Lewis Hamilton believes Ferrari are “moving in the right direction” as they prepare for the final race before the Formula One summer break.
Heading into this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix, Hamilton is second in the drivers’ championship after a fourth-place finish in Belgium last time out.
He has moved above Mercedes’ George Russell in the standings, though he remains 45 points behind championship leader Kimi Antonelli, who won in Spa.
Hamilton has finished in the top five at each of the last six races and boasts an impressive record at the Hungaroring.
No driver has recorded more victories (eight), pole positions (nine), podium finishes (12) or points (286) at the Hungarian Grand Prix than Hamilton, throughout F1 history.
Though Hamilton still feels Mercedes have the best car on the grid, the Briton has full confidence in his Ferrari.
“[I’ve] had good results for the team, been moving in the right direction in the second half of the first half of the season.
That’s been a positive,” said Hamilton.
“Obviously I want to maximise this weekend, as I do try to maximise each weekend, but I think we’ve had more to extract in the past couple of weekends which I haven’t.
The goal is to do that this week.
“I mean, we ultimately should have won the last two races, I think, if we perfected the weekend.
The car was able to have won.
“At Silverstone, the car was capable of winning and then in Spa we were a lot more competitive than we thought, and so I think I missed something on that weekend.
“That’s something I don’t want to do this weekend.
“I think we’ve got a car that can compete.
Mercedes is still the car to beat and they won’t be easy to beat, but I do think we’ve made subtle progress.
“Hopefully we can be fighting with them this weekend.”
Kimi Antonelli – Mercedes
Antonelli (19 years and 11 months old on race day) could become the youngest driver ever to win the Hungarian Grand Prix (currently Fernando Alonso in 2003, aged 22 years and 26 days) and claim pole position (Max Verstappen in 2019, aged 21 years, 10 months and five days).
He could also be the youngest to finish on the podium (Daniil Kvyat in 2015, aged 21 years and three months) and set the fastest lap (Max Verstappen in 2019, aged 21 years, 10 months and five days) in the history of the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Antonelli has claimed six F1 victories, all of them in 2026.
One more win would see him surpass Riccardo Patrese (six) as the second-most successful Italian driver in F1 history, while also overtaking Alberto Ascari for the most victories by an Italian driver in a single season (six in 1952).
Charles Leclerc – Ferrari
Charles Leclerc has recorded 54 podium finishes in his F1 career.
A top-three finish in Hungary would see the Monegasque become the 15th driver in the sport’s history to reach 55 podiums, moving ahead of Niki Lauda (54).
Ferrari have recorded nine podium finishes in 2026, two more than they managed across the entirety of last season.
Averaging 28.5 points per race, this is the highest points-per-grand prix average in the team’s F1 history.
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
Drivers’
1.
Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) – 204
2.
Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) – 159
3.
George Russell (Mercedes) – 154
4.
Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) – 126
5.
Lando Norris (McLaren) – 103
Constructors’
1.
Mercedes – 358
2.
Ferrari – 285
3.
McLaren – 195
4.
Red Bull – 151
5.
Alpine – 61
