Ferrari introduced its first ADUO-supported power-unit upgrade at the Italian Grand Prix, with the changes focused on the turbocharger.
The team initially designed a smaller turbo to reduce lag and improve throttle response, particularly when accelerating out of corners. The compromise was a loss of some top-end straight-line performance.
Ferrari made progress at Monza, but Hamilton believes more work is needed before the team can match Mercedes consistently.
“If you look at the Italian Grand Prix, they were six-tenths quicker on the straights, and at most other tracks, it is three or four tenths,” Hamilton told the media.
“So, I think we’ve done a really great job given that we’ve had that deficit, and we continue to make improvements to the car.
“We’ve made improvements to the engine. We knew that the last upgrade wasn’t going to be the silver bullet and close that gap completely.
“But for me, it’s really positive to see us continuously stepping forward very quickly, and it’s not easy.”
Mercedes is also expected to introduce its own ADUO-supported power-unit upgrade before the end of the season, with George Russell waiting to take his next engine until the new specification is available.
Hamilton has also shifted his attention away from the title fight and towards getting the most from Ferrari on each race weekend.
His championship hopes have faded after his Spanish Grand Prix retirement left him 101 points behind Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli. Ferrari has also endured a difficult run of weekends, including grid penalties and qualifying problems.
Hamilton believes the team cannot afford to become distracted by its rivals.
“So, rather than focus on them, they’re not a focus for me at the moment,” he said.
“Our focus should just be on how we can do our best and execute our best on our weekends.
“Because there’ll be weekends where they’re exceptional, and there’ll be weekends where they maybe drop the ball.
“As long as we just focus on our consistency and trying to optimise our weekends, maybe there’s an immediate moment where we can capitalise on perhaps their shortcomings.”
The next round of the 2026 season is the Azerbaijan Grand Prix at the Baku City Circuit from September 24-26, with the main race taking place on Saturday rather than the traditional Sunday slot.
