Ferrari might be eyeing a resurgence in this chaotic 2026 season, but fans know never to hope too much. Lewis Hamilton seems to be getting a reality check, after his car struggled noticeably at Suzuka during the Japanese GP.

The race saw Kimi Antonelli walk away with the top spot, but it was by no means an easy fight. Hamilton started from sixth, climbed up to third, but ended up back where he started, as his car’s power unit seemed to be causing trouble, even as teammate Charles Leclerc ended up finishing third.

Hamilton spoke about the issue and how his teammate seemed to zip past him with the same car.

“I just struggled with power in the race; for some reason, I was just down," he told the press. I was defending the whole time; the guys all around me seemed to have more power, so I need to try and understand why that is the case, whether my engine is down or what, I need to understand.

“It's never fun when you're just barely holding on to a pack. And then, when I got the fresh tyres, I still couldn't; just power-wise, just couldn't stay ahead of people, which was really confusing," he concluded.

With a long break ahead, Hamilton and the Ferrari team will look to figure out what exactly caused the power issue, preferably before the Miami GP. The seven-time World Champion is finally catching a break this year after a troubling 2025 season, as he is now fourth in the driver's standings.

Meanwhile, Ferrari is also likely to benefit from another trick up its sleeve.

The ADUO Addition: Ferrari’s Hidden Trick?

While Mercedes has set the benchmark in this season so far, Ferrari will look to make use of the ADUO (Additional Development and Update Opportunities) mechanism that has been granted to them. The Italian car maker, in general, is said to be at a deficit of about 20 to 25 horsepower when compared to the Silver Arrow.

The ADUO helps underperforming manufacturers by monitoring the performance of their combustion engines and by allowing them upgrades, depending on the threshold they fall under.

Those manufacturers trailing behind the benchmark’s power output by 2% to 4% are allowed a single upgrade for both the current season and the following season. As for those with a more severe deficit of over 4%, the mechanism allows two upgrades in the current season, and two more in the next. Ferrari is in a position for some gains here.

"[The] ADUO that has been granted to Ferrari, which will allow them to develop the engine, they will definitely get much closer because their car is already strong," Antonelli told Sky Sports Italy.

“If they manage to improve the engine as well, they’ll close the gap even more."

It will be interesting to see how things unfold further into the season once racing resumes.

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Written by

Aaradhya Singh

Edited by

Afreen Kabir