Lewis Hamilton urges Ferrari to “turn up the heat” in F1 title battle
Lewis Hamilton is level on points with George Russell in second place in the Formula 1 championship standings.
Lewis Hamilton has told Ferrari it must "turn up the heat" if the team is to have any chance of beating Mercedes to the Formula 1 title.
The seven-time champion sits 59 points behind leader Kimi Antonelli after 12 rounds of the season, with between 10 and 12 rounds remaining, depending on the ever-changing situation in the Middle East.
Although Hamilton has just one win to his name this year, he has remained in contention by virtue of being the only driver to score points in every race so far. In contrast, reliability problems limited Mercedes' potential in the early races, before the chasing pack closed the pace advantage held by the Silver Arrows.
Heading to Ferrari's home race at Monza, Hamilton has issued a rallying cry to his team.
"We're in a much different place than we have been in the past, he said.
"We're still second in the constructors' championship. We've got a lot of positives to take from this first half [of the year], but the next ones, we really need to turn up the heat if we're going to have any chance to beat these guys."
Hamilton finished third at the Dutch Grand Prix, and could have finished second had it not been for the team's slowness in ordering Charles Leclerc to move aside when the two were on differing strategies, or had the virtual safety car not been deployed as he was looming ominously in George Russell's mirrors.
Although he has since apologised for his 'sarcastic' language used on the radio while Ferrari dallied, Hamilton said of his comments: "I didn't have colourful language! I don't think I said any swear words or anything.
He added: "My heart rate's 170, and I'm trying to win, you know! But the one thing I'm definitely really proud of the team for is that they brought an upgrade here this weekend. We are getting closer to them [Mercedes].
"For just this half a season we've been down on power, so we really need to pick up the power if we're going to be anywhere near trying to fight for them and closing the gap to them."
Sam joined Crash.net in February 2026 with extensive experience in motorsport media, having covered numerous championships around the world.
