‘I don’t think we’re too far away’ – Hamilton shares his hopes for Ferrari’s battle against Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton has faith that Ferrari will close the gap to Mercedes over the remainder of the season, with the Briton putting his trust in their improved understanding of the car and planned upgrades.

Hamilton has enjoyed a significantly stronger year with Ferrari compared to his 2025 campaign, having achieved his maiden victory for the team in Barcelona and accumulated a further three podium finishes.

His consistent performances have led to his status as the only driver on the grid to have scored at every race weekend so far and he currently sits P2 in the Drivers’ Championship, 50 points adrift of Kimi Antonelli.

However, the second Mercedes driver of George Russell is only nine points behind Hamilton while McLaren and Red Bull showed remarkable improvement shortly before the summer break, leaving the 41-year-old acutely aware of how tight the competition is.

“I think hopefully we're going to continue to progress in development,” he said on media day at the Dutch Grand Prix. “The team are working really hard and I think we've got our first little step this weekend which I'm really grateful for.

“Everyone is under a huge amount of pressure to bring parts, as every team is, but we are going in the right direction with the car. Obviously Mercedes are still the leaders, McLaren are now up in there and obviously Red Bull are super quick – four teams that are all very close.

“But we just focus on doing our job the best we can. I think we can do a better job in the second half, so that's the goal.

“It is a development race, always. Mercedes have been leading all year and so it's been a development catch-up. We've been trying to catch up, adding bits to the car constantly, as everyone is adding bits as well.

“We've just got to continue to try and close the gap, which I really do believe we can. I don't think we're too far away.”

Hamilton added that Ferrari “know the car a lot better” and have “analysed everything”, so will aim to carry those learnings into the second half of the season and tackle the championship battle.

His team mate Charles Leclerc, who also has one victory under his belt after he triumphed at Silverstone, was reluctant to predict how Ferrari will fare in Zandvoort – last season, both drivers retired following separate crashes.

“Obviously Mercedes still remain the favourite, but I think on a track like this that is so technical, on paper we should be pretty strong,” the Monegasque said. “At the same time, historically it’s been a very difficult track for the team, so I’m a bit divided between the two expectations.

“I didn’t spend much time thinking about expectations. I’m much more focused on the process to be as ready as possible for this weekend. I think we’ve done our homework.

"It’s good to be back on track after a few weeks of holidays, and I’m looking forward to this weekend.”