Hamilton confirms Ferrari's power deficit from the field-leading Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton delivered his strongest performance yet as a Ferrari driver with a brilliant second place at the Canadian Grand Prix — but even on a day of celebration, the seven‑time world champion was vocal about one major limitation: Ferrari’s lack of power compared to Mercedes and Red Bull.

Hamilton spent much of the race locked in battle with the front‑runners, repeatedly complaining over team radio that he simply didn’t have the straight‑line performance to fight on equal terms.

After the race, he was asked whether Monaco — a circuit where engine power matters far less — could finally give Ferrari the upper hand.

Hamilton immediately pointed out that Monaco’s unique characteristics could play directly into Ferrari’s strengths: “I mean, that’s the one track that power is not king. I think that’s definitely car performance. I think our car could be really strong there.”

He stressed that preparation will be crucial: “I’m really going to focus on making sure I arrive with the same energy as I had this weekend, really study hard with the engineers to make sure we position the car in the right place from Practice 1.”

And he believes that without the power deficit, Ferrari would already be fighting for wins: “And, yeah, if you take away the power deficit, we’re in the fight with these guys. But unfortunately that’s not the way it is today.”

Hamilton described in vivid detail what it felt like trying to keep up with the Mercedes and Red Bull cars on Montreal’s long straights:

“And I think in the moment I’m like, ‘I need more power somehow,’ because I’m able to hold on or keep up with them through the corners and I can’t push the pedal any further.”

He said the deficit was obvious in every wheel‑to‑wheel moment: “And you see them just eking out the straight and you catch them back in the brakes, they eke it out in the straight. It’s really hard.”

Even the DRS advantage wasn’t enough: “Even when you get the overtake, you get within a second, they still pull away. So that’s how much grunt that they have, and we’re massively down.”

Hamilton expressed hope that upcoming regulatory adjustments will allow Ferrari to close the gap: “But I really hope with this new rule that enables us to try to improve some performance, so we can get back in the fight with them.”