Favorites for whom?
The back-and-forth over who are the favorites for the Monaco GP continues: while Mercedes and McLaren point to Ferrari as the cars to beat on the narrow streets of the Principality, the red garage tries to play hide-and-seek. Indeed, like Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton, speaking to journalists present in Monte Carlo, explained that the SF-26 will not be the car to beat. However, the seven-time world champion undoubtedly agrees that in the quintessential street GP, Ferrari will have more chances to shine given the lesser role the power unit’s power will play.
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“I would say that this circuit will probably favor us compared to others – explained the #44 of Ferrari – on long straights, like those we faced in Montreal for example, we lost a lot of time. Here we will lose much less and I don’t think power will necessarily be such a significant issue. Furthermore, our car is competitive at low speeds, so I think we will be competitive. I don’t necessarily think we will be the fastest – Hamilton warned – especially compared to the Mercedes, which is a car that seems capable of doing almost anything. But I think we will be competitive“.
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Steps forward
This year Hamilton has seemed more at ease with Ferrari compared to his debut season, and in five GPs he has already been on the podium twice after always missing it in 2025: “I think most people don’t realize all the work that goes on behind the scenes – explained Hamilton, speaking about his ‘Ferrari life’ – as far as I’m concerned, I arrived at a team that, as I said last year, has everything it needs to succeed. It’s just about putting the pieces of the puzzle in the right place for that to happen. I committed 100% to getting to this point, knowing it’s difficult, particularly in the first part of last year. It’s very tough, but as I said in the last race, my team has been fantastic in working with me and helping me. For example, the engineers have set up the car a thousand times better than last year. I’m starting to see the fruits of this labor. Last year we asked for some changes to the car, which we have now obtained. For example, the suspension. It’s fantastic to be able to collaborate with everyone to steer the boat in the right direction”.
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