Lewis Hamilton Highlights Ferrari Weakness After Upgrade Failure

Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton pointed to the team’s simulator as a main reason for the team’s struggles in Miami.

Hamilton finished in P6 with his teammate Charles Leclerc finishing in P8 after bringing “half of a new car ” to the track.

There was so much anticipation for what Ferrari could do to close the gap on Mercedes, especially with all of the reported changes coming.

However, it was Red Bull and McLaren, two teams that have struggled behind Ferrari, that made major gains.

May 2, 2026; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton (44) arrives to the paddock area at Miami International Autodrome. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Hamilton himself struggled again in qualifying in Miami, though he had a theory about what led to the issues — Ferrari’s simulator.

“If I’m honest, I think the simulator really sends me the wrong direction, so I think I might cut that out for now and give it a run without,” he said.

“I’m going to have a different approach in the next race. Because the way we’re preparing at the moment is, it’s not helping. And so we’ll see how that goes for the next race.

“Ultimately it’s always [a matter of] correlation. We go on it, and then get to the track – and the car feels different when you get to a track.”

However, during the race, Hamilton had a strong pace; although he finished sixth, he felt he could have finished higher given the car’s speed, even after being hit by Franco Colapinto’s Alpine.

Why Lewis Hamilton felt unprepared in Miami

Hamilton will not use the simulator in the lead-up to the next race, in hopes of getting a better feel for the car.

“You go on it, you prepare for the track, you drive it and you get the car set-up to a certain place – and then you come to the track and that set-up doesn’t work,” he explained.

“And in the sprint weekend for example, you’ve only got practice one, you don’t really want to veer off from your set-up too far, like with a big suspension change, and so you stay with it. And then you make a change going into qualifying and you’ve only got six laps to get on top of it.