Ferrari’s Real Struggle Goes Beyond Hamilton and Leclerc
At Ferrari, criticism rarely stays quiet for long. Whenever results fall below expectations, attention quickly shifts toward the drivers, and in 2026 that spotlight has fallen heavily on Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.
Hamilton’s arrival at Ferrari was always destined to attract enormous scrutiny. As a seven-time Formula One world champion, expectations surrounding his move to the Italian team reached extraordinary levels before he even completed his first race weekend in red. Every result, every radio message, and every qualifying session has since been dissected with relentless intensity.
Leclerc, meanwhile, continues to carry the burden of being Ferrari’s long-term project. For years, the Monegasque driver has been viewed as the future of the team, yet the success many predicted has still not fully materialised. Despite flashes of brilliance and moments of undeniable pace, Ferrari has struggled to consistently provide him with the machinery needed to challenge for championships.
However, reducing Ferrari’s current difficulties to a battle between Hamilton and Leclerc oversimplifies a much deeper issue.
The real concern lies within the car itself.
Across several race weekends this season, Ferrari has shown promising speed in isolated moments, only for that performance to disappear when conditions change or race setups evolve. One session may suggest genuine competitiveness, while the next exposes weaknesses in tyre management, balance, or overall consistency.
That unpredictability has made life extremely difficult for both drivers.
Hamilton and Leclerc remain among the most naturally gifted talents on the Formula One grid. Their experience, racecraft, and technical understanding are not in question. What continues to frustrate Ferrari supporters is the team’s inability to provide either driver with a stable and dependable platform capable of delivering strong performance from Friday practice through to Sunday’s Grand Prix.
In modern Formula One, consistency is everything. Championship-winning teams are built around cars that operate effectively across varying circuits, weather conditions, and race strategies. Ferrari, despite its resources and heritage, has struggled to reach that standard on a regular basis.
The result is a familiar cycle. Drivers become the public face of disappointment while the underlying technical shortcomings remain the larger obstacle.
Blaming Hamilton or Leclerc may create easy headlines, but it ignores the broader reality facing Ferrari. The team’s ambitions will not be fulfilled simply by comparing its drivers against one another. Until Ferrari produces a car capable of maintaining competitive balance over an entire race weekend, even two elite talents may continue to fall short of the expectations surrounding Formula One’s most famous team.