Hamilton and Ferrari accused of 'letting themselves down' in 2026 title fight

F1 returns to action this weekend at the iconic Zandvoort Circuit for the very last time, with Hamilton currently sitting P2 in the Drivers' standings, 50 points behind Antonelli, while the Scuderia trail Mercedes by 72 points in the Constructors'.

The German team have looked favourites for the title since the start of 2026, especially after a five-race win streak from Antonelli at the start of the campaign. However, reliability issues for Mercedes have since seen five different race winners in the five races prior to F1's summer break, including Hamilton's maiden Ferrari win in Barcelona.

For Palmer though, Ferrari have not made enough of the opportunities presented to them in recent races, highlighting "sloppy" mistakes that have cost them points, such as Hamilton's impeding of Oscar Piastri in Hungarian GP Qualifying, which saw him drop three places from P2 for the race, as well as his five-second penalty during the race for pit lane speeding.

Speaking on the F1 Nation podcast, Palmer said: “I’m just a little bit disappointed in them in recent races because I think they’ve just been given this chance with some reliability woes for Kimi. You know, the front wing or the wheel cover stuff in Silverstone was a really lucky strike for Ferrari. They were going to lose that race and they ended up coming through, taking a big dent out of Kimi’s lead.”

Palmer, however, does praise Hamilton's remarkable turnaround from a dire debut season with Ferrari in 2025, when Hamilton went podium-less for the first time in his 19-year F1 career.

This year, under new regulations, Hamilton has looked the most likely to mount a challenge to Antonelli's title lead, 50 points behind the Italian, and currently nine points ahead of former Mercedes teammate George Russell. Hamilton's current Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc is 31 points behind the Briton in P4.

“I think he’s driving brilliantly," Palmer added. "I think the fact that he’s even matching or ahead of Charles on pace a lot of the time shows what a great turnaround it’s been.

But that will also make recent errors all the more frustrating for Hamilton and Ferrari, Palmer believes, adding that the "silly" mistakes are nothing to do with skill, and have "let themselves down" in recent races.