Lewis Hamilton issues glum Japan F1 verdict: "Ferrari is miles and miles away"

Lewis Hamilton says Ferrari is “miles and miles away” from current Formula 1 pacesetters Mercedes at the Japanese Grand Prix.

The seven-time world champion qualified sixth at Suzuka, having also lost out to both McLaren drivers and to his Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc.

Lewis Hamilton was 0.789s off the time of pole man Andrea Kimi Antonelli, having experienced the loss of power that a snap of oversteer and momentary throttle lift can generate later in the lap under the current regulations.

His qualifying slump at Suzuka comes after he proved to be Mercedes’ closest challenger in China.

On Friday, Hamilton referenced a lack of confidence in the car, but insisted that he was much happier by qualifying and got all he could out of it.

“I would say it’s been OK,” he said when asked by Crash.net about his session.

“Yesterday, I struggled a little bit, but then today was much better.

“Q1 was OK, then it just got better and better, but we’re just miles and miles away from the guys.

“Extracting the best that I can, but it’s not good enough at the moment.”

Asked if it was a question of energy deployment or the chassis, he said: “Deployment is definitely a big part of it.

“My first lap, I was up – at least to Charles – and then lost two-and-a-half tenths down the back straight, just because I had a snap of oversteer and it changed the whole algorithm.

“It’s not ideal, because it should be that you catch it and you keep going, but that’s where these rules aren’t so great.”

Hamilton acknowledged that, along with current pacesetter Mercedes, McLaren is also becoming more of a threat as the Woking team understands more about its power unit.

“They clearly have a good car, and as they start extracting the power from that Mercedes engine, then we’re going to fall behind,” he said.

“We’ve got a real job on our hands to try to somehow close the gap.

“The engine is part of it, but I think the chassis clearly is, at least this weekend, not on par with the Mercedes. They’re the quickest through the corners as well.”

Suzuka "least enjoyable" 2026 F1 experience so far

Hamilton conceded that Suzuka is one the “least enjoyable” tracks that he’s experienced thus far with the 2026 car.

“It’s pretty on the limit, particularly through the first section, but then once you get to Turn 6, you can’t really be on the limit as much through there, because you have to save battery power.

“So definitely one of the least enjoyable, in that respect.

“Having full power through the whole lap… That element, I don’t think, is really a great part of the racing.”

Hamilton was in the thick of the “yo-yo racing” action at the last race in China, but he doesn’t know what to expect on Sunday.

“I really have no clue how the racing here is. I didn’t get around anybody in race trim. This is not normally a track that there’s a lot of overtaking, so I expect it to be less than the last race. But I hope there’s some.”

Asked if Turn 1 might present opportunities, he said: “It’s in the SM [straight mode] zone, so maybe. I really don’t know. It’s a long straight before it, so you usually come around the last corner with no battery left.”