Lewis Hamilton approaches the summer break with confidence and is convinced that both Ferrari and himself will show an even higher level after the summer.
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Despite a frustrating end to the Hungarian Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton refuses to draw a negative conclusion from this first half of the season.
The seven-time world champion believes, on the contrary, that Ferrari has made steady progress since the beginning of the year, to the point of allowing him to occupy second place in the drivers’ championship approaching the summer break.
With one victory and remarkable consistency, Hamilton has not finished any race outside the Top 6 this season. However, he is 50 points behind the championship leader, Kimi Antonelli.
Ferrari progresses race after race
The Briton praises the work done by the Scuderia to gradually reduce the gap with Mercedes.
According to him, Ferrari had to cope with a significant performance deficit, especially in top speed, while continuing to develop its car almost every weekend.
“This first half of the season has been incredible, especially when you know that we probably had a deficit of three or four tenths in top speed and power for much of the year.”
Hamilton is convinced that the team’s efforts will eventually pay off.
“I know everyone is working very hard to bring improvements in this area.”
More developments are expected
The Ferrari driver assures that the development of the SF-26 is far from over.
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New improvements are expected after the summer break to continue the Italian team’s rise.
“We have brought developments at almost every Grand Prix and, I hope, there will be even more in the second half of the season. We will simply keep pushing.”
These advances fuel his optimism for the coming months.
“I always come back stronger after the summer”
Hamilton believes that the second half of the championship has often been his strong point throughout his career.
The Briton plans to take advantage of the summer break to recharge before tackling the final rounds in the best possible shape.
“I think the second half of the season will be better. Usually, it’s always the period when I perform the best.”
He concludes with a message that sounds like a warning to his rivals.
“I will take this break to recover, come back stronger, in better physical shape and with an even stronger mindset.”
Second in the championship, Hamilton therefore intends to take advantage of Ferrari’s progress and his traditional surge after the summer to fully relaunch the fight for the title against Kimi Antonelli.
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