Lewis Hamilton believes Ferrari could unlock a "huge amount of performance" if the team were better able to understand the Pirelli tyres in F1.
Whilst mastering tyres has always been a complicated matter in F1, in 2026, the art is particularly difficult to master given the high tyre pressures Pirelli has mandated.
Owing to the new straight-line mode in 2026, tyres pressures, especially at the rear at been raised to protect the tyres in case of a straight mode failure and the active aero not opening.
It is as a safety measure as the cars have been designed around lower downforce on the straights with the wings open, with the machines already exceeding the load expectations of Pirelli when the tyres were being designed.
This had led to claims of the tyres feeling like "balloons" - and means that tyre wear and degradation has not been as important a factor as in recent years, with the soft tyres proving to be the overwhelmingly best race tyre in recent races in Azerbaijan and Singapore.
Analysing the point, Hamilton felt that the area of tyre science had a lot of untapped potential for the Scuderia.
"I think when people are watching, they probably don't think too much in-depth about the tyres," Hamilton told media, including RacingNews365.
"I think the tyres are the things which deliver a huge amount of performance if you get them working properly.
"And believe it or not, that's a science in itself, so it is an area we could do better.
"I think it could deliver quite a bit of performance."
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'Easier said than done'
Hamilton also pinpointed that Ferrari needed to sharpen its race weekend execution, but conceded it was 'easier said than done.'
"We're happy with where the car is in terms of where we've developed it," he added.
"We just need a clean weekend and that's all about flowing from the get-go and building up that confidence within ourselves and within the car and then executing.
"It is a lot easier said than done, but we're working on trying to do a better job."
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Join RacingNews365's Ian Parkes, Sam Coop and Nick Golding as they look back on last weekend's Singapore Grand Prix! Max Verstappen's Marina Bay masterclass is a lead talking point, as is F1's deadline approaching to make a call on how the 2026 season will end.
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