Ferrari seeking answers at Zandvoort

Lewis Hamilton believes Ferrari can still challenge at the front in Sunday's Dutch Grand Prix despite qualifying on the third row, with the seven-time world champion expressing optimism about the SF-26's race pace after a difficult sprint session.

Hamilton outpaced team-mate Charles Leclerc to secure fifth on the grid — three tenths of a second off Lando Norris's pole time — but both Ferraris will start behind the two Mercedes and two McLarens. The result was a step forward for Hamilton, who had qualified and finished seventh in Saturday's sprint race.

"Much different session, much different car," Hamilton told Sky Sports F1 after qualifying. "In Practice, the car felt great and was consistent but there are always areas you feel you can improve so we made subtle changes to try and fix those improvements and it flipped the car on its head and it was horrible through Sprint Qualifying and the Sprint. I had no confidence in the balance."

"We made all these changes into Qualifying so I was learning a new car again, a new balance which I'm much happier with — trying to progress with it and learning with only like six laps was a challenge," he added. "I feel optimistic. Fifth is not the greatest but it could be far worse, so I'm grateful to be there but of course I wish I was up further ahead. However, our race pace was good in the Sprint. Charles had good race pace and the car is in a better place. Hopefully with the right strategy and right execution I think hopefully we can challenge the cars ahead."

Leclerc's qualifying struggles

Charles Leclerc had looked the more competitive Ferrari driver during the sprint race, finishing second behind George Russell after a bold overtake on Norris with six laps remaining. The Monegasque had been the only frontrunner to run the sprint on the soft tyres — a compound that is initially fastest but degrades more quickly — making his pace all the more impressive.

However, Leclerc never looked like a pole contender in qualifying, and he explained that setup changes throughout the session had cost him performance.

"I don't think the conditions played a role," said Leclerc. "I think we changed the power strategies a bit too much throughout qualifying then in Q3 I had some weird things going on, so we lost a bit of performance there. At no time during qualifying [did I have] the potential of pole."

Looking ahead to Sunday's race, Leclerc added: "Realistically it will be very difficult to overtake on track but we will do our best and see where we end up. Starting from sixth doesn't make our life easy, so it will be a tough race but the pace is there so I hope we can do something with strategy and offset ourselves to the others."

Vasseur: 'Everything is open'

Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur took heart from the sprint performance and said the multi-stop nature of the race could play into their hands.

"The race pace in the Sprint was very strong so we will try to come back," said Vasseur. "We had a good comparison between the two compounds which is probably the best preparation we can have for the race. It's very difficult to overtake. It will probably be two or three pit stops which mean everything is open."

Vasseur also confirmed the latest round of SF-26 upgrades, including a new floor, were performing as expected: "It's working as per the plan. From the beginning of the season, every time we brought something it's worked per the plan. It's a positive side of the development this year. We are bringing a lot of upgrades at each race, not big ones, so we are not expecting to gain five tenths per race. But it's working as expected."

Hamilton's long-term faith

Speaking earlier in the weekend, Hamilton outlined his belief that Ferrari can close the gap to Mercedes over the remainder of the season through a combination of improved car understanding and planned upgrades.

Hamilton has enjoyed a significantly stronger 2026 compared to his difficult 2025 campaign, achieving his maiden Ferrari victory in Barcelona and accumulating three further podium finishes. He remains the only driver on the grid to have scored at every race weekend so far and sits second in the drivers' championship, 50 points adrift of Kimi Antonelli.

"I think hopefully we're going to continue to progress in development," Hamilton said. "The team are working really hard and I think we've got our first little step this weekend which I'm really grateful for. Everyone is under a huge amount of pressure to bring parts, as every team is, but we are going in the right direction with the car. We just focus on doing our job the best we can. I think we can do a better job in the second half, so that's the goal."

"Mercedes have been leading all year and so it's been a development catch-up. We've been trying to catch up, adding bits to the car constantly, as everyone is adding bits as well. We've just got to continue to try and close the gap, which I really do believe we can. I don't think we're too far away."

Leclerc, who claimed his own victory for Ferrari at Silverstone, was more cautious about the team's chances at Zandvoort — a track where both Ferraris retired following separate crashes last season.

"Obviously Mercedes still remain the favourite, but I think on a track like this that is so technical, on paper we should be pretty strong," the Monegasque said. "At the same time, historically it's been a very difficult track for the team, so I'm a bit divided between the two expectations. I didn't spend much time thinking about expectations. I'm much more focused on the process to be as ready as possible for this weekend."