Lewis Hamilton believes Monaco offers Ferrari its clearest shot yet at toppling Mercedes — and it all hinges on the one thing the principality takes out of the equation.
Buoyed by what he called his best and happiest weekend in Ferrari colours in Canada, Hamilton zeroed in on the circuit's defining trait. "That's the one track where power is not king," the seven-time champion said. "I think that's definitely car performance. I think our car could be really strong there."
That matters because Ferrari's 2026 story has been a fine chassis shackled to an engine down on straight-line speed against Mercedes. Hamilton has lived it lap after lap. "If you take away the power deficit, we're in the fight with these guys," he said. "I need more power somehow, because I'm able to hold on or keep up with them through the corners and I can't push the pedal any further."
The champion painted a frustrating picture of the chase. "You see them just eking out the straight and you catch them back in the brakes, they eke it out in the straight," he said. "Even when you get the overtake, you get within a second, they still pull away. So that's how much grunt that they have, and we're massively down."
Monaco, all slow corners and traction zones with barely a straight to speak of, takes that disadvantage off the table — which is exactly why rival drivers and bosses alike have made Ferrari the weekend favourite. Hamilton, carrying real momentum and sharing a garage with Monaco master Charles Leclerc, kept his own outlook simple. "Monaco," he said, "should be fun."
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*Originally published on [Newsformula One](https://newsformula.one/article/hamilton-bullish-ferrari-monaco-win-power-deficit). Visit for full coverage.*