Hamilton expects Mercedes to pay the price for reliability issues: 'There must be a penalty there'

In the end, Hamilton crossed the finish line in third place. Ferrari decided to pit the seven-time world champion for fresh tyres, allowing George Russell to overtake him. However, with the race finishing behind the Safety Car, Hamilton was unable to regain the position.

On the other hand, Antonelli's car issue dropped the championship leader out of the points, allowing Hamilton to gain ground on his rival. It marked the second time this season that the Italian has suffered a car issue while running in a strong position, after he was forced to retire from the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix. Meanwhile, Ferrari has been remarkably consistent, with Hamilton remaining the only driver to score points at every Grand Prix weekend so far during the 2026 campaign.

Asked about how impressed he is with the way Ferrari is executing races at the moment, Hamilton said: "Massively. I think we came into the season knowing that we needed to level up in our processes and just how we executed on race weekends. That's something that we were pushing for last year. And then the team's really, every single individual brings so much to the table and is bringing the best to the table.

Hamilton also expects that Mercedes' power unit reliability issues will also end up turning into grid penalties, which can further help him in the battle for the title. He continued: "You're seeing engines in general have had more issues this year than they normally would have, and don't know what the situation with on the battery side of this for George and for Kimi, but at some point there must be a penalty, I would imagine, in the sense that we only have two battery cells or something like that.

"But it's going to be key for us just holding onto this, maximising the points, executing to the best of our ability, even when it's the case that we can't win," the Ferrari driver concluded.

The seven-time world champion said teammate Charles Leclerc "migrated" towards the Briton's setup approach before his first win of the season at the British GP.

He explained: "Up until now, we really have been making such great progress. And what gives me confidence is coming into this weekend, the simulator said that we should start in a much different place with the set-up, and my engineers and I decided to stay within the direction that we would normally go.