Hamilton Believes in This Ferrari. Its Engine Is Another Story.

His latest podium showed what Ferrari can do. His assessment afterward exposed what still stands in its way.

Lewis Hamilton believes Ferrari has built a car worth believing in. He also believes its power unit leaves the team with a deficit it must overcome for 2027.

Speaking to Sky Sports F1 after the Bahrain Grand Prix at Sepang, in comments published on October 7, Hamilton praised Ferrari’s design work while identifying power as a continuing limitation.

“We have to catch up for next year,” he said.

Confidence in the car

Hamilton credited Ferrari’s factory staff with making good decisions and producing innovations that rivals have followed. His assessment was that the underlying car has considerable potential, even with the power disadvantage he described.

That confidence followed a third-place finish in Malaysia, ending a run of six Grands Prix without a podium, according to Sky.

The result required both a recovery and some help from the circumstances. Ferrari started Hamilton on soft slick tires on a wet track. He stayed out as conditions improved, while Safety Car interruptions helped bring him back into contention.

George Russell’s late retirement then opened a podium opportunity. Hamilton completed the recovery by passing Isack Hadjar, with Charles Leclerc following the Red Bull driver through to finish fourth.

Those results rewarded Ferrari’s persistence through a difficult afternoon. They did not establish that its performance deficit had disappeared.

Development has already been underway

Ferrari has been pursuing improvements to its power unit throughout the season.

Ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix in June, power unit technical director Enrico Gualtieri explained that the team was combining ongoing development with longer-term projects. Its Austrian update used the additional development opportunities available under the 2026 rules.

Gualtieri cautioned then that the update was relatively small and would not transform the competitive order by itself. He described progress as a combination of hardware improvements and getting more from the package at each race.

Hamilton’s latest assessment suggests that work still has ground to cover.

Opportunities remain this season

Hamilton expects Ferrari to live with the power deficit for the remainder of 2026, but he still sees opportunities as the car improves. He also said he remains fit, focused and enjoys the racing.

Singapore is the next chance to turn that confidence into a result. His comments make the longer-term priority clear: Ferrari needs its power unit to support the promise he sees in the rest of the car.