Lewis Hamilton has raised questions about Ferrari’s aerodynamic approach, suggesting the team may be missing a key front wing design feature that Mercedes, McLaren, and Red Bull have capitalized on. Despite Ferrari introducing major upgrades at the Miami Grand Prix, Hamilton and his teammate Charles Leclerc struggled, finishing sixth and eighth respectively, as their rivals made notable gains.
Hamilton pointed out the visual and conceptual differences in the front wing designs: “They—Mercedes, McLaren, and Red Bull—are doing something different with their front wing compared to us. So we need to look into that to see whether or not there’s something we can improve on.” He added that the difference seems to be related to overall concept rather than just straight-line mode activation. “If you just look at everyone else’s wing and look at us, you’ll see it looks different. I wonder what that’s doing, because the others seem to have it and they’ve improved.”
The seven-time world champion also highlighted Ferrari’s persistent straight-line speed deficit, warning that it could continue to hamper their performance at upcoming tracks with longer straights, such as the Canadian Grand Prix. “We’re going to another track with long straights and we’re losing three to four tenths just on straight line speed,” Hamilton said. “That’s there and it’s going to be there until we fix it. We need to see if we can cut some drag before the next race because in a straight line we’ve got that deficit.”
As the competition intensifies, Hamilton’s comments underscore the urgent need for Ferrari to re-evaluate their aerodynamic philosophy if they are to challenge the front-runners in the coming races.
