Lewis Hamilton has been critical of Ferrari’s engine and its lack of pace compared to their rivals, but Christijan Albers has called him out for his performances.

Ferrari have had trouble with extracting performance from their power unit in 2026. They have made developments aerodynamically, but in a straight line, they have been lagging behind their championship rivals.

At COTA, they were the favourites for pole position after showing blistering pace in practice and in Q1 and Q2. However, Charles Leclerc and Hamilton could not perform when it mattered, qualifying P4 and P5 for the race.

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The SF-26’s sudden drop in performance was stark. Ferrari were only quicker than Aston Martin in the speed trap data, so much was their lack of pace.

Hamilton laid down the theory that Ferrari’s rivals may be hiding something from them before Q3. Guenther Steiner agrees with Hamilton, saying that the Maranello outfit often perform on Friday but cannot find the pace on Saturday.

Albers also thinks the theory could also be correct, but he also pointed out that the team could be running a lower fuel load in practice, which makes them look faster than they actually are.

He told Telesport: “Yes, I get the feeling that the situation is actually very simple, just like in Formula 1. So there are loads of factors at play.

“So, either one, the Mercedes and the Red Bulls and the rest are all pushing things a bit further ahead in qualifying, so that there’s still a difference between Free Practice 3 and qualifying.

“Or two, it’s just that Ferrari always run with perhaps five, eight or ten kilograms less fuel on board, which makes them look more competitive in Free Practice 1, 2 and 3 than they actually are. So yes, that could be the only reason.”

Journalist Erik van Haren then pointed out: “Yes, but you often see it from Q2 to Q3, for example. And then, well, that’s not normally the case, of course.”

Albers feels that Ferrari may have simply not been able to pull off a strong result in Q3. He especially gets that feeling with Hamilton, saying that ‘time and time again’, he is unable to perform when it really matters.

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“Yes, you’ve got a point there too, haven’t you? But it could also be that they just haven’t managed to pull it off,” said the former F1 driver.

“I get the same feeling with Hamilton. I don’t know what it is every time. You’d think the pressure couldn’t be that much, would you, because he’s a seven-time world champion. But it just wouldn’t work out in Q3, time and time again.”

Ferrari fans are frustrated by the team’s false promises after showing encouraging signs in practice. But it is also true that Hamilton has been lacking that cutting edge in qualifying – he has only been on the front row of the grid twice in 2026, and has never been on pole position.