Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) the pessimist: Is the gap to Mercedes too big?

The World Championship standings suggest that if anyone is going to prevent the Mercedes duo from winning the title in 2026, it will be Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton.

Ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix, the Drivers’ Championship stands as follows: Kimi Antonelli leads with 179 points, followed in second place by his team-mate and title rival George Russell (154), with Ferrari superstar Lewis Hamilton (147) lying in wait.

From Ferrari’s perspective, this is the ideal scenario for the classic race in the Ardennes: a victory for Lewis Hamilton and a bit of bad luck for the Mercedes duo.

But Hamilton, the most successful Formula 1 driver of all time, has been in the sport for far too long to be dreaming of ideal scenarios. The Barcelona GP winner has both feet firmly on the ground and knows exactly what to expect from the Belgian GP, which he has won five times (2014/2015, 2019/2020, 2024).

Hamilton says: “I reckon Belgium will be a tough one for us, because we’ve got so many straights here. We’ll be off the pace, but I’m not yet sure exactly by how much.”

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“At Silverstone, we were closer to the front than expected. But in England we have lots of corners. Here, compared to Silverstone, we have 50 per cent more straights, so I expect our gap to be bigger than in the last race. In England, we were on average between three and four tenths of a second off the pace; we’re unlikely to match that here.”

“But we’re not giving up, and I’m proud of the team for how we’re introducing new parts to the car at every race. We don’t limit ourselves to major upgrades two or three times a year; instead, we immediately implement changes to the car that we believe will bring progress.”