Lewis Hamilton and Fred Vasseur assessed Ferrari’s performance following FP2 on Thursday at the 2026 F1 Azerbaijan GP. Speaking after the session, Hamilton and team principal Fred Vasseur talked about the challenges of track evolution, traffic management and car balance.
Hamilton discusses street circuit challenges
Reflecting on the unique characteristics of the Baku layout, Lewis Hamilton addressed safety and traffic concerns during single lap runs. He proposed that drivers should maintain full power and go flat out through the final corners, preventing cars from going too slow through crucial sections and ensuring better predictability.
This topic came up after a dangerous blocking incident involving Liam Lawson and the seven-time World Champion. The Brit was preparing to start a lap, with the Kiwi on a flier. It was all caused by the 2026 regs and the lack of battery available, hence drivers only deploying the battery when the lap starts.
“I think we’ll talk about it in the Drivers Briefing, about what we could do. I said to them what they should do is on a single lap, when we’re doing a pushing lap, we get max power out of the last corner. When you come through 19, it resets, and then you have a little bit more power than the other car.”
“There should just be nobody going slow ever through 18 and 19. Even if you’re on a slow lap, you still have to go flat out through 18 and 19 with full power. That would mean that no one’s ever going slow through that section.”
“I think that’s something we’ll talk about in the Drivers Briefing.”
Addressing the risky nature of the circuit where numerous drivers ran off track, Hamilton emphasised that extracting maximum lap time requires pushing right up to the limit.
He noted that navigating the heavy braking zones presents a constant challenge on street circuits. Furthermore, touching on how street tracks reset overnight due to regular city traffic, Hamilton acknowledged that while circuits like Las Vegas experience major resets, the team simply adapts to whatever track conditions are presented to them when practice resumes.
“It’s always a challenge on the track. It’s just the braking, picking the braking zones, attacking the braking zones. There’s a lot of time to be found, so you’re on the limit.
“I can’t remember if it’s the same. I know in Vegas they do that, and it is a reset. I can’t remember if it resets here, but I really can’t remember if it does.If it does reset, then we’ll deal with it.”
Vasseur evaluates Ferrari’s strategy for the 2026 F1 Azerbaijan GP
Team Principal Fred Vasseur offered a candid assessment of Ferrari’s practice sessions, admitting that the team experienced significant shifts in lap times and struggled to hold a stable car balance.
He explained that performance parameters shift drastically compared to traditional circuits, noting that small changes generate massive lap time deltas. Consequently, the Ferrari team faces a busy evening of data analysis to tune the set up at the 2026 F1 Azerbaijan GP.
“It was a strange situation that we were very up and down from, I think this morning was OK. This afternoon we were very up and down from one lap to the other. I think it’s quite difficult to find the right position, the good tow.
“But even for the tyres, we struggled a little bit, I think the others also, I think Max struggled a little bit. I think it’s a challenge that also the parameters of performance are making bigger steps than a normal track. That you turn on the engine, you do half a second, you have 10 kilos, it’s for 5 tenths, but that’s it tomorrow.
“But for sure we are not very pleased with the balance today. We have a lot of work to do for tomorrow.”
Looking ahead to race strategy, Vasseur dismissed putting too much concern in Free practice sessions. While traditional expectations point towards a one-stop strategy due to the difficulties of overtaking, he acknowledged that the Azerbaijan GP frequently delivers unpredictable outcomes.
“Friday is useless, imagine the Thursday!
“In Baku you never know, you can have a big surprise. I remember the year one that in Baku we were all expecting the mega chaos and nothing happened. The second year it was the opposite.
“For sure the strategy, if nothing happened, I think it would be one stop because it’s not that easy to overtake. Strangely, the boy spent a part of his life behind Pierre and Max behind Colapinto and it’s not that easy to overtake.”
Addressing technical matters, Vasseur remained discreet regarding Charles Leclerc’s potential engine grid penalty. However, he confirmed that both drivers are running the upgraded power unit specification first introduced at Monza, giving the team at Ferrari stable technical parameters as they prepare for the remainder of the 2026 F1 Azerbaijan GP.
“I have clarity but I will keep it for me.
“We have the engine that we introduce in Monza, it’s the spec of the engine.”
