Lewis Hamilton has admitted the pressure is on as he prepares to make his debut as a Ferrari driver at the team's home race in the Italian Grand Prix this weekend, having crashed out of the Dutch GP on Sunday after an unforced error. The seven-time world champion went wide on the painted surface outside turn three at Zandvoort, made slippery by light rain, losing the rear and sliding into the barriers.
It was far from the fresh start after the summer break the British driver had hoped for, after a difficult debut year with Ferrari. The car has been off the pace and adapting to a new team has proved challenging. “There’s obviously a huge amount of pressure on us as a team, more so for me now,” Hamilton said. “I haven’t had a good season. Next week, we’ll just try to absorb all the energy from the fans.”
Despite the setback, Hamilton remained confident, feeling the weekend in the Netherlands had been a step forward. “I’m fine, I feel fine mentally, I’ve felt lots of positives,” he said. “I felt I was making progress, I was catching the car ahead. It’s tough to have a result like that but I’ve been racing for so long I’ve had God knows how many races and you can probably count on one hand that sort of incident.”
However, Hamilton faces a five-place grid penalty for the Italian GP for failing to slow sufficiently for yellow flags on his reconnaissance lap to the grid before Sunday's race. Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur maintained his driver was still optimistic. “We discussed after the race – he was much more positive than the last four or five events,” Vasseur said. “For sure, he lost the car but the mood was positive, because I think he can take a lot of positives from the weekend and build up the confidence for Monza.”
Ferrari's difficult weekend was compounded when Charles Leclerc clashed with Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, spinning into the barriers and ending his race. Antonelli was given a 10-second penalty for the incident. Ferrari are in a tight fight with Mercedes for second place in the championship, just 12 points ahead of third.
Meanwhile, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff confirmed George Russell would remain with the team for 2026 alongside Antonelli, although the British driver's contract has yet to be signed. “I always say there’s not going to be any big news because we’re doing this. We’re continuing with both of them, of course,” Wolff said.
