Hamilton confident Ferrari can take ‘step forward’ in Austin as he sets out expectation for final races of 2025

Lewis Hamilton is hopeful that Ferrari can take a “step forward” by extracting more from their car during the United States Grand Prix weekend, with the seven-time World Champion admitting that the final six races of the campaign could play a key role in preparations for 2026.

Hamilton arrives into Round 19 of the season off the back of a P8 finish last time out in Singapore, having originally crossed the line in seventh before being handed a five-second time penalty post-race for exceeding track limits whilst managing a brake issue on his car.

Looking ahead to what might be possible at the Circuit of The Americas – a track where he has previously been victorious on five occasions – Hamilton voiced an optimistic note about Ferrari’s prospects in terms of continuing to make improvements to the SF-25.

“I never have expectations except for that we give it our all and we continue to improve,” the Briton said. “I think there are lots and lots of positives to take from every weekend, and there are lots of areas we can improve.

“We spent time after the last race going through areas that we can improve on, and I really think that this weekend we can take a step forward and extract more from the car that we have.

“We’ve not moved the car forward in terms of performance, but there is more performance in the car that, if we execute a little bit better, I think we can extract more, so that’s the goal.”

With the 2025 season now entering into its last six rounds – featuring three Sprints along the way, including this weekend at COTA – Hamilton was quizzed on what the approach will be and how the squad will find the answers they are seeking ahead of 2026, a year in which new technical regulations will be introduced into the sport.

“These are ultimately test weekends, really, in terms of just continuing to learn, to improve on our processes,” he explained. “In the last races there have been a couple of gems through the weekend that we couldn’t capitalise on, and so it’s taking those good bits from there and continuing to work on them, to take what works and then change what isn’t [working].

“So that’s what we’re trying to do moving forwards. I think it’s continuing to build on the relationships, continuing to build on communication.

“Ultimately, everyone back at the factory really deserves a good result and that’s the sole focus – to get good results, try to maximise, squeeze every point we can out of our performances on the weekends, and I really, really believe that we can do that, so we just stay focused.”