis Hamilton expressed confidence that the recent adjustments to his Ferrari have placed the car in a more competitive position ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix race, and he maintains a hopeful outlook despite starting from the third row on the grid. Ferrari currently sit as Mercedes' closest rivals in both the drivers' and constructors' championships, yet at Zandvoort they qualified roughly three‑tenths of a second off the pole position as the Formula 1 calendar resumed after the summer hiatus. Hamilton posted the fifth‑quickest lap in qualifying, while teammate Charles Leclerc was sixth. Both will line up behind the Mercedes and McLaren entries, with Lando Norris occupying pole for the Sunday showdown.
Although a fifth‑place start may appear modest, it represents an improvement for Hamilton compared with the earlier Sprint Qualifying session, where he had both qualified and finished in seventh place. "A completely different session and a completely different car," Hamilton told Sky Sports F1 after the main qualifying run, noting that he edged out Leclerc for the front of the third row on his final lap in Q3. He explained that the car felt strong and consistent during practice, but there were still areas that required fine‑tuning.
"We made subtle changes to address those points, and it completely turned the car around. It felt terrible during Sprint Qualifying and the Sprint itself – I had no confidence in the balance," he said. "We introduced all those adjustments for the qualifying session, which meant I was essentially learning a new car again, a new balance. Getting comfortable with it in just six laps was a real challenge," Hamilton added.
He also acknowledged that the Mercedes‑powered machines still held a power advantage. "All the Mercedes cars are ahead of us, and we know we have a slight power deficit, so I think our race pace will be stronger and the car is now in a better place for the race," he concluded. The earlier Sprint race on Saturday suggested that Ferrari's package could be competitive on Zandvoort's twisty, undulating layout. Leclerc finished second, just 1.3 seconds behind George Russell, and his overtake on Norris with six laps remaining was the only position change among the top ten after the opening lap.
Even though Zandvoort is not renowned for easy overtaking, Hamilton refused to dismiss the possibility that the SF‑26 could contend for podium places again. "I feel optimistic," he said. "Fifth isn’t ideal, but it could be much worse, so I’m grateful to be there. Of course, I would love to be higher up the grid.
Our race pace in the Sprint was solid, Charles showed good race speed, and the car feels better now. With the right strategy and flawless execution, I think we can challenge the cars ahead of us." Leclerc’s late move on Norris for second place in the Sprint was something of a surprise, especially because he was the sole front‑runner to complete the 24‑lap sprint on the soft tyre compound. The softs are initially the quickest but lose performance more quickly than the medium compound, which meant Leclerc was expected to fight for pole but never truly looked like a contender during the three knockout phases. "I don’t think the conditions were a factor," Leclerc explained.
"We altered our power strategies too much throughout qualifying, and in Q3 I experienced some odd issues, which cost us a little performance. At no point during qualifying did I feel we had pole potential." After Hamilton’s late improvement, Leclerc dropped to sixth on the Sunday grid. He commented on the difficulty of overtaking at Zandvoort but remained confident in the team's race plan.
"Realistically, overtaking will be very hard on this circuit, but we’ll give it everything and see where we end up. Starting from sixth doesn’t make our life easy, so it will be a tough race, but the pace is there. I hope we can use strategy to our advantage and offset the others," he said.
Team principal Frédéric Vasseur took heart from the Sprint performance, noting that a likely multi‑stop race could work in Ferrari’s favour. "The Sprint race pace was very strong, so we’ll aim to bring that back," Vasseur said. "We had a good comparison between the two tyre compounds in the Sprint, which is probably the best preparation we can have for the Grand Prix.
Overtaking will be very difficult, and we expect two or three pit stops, meaning everything will be open." Vasseur also spoke about the latest batch of upgrades to the SF‑26, which include a new floor introduced after Friday’s sole practice session. He confirmed that the parts are delivering the expected performance. "It’s working as planned," Vasseur added. "Since the start of the season, every upgrade we’ve brought has performed according to expectations.
This year we’re delivering a lot of upgrades at each race, though they’re not massive. We don’t expect to gain half a second per race, but everything is developing as intended." The Dutch Grand Prix weekend schedule features a build‑up session at 12:30 pm, the race itself at 2:00 pm, and post‑race analysis later in the afternoon. Fans can stream the action live on Sky Sports F1 via NOW, with flexible subscription options.
Overall, both Hamilton and Leclerc acknowledge the challenges ahead at Zandvoort but remain upbeat about the progress Ferrari has made. The team hopes that the combination of strategic pit stops, tyre management, and the incremental improvements to the SF‑26 will enable them to contest the front runners and possibly secure a podium finish in a race where overtaking is notoriously scarce.