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Lewis Hamilton will start the Dutch Grand Prix from fifth, but the Ferrari driver believes the SF-25 is in better shape for the race than Saturday’s qualifying result suggests.
Ferrari entered the weekend as one of the leading teams under the new 2026 regulations. Mercedes remains ahead after establishing a significant early advantage, yet Ferrari has closed the gap and taken victories in Barcelona and Silverstone.
That progress was visible during the Dutch Grand Prix Sprint, where Charles Leclerc finished second. The team’s performance in qualifying for the main race was less convincing, however. Ferrari’s earlier pace appeared to disappear, leaving both drivers behind Mercedes and McLaren.
Hamilton out-qualified Leclerc and secured fifth on the grid. Leclerc subsequently indicated that the SF-25 favours race pace over one-lap performance, a distinction that could shape Ferrari’s Sunday strategy at a circuit where overtaking is difficult.
The fluctuation in Ferrari’s performance follows a difficult weekend for Hamilton. In Sprint qualifying, he described the car as a “completely different car” after minor changes. His latest comments, though, suggest that the situation had begun to move in the right direction. Read more about Hamilton’s earlier Zandvoort struggles.
Hamilton said the car felt considerably better during the main qualifying session, even if the improvement was not reflected fully by the final classification.
“I was much, much happier with the car. In qualifying, thankfully.”
The seven-time champion explained that confidence is difficult to build when each session changes his understanding of the car. He compared the process to constructing a wall brick by brick, only for that progress to be knocked down after a difficult session.
“When it comes to building confidence, it’s like you put in brick by brick; you’re putting it down, building a wall, knocking down that confidence that I had in FP1, didn’t have it through sprint qualifying, and then I just basically started again building.”
Hamilton nevertheless said the car was much better and that he was excited for the race.
Leclerc’s second place in the Sprint provided Ferrari with evidence that its longer-run performance remains competitive. Hamilton acknowledged that his own pace had not been ideal, but said Leclerc’s performance was particularly encouraging.
“I think our race pace was better today. Mine wasn’t great, but Charles’s particularly was good.”
That performance gives Hamilton confidence Ferrari can remain with the cars ahead, even if qualifying has left the team fighting from behind.
“So I think we’ll probably be able to hold on to the guys up ahead, at least.”
He’s a software engineer with a deep passion for Formula 1 and motorsport. He co-founded Formula Live Pulse to make live telemetry and race insights accessible, visual, and easy to follow.