Hamilton: Ferrari Must Secure P2 Before Shifting Focus to 2027

Lewis Hamilton has made clear that Ferrari cannot let its gaze drift toward 2027 while second place in the constructors' championship is still there to be protected, insisting the closing three rounds are about delivering a result the people back in Maranello have earned.

Why it matters:

Finishing as runner-up would represent genuine progress for the Scuderia, which ended the final year of the ground-effect era down in fourth. But it also sharpens the one problem Ferrari has been unable to solve. The paddock consensus all season has been that Maranello built the class-leading chassis, only for a power unit deficit to blunt it — even after two engine upgrades.

The details:

• Mercedes has already wrapped up the constructors' title and sits 142 points clear of Ferrari, but the Italian team holds a 95-point cushion over Red Bull with three races remaining.
• "We've got to work to make sure we hold on to second in the Constructors' Championship, because that impacts everyone back in the factory," Hamilton said. "They really deserve that position."
• The seven-time champion sits fourth in the drivers' standings, a point behind George Russell.
• Behind the scenes, development of the SF-26's successor is ramping up, with Hamilton due at the factory next week to begin mapping out the team's direction.

What's next:

Hamilton is blunt about where the lap time has to come from. "The engine is probably number one," he said. "We've got reliability, which is good. But if we were matching the power of the others, we would be fighting for the championship this year, which we know."

He also believes the team's engineering has been underrated. "We have been innovators this year. We've had things on the car that everyone else has often followed," he added. Close that horsepower gap over the winter, and Ferrari's eighth-title wait for Hamilton stops looking like a long shot.