Lewis Hamilton makes Ferrari demand after setting unwanted F1 record

Lewis Hamilton feels he must find a better balance to his Ferrari to unlock performance after setting a new unwanted F1 record at the British Grand Prix.

From fifth on the grid, Hamilton performed well at Silverstone in the chaotic rain-hit race, finding himself in fifth but behind the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll and Stake of Nico Hulkenberg, but faster than the pair of them. 

Both drivers dispatched Stroll, but Hamilton could not ultimately find a way past Hulkenberg, who pitted for the switch back to slicks one lap later than Hamilton, with the British driver going off on his out-lap in the wet conditions. 

In failing to score a podium at Silverstone, Hamilton has now gone 14 grands prix without a podium, which is the worst run of his entire career, since a second-place in the 2024 Las Vegas GP for Mercedes.

Hamilton has also lost the record for the most consecutive podiums at one circuit following his eventual fourth place, with 11 straight visits to the podium at Silverstone since a fourth in 2023.

Reflecting on his race, Hamilton explained how he just needs a stronger overall balance to unlock performance.

"I just need a consistent balance," Hamilton replied when asked by RacingNews365 about the one thing he needed from the Ferrari to unlock performance.

"When the car turns into low-speed, I just need a more stable car, but we were looking great through this weekend. 

"In practice, we were always up there, but were not fully able to extract everything in qualifying, and then the race is a bit harder, so that is where I wanted to get stronger.

"It got a little easier when it was fully dry, as we had more grip, but even then, you saw I went wide and it snapped and I nearly spun at Turn 11 (Becketts) many times, so there were a lot of mistakes."