Ferrari have now removed the ‘parachute’ on their F1 car that was holding Lewis Hamilton back

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Lewis Hamilton can take heart from Ferrari’s performance at Silverstone even though he had to watch teammate Charles Leclerc lift the winner’s trophy.

Hamilton’s false start and understeer-laden setup took him out of victory contention during the first stint, while Leclerc battled with Kimi Antonelli. The Mercedes driver almost certainly would have won without a broken wheel shield, but Ferrari still vastly exceeded their expectations.

Indeed, Ferrari’s simulations suggested they would be six to seventh tenths off Mercedes’ pace on a power-hungry layout. In the end, the gap was less than two over a single lap.

Ferrari saw an ‘anomaly’ in Lewis Hamilton’s data that should concern Mercedes

At the start of the weekend, Ferrari were actually fastest of all as Hamilton took Sprint pole. According to the Italian edition of Motorsport.com, the British driver was fastest through the speed trap, which looked like an ‘anomaly’ based on the previous eight rounds.

After all, Ferrari had been over 20kph down in Austria, so much so that Antonelli was afraid of hitting Leclerc due to the closing speeds.

Lewis Hamilton is now only missing a Grand Prix pole position for Ferrari 🏆 Predict when it will come?

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While Mercedes improved their own deployment strategy and reasserted themselves on Saturday, Ferrari sustained their straight-line improvement. Hamilton set the fastest top speed in the Grand Prix at 352kph.

As the report explains, Ferrari effectively removed a ‘parachute’ from their car with their Silverstone upgrades. Tweaks to the brake duct, bargeboard and diffuser made the SF-26 more streamlined.

Previously, the Scuderia had been relentlessly adding downforce with too little regard for the increased drag that would come with it. They have now rowed back on that philosophy.

The performance of Ferrari’s ADUO-assisted upgrade in Austria had been disappointing, but one race wasn’t enough to cast a definitive judgement. Back at a more conventional altitude, the improvement was clear to see.

Mercedes still have a straight-line advantage over Ferrari, which may be why Hamilton struggled to pass George Russell in the race. But the Silver Arrows can no longer bank on their main title rivals being off the pace at the fastest circuits.