Lewis Hamilton is heading into Formula 1’s summer break with a smile, renewed confidence and a clear message for the rest of the field: the best may still be to come from both himself and Ferrari.
After an encouraging opening half to his first full season in red, the seven-time world champion believes the groundwork has been laid for a stronger charge when the championship resumes.
Five podiums, remarkable consistency and a victory in Spain have kept Hamilton firmly in the title conversation despite Ferrari not yet having the outright pace of championship leader Mercedes.
Hamilton sits second in the standings on 169 points, just 50 behind leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli, and he is convinced Ferrari still has more performance to unlock.
“It has been an amazing first half given I think we’ve been probably, like, three, four tenths down on the straights, in terms of power for the first half of the season,” Hamilton said.
“I know the guys are pushing hard to bring upgrades, and we’ve got more to come in the second half. We just keep on pushing.”
Hamilton eyes stronger second half
Hamilton’s optimism is rooted not only in Ferrari’s development programme but also in his own history of finishing seasons strongly.
And the Briton plans to use the summer shutdown as a reset before launching a renewed attack in the closing months of the campaign.
©Ferrari
“I think the second half will be stronger. Usually, the second half is a stronger period for me,” he said.
“So, I’ll really take this time to reset and try and come back, try and come back stronger, fitter, and better mentally prepared.”
Leclerc calls for relentless development
Leclerc – who also claimed a win with the Scuderia, at Silverstone – believes Ferrari’s recent highs have also exposed an urgent need for greater consistency, particularly after a frustrating Hungarian Grand Prix in which both Ferrari drivers qualified strongly but faded on Sunday.
“We paid the price, with the start; however, we weren't particularly stellar at any point in the race,” Leclerc told media.
“The first stint on hards wasn't too bad, the last stint on the soft was pretty good, but there were too many ups and downs, and that is where we need to work: to try and find that consistency with this car.”
The Monegasque admitted the team has struggled to understand some of the car’s behaviour from stint to stint.
“It has been very tricky on some stints for Lewis and some others with me; it is just a little bit strange how uncorrelated everything is,” he added.
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That uncertainty, he says, makes Ferrari’s upgrade push even more critical for the remainder of the season.
“Upgrades are so much more significant than in the past, because it allows us to make such big steps forward, so it is going to be important that we stay on top of it, and keep being aggressive as we have been with the development programme,” Leclerc concluded.
With fresh upgrades in the pipeline, Hamilton refreshed and Ferrari determined to keep attacking, the Scuderia heads into the second half of 2026 carrying something it has not always possessed in recent seasons: genuine momentum.
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