Lewis Hamilton hails Ferrari work rate in Mercedes pursuit: 'We're doing everything'

Lewis Hamilton has hailed Ferrari's work rate in its pursuit of Mercedes, insisting the Italian outfit is "doing everything" it can to continue introducing upgrades.

Ferrari has adopted an aggressive development strategy, with Hamilton and Charles Leclerc receiving upgrades at the vast majority of races so far this season.

It has enabled the Maranello-based team to make exceptional progress over the opening nine rounds of the new power unit regulations, reducing its deficit to the Silver Arrows.

The SF-26 has improved to the point that it is now a multiple race-winning car, with Hamilton and Leclerc claiming victories in Barcelona and Silverstone respectively.

Leclerc's victory last time out came as a major surprise, given Silverstone was a circuit where Mercedes had been expected to dominate.

Even Mercedes was surprised by Ferrari's pace, leaving Hamilton unsure what to expect at this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix.

Ferrari looks set to introduce further new parts at Spa-Francorchamps, although the seven-time world champion expects the circuit's long straights to weaken its chances against his former team.

Asked how Ferrari can fight Mercedes at Spa, Hamilton told select media, including RacingNews365: "On this track, I mean, it's very difficult. This circuit is all about long straights.

"So, you know, we went to Silverstone and thought we were going to be much further down on power, but the car was quick through the corners, so it was far better than we anticipated.

"So we come here again not really knowing what to expect, except that the track has about 30% more straights. I think there was still a gap of maybe three or four tenths in the last race. So here we anticipate it will be a little bit more.

"But we're doing everything we can in terms of upgrades. The team just... I'm so proud of them. They're continuing to push to optimise the car. We're making fine adjustments to it every week, which is great to see.

"Rather than one upgrade coming and then another several months later, it's like every weekend we've had something small, and hopefully we keep finding more."