Lewis HamiltonLewis Hamilton declared that he will not touch the Ferrari simulator before the Canadian Grand Prix, calling out a lack of correlation between Ferrari’s virtual model and the real world Hamilton promised a “different approach” for the Canadian Grand Prix, and also urged that Ferrari must “cut drag” from the SF-26 car. Hamilton claimed that Ferrari is giving up “three to four tenths” in straight line speed alone. Lewis Hamilton drops Ferrari simulator before Canadian Grand Prix Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trust. Hamilton endured a frustrating Miami Grand Prix weekend. He ended the Sprint over 15 seconds behind teammate Charles Leclerc, while a collision with Franco Colapinto on the first lap of the Grand Prix inflicted major damage to Hamilton’s Ferrari, restricting him to seventh. “I’m going to have a different approach in the next race,” Hamilton declared to PlanetF1.com and other accredited media following the Miami GP. “Because the way we’re preparing at the moment, it’s not helping. So we’ll see how that goes for the next race. “But also, we’re going to another track with long straights, and we’re losing three to four tenths just on straight line speed. So that’s there, and it’s going to be there until we fix it.” For Hamilton, what he is experiencing in the Ferrari simulator versus the real-life SF-26, does not align. “Ultimately, it’s always correlation,” he added. “We go on it [the simulator], and then you get to the track, and the car feels different when you get to the track.” Hamilton was asked to expand on what he meant by not preparing for a race weekend properly. That led him to double down on his dissatisfaction with the Ferrari sim. So much so, that Hamilton says he will not use it at all before the Canadian Grand Prix, dropping a major clue in regards to this new approach which the seven-time world champion says is coming. “What I mean by it is that I spend time on the simulator – you know I don’t like simulators in general – but I was at the simulator every week on the build-up to this race, and working on correlation constantly. “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 setup doesn’t work. “And on the Sprint weekend, for example, you’ve only got practice one. You don’t really want to veer off from your setup 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. “So in an ideal world, I should have started where Charles was at the beginning of the weekend, and I think we would have just had a stronger weekend from there on. “I’m not going to go on the simulator between now and the next race. I’ll still go and hold meetings at the factory and stuff, but just going to back away from it for a little bit and see. “When we went to China, I had the best weekend, and without sim.” More Miami Grand Prix reaction via PlanetF1.com Hamilton has, generally, cut a much more upbeat figure in F1 2026, after a harrowing first season with Ferrari. He has spoken of enjoying the new regulations, and driving a car with some of his “DNA” in it after a year with the Scuderia. Hamilton was asked whether he believes that the SF-26 is still suiting him. “Yeah, generally happy with it,” he confirmed. “I think, as I said, we just started on the wrong foot this weekend, so the car, it was very snappy on the way into corners, and then massive understeer mid-corner, so that’s not the balance that you would want. “It was better for qualifying and then going into the race, but wasn’t able to recapitalise on it.” Hamilton is “looking forward” to the Canadian Grand Prix in a little under three weeks. It is a race which Hamilton has won a record-equalling seven times. “But, we need to see if we can cut some drag before the next race,” Hamilton cautions, “because on the straight line we’ve got that deficit, and so we’ve got to have a look into that.” Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists. You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!
