Hamilton credits ‘different approach’ for improved Ferrari form

Lewis Hamilton says a “different approach” to his race weekend and fine “tweaks” made to his Ferrari have helped unlock greater performance, after the seven-time world champion delivered one of his most competitive qualifying showings of the season at the Dutch Grand Prix.

Although teammate Charles Leclerc ultimately edged him for sixth on the grid in Q3, Hamilton was closer than he has been for weeks to matching the Monegasque over a single lap, a step forward that he attributes to both mindset and set-up changes.

Hamilton revealed that adjustments made even before arriving in Zandvoort gave him a smoother weekend.

“I tried to have a slightly different approach to the weekend, not going to go into details of what that is, but some tweaks before I even got here, and then through the weekend, and it’s been a lot smoother,” he explained.

“Yesterday the car was a bit unpredictable and I think we made some changes. Maybe the wind makes it a little bit difficult as well, but I think we were looking for progress and I feel like I have had that this weekend, I’ve not been in Q3 for some time, so I am grateful for that.”

Small Tweaks – Improved Confidence

The Briton also highlighted the importance of consistency in Ferrari’s set-up direction.

“There’s some things I changed on the way in which enabled me to start on the better foot. My first lap yesterday was quickest at the time – then the next lap was a spin,” he added.

“The car as I said is quite unpredictable, but I think the set-up changes we worked well together with the engineers this weekend, it’s not been up and down on changes, it’s been quite stable.

“We just made small tweaks, really really small tweaks, and therefore just been trying to gain more and more confidence in the car and I think that’s what’s happened the last couple of days.”

For Hamilton, the reward was a sense of renewed stability and confidence at the wheel.

“It definitely feels like it’s been one of the most solid couple of days so far of the year, as I said that’s to do with some of the improvements of the process, my approach, it’s just a little calmer overall,” he reflected.

“The team did a great job through qualifying, we just need more performance at this track, tomorrow maybe race pace will be better.”

Progress – but Ferrari Deficit Remains

Hamilton admitted that while personal gains are encouraging, Ferrari remain adrift of McLaren at the front.

“It’s definitely encouraging at least on my side of the garage to have a better result, as the boys in the garage deserve it, and the team deserves it. Happy I could be there or thereabouts, but we’re not where we want to be,” he said.

“To be seven tenths off, six tenths off, in qualifying on a track like this that’s a huge amount, so we’ve got to understand what that is because Charles is P1 at the last race. Naturally we do still have that deficit, we’ve had it all year long.”

Pressed on the root cause, Hamilton pointed to a mix of factors.

“A combination of things, but ultimately we need more load to go through the corners as fast as McLaren.

“Now is that load or is that coming from the tyres, difficult to know, maybe they are getting their tyres in a different operating windows to us potentially, or a combination of both.

• Read also: Hamilton useless? That’s just Lewis ‘talking nonsense’, says Russell

“I mean McLaren definitely have more downforce than everybody but then they’re not very draggy, if we were to match them we’d have to go up a couple of levels of wing but have the efficiency of a lower wing, then it’s a combination of getting the car to be more stable through corner.

“The wind makes it tricky, tailwind into Turn 1 and crosswind into places, and I think this car is quite sensitive to wind.”

With a calmer, more methodical approach and a more predictable car, Hamilton is optimistic about carrying this momentum into the race.

For now, his performance at Zandvoort hopefully signals a turning point, offering a glimpse of the champion’s ability to adapt and fight back in a challenging season with Ferrari.

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via X and Facebook