Lewis Hamilton baffled by "completely different" Ferrari as Charles Leclerc nails "best" lap of 2026

Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton expressed his newfound happiness with his car following a difficult Friday, as he qualified fifth for the Dutch Grand Prix. The Mercedes star, who was initially seventh in the sprint shootout, was overjoyed to discover that the car felt much better than on Friday. "I was much, much happier with the car," Hamilton commented to the media on Saturday evening.

After the sprint, in which he also secured seventh place, Hamilton revealed that Ferrari intended to alter their car's setup before qualifying to replicate the positive car feel he experienced in the single practice session. The driver confirmed that this endeavor proved successful, but admitted he remained frustrated by the team's previous missteps after FP1.

Hamilton explained that rebuilding his confidence, much like constructing a wall brick by brick, had been a significant challenge. Despite the improved race pace demonstrated by teammate Charles Leclerc, who finished just 0.055 seconds behind George Russell in sprint qualifying, Ferrari's overall competitiveness was not yet in evidence.

Leclerc believes his better-than-expected performance on Friday was due to his rivals' suboptimal performance, but he also noted that changes to the power unit modes during qualifying impacted his perception of the car. Nonetheless, both Hamilton and Leclerc remain optimistic about their chances of making progress in Sunday's race, emphasizing the crucial role of strategy and tyre management.