Is this Lewis Hamilton’s best chance? Plus: Monaco can be fun this year!
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Welcome back to Prime Tire, where we’re wondering how Lewis Hamilton will celebrate if he wins the Monaco GP this weekend. Charles Leclerc dove into the harbor after his Monaco GP win in 2024, so I think Hamilton should commandeer a yacht and sail away. The most dramatic possible way to skip the news conference.
I’ve got Ferrari on my mind, clearly. I’m Patrick, and Luke Smith will be along shortly with some McLaren fun. Let’s dive in.
Ferrari’s Edge: Hamilton’s best chance yet
I was wondering, and, no, Hamilton is not particularly close to breaking an infamous Ferrari record.
Allow me to explain.
Hamilton has raced 29 grands prix for Ferrari and won none of them. (The 2025 Chinese GP sprint race doesn’t count.) I’m old enough to remember when we were keeping track of Hamilton’s winless streak at Mercedes. I didn’t think I’d be old enough to start tracking another at Ferrari.
Here we are, though — and it doesn’t feel like Ferrari is close to cracking the Mercedes grip on the top of the podium. Except for this week: Monaco may be Ferrari’s best and only chance at a win in 2026, as Luke writes.
The reason is simple: Those tight, claustrophobic streets and a lack of real straights effectively nerf the engine power that’s made Mercedes look untouchable. According to Luke’s breakdown of the GPS data from Canada, Ferrari’s chassis actually has the edge in the low-speed stuff; it’s only when George Russell and Kimi Antonelli open the taps on the straights that they disappear. In a place where you can’t stretch your legs, that gap evaporates.
As Hamilton put it, “If you take away the power deficit, we’re in the fight with these guys.”
Make no mistake: Hamilton winning his first Ferrari race at Monaco would be the biggest moment of the season so far (the Miami GP hot dog does not count) and one of the crowning achievements in his storied career.
But he’d have to go much, much longer without a win to achieve Ferrari infamy. I wondered if Hamilton’s 29-race winless streak is anywhere near the longest a driver has gone after joining Ferrari. Turns out … nope:
I forgot that Jean Alesi had four complete, winless seasons (1991–1994) before breaking through. On his 31st birthday. Driving the No. 27 Ferrari, the same as Gilles Villeneuve, at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. And the win meant Ferrari surpassed McLaren as the winningest F1 constructor.
That was the only grand prix Alesi ever won.
Alesi’s record will almost certainly survive Hamilton, mainly because no modern team would hand a driver four years to find a single win. There are some interesting similarities and differences between Alesi and Hamilton, though:
- Alesi’s early 90s Ferraris were bad. The 1991 cars were even worse than today’s. Alain Prost compared driving one to driving a truck, and got fired for it. (Really!) I wouldn’t say Hamilton’s cars of this year and last year were on that level.
- Alesi outperformed his machinery. Alesi routinely dragged uncompetitive Ferraris to podiums. Hamilton’s 2025 was almost the inverse: In races where both cars finished, Leclerc beat Hamilton roughly 17-5. However bad the car has been, Leclerc has made it look less bad. (Leclerc has out-qualified Hamilton 3-2 this season.) (Also, I acknowledge Hamilton rocked in Canada the other weekend.)
- Alesi had bad luck. Alesi’s bad luck was quite cinematic: He took pole at Monza in 1994 and was leading comfortably when his gearbox exploded on Lap 14. Hamilton, so far, has rarely been in a position where bad luck is the decisive factor in not winning a race.
- Alesi chose Ferrari over a future champion. Before signing with Ferrari in 1991, Alesi actually had a deal in place with Williams — the very team that was about to embark on a run of back-to-back constructors’ titles. He tore it up, choosing the romance of Ferrari instead. Hmm. Hamilton left Mercedes — he wasn’t exactly walking away from a dynasty at its peak, but the early look of 2026 suggests he might have jumped ship just as the Silver Arrows started to find their wings again.
For more on Hamilton’s shot this weekend, head here.
Will Monaco GP be fun this year? Who knows?
It’s the crown jewel of F1’s schedule, and every year we seem to write about how the drivers think it’s boring. But, hey, we have new cars this year! That should help, right?
Maybe. Let’s break it down:
- The regs won’t be an issue. Monaco has many slow corners and short straights, so battery recharging isn’t a big deal. Drivers can go flat out! Plus, the cars are smaller this year, and Monaco is one place on the calendar where that actually matters.
- But it may not matter. The streets haven’t changed. The layout hasn’t changed. It’s still a tight, twisty track with one overtake last season. You may see some attempts at overtaking on the main straight, but since recharging isn’t an issue, both drivers should have boost available at the same time.
- The star of Monaco is Saturday qualifying. The qualifying races have been a major issue this season, with the new regulations draining some pizzazz from Saturdays. Not at Monaco.
So I’m cautiously optimistic, I guess. Here’s the weekend schedule:
Friday
- FP1: 7:30 a.m. ET/12:30 p.m. UK
- FP2: 11 a.m. ET/4 p.m. UK
Saturday
- FP3: 6:30 a.m. ET/11:30 a.m. UK
- Qualifying: 10 a.m. ET/3 p.m. UK
Sunday
- Race: 9 a.m. ET/2 p.m. UK
Now let’s throw it to Luke.
Inside the Paddock with Luke Smith: Is it really McLaren’s 1,000th grand prix?
McLaren will honor a very special landmark this week in Monaco, becoming only the second team in F1 history to celebrate reaching 1,000 grands prix.
Such are the quirks in F1 history and statistics: It’s not actually racing 1,000 grands prix for McLaren, depending how you look at it.
There are two main ways of counting it: grands prix entered, which discount failures to qualify or start a race, and race starts, when the car is there for the lights going out and technically “in the race.”
If we go by the number of starts, Monaco will actually be race No. 999 for McLaren, according to Forix (my go-to bible for all things F1 statistics).
- There are a handful of failures to start a race, such as this year’s Chinese Grand Prix, where both McLaren cars hit trouble before lights out.
- There’s also the infamous 2005 United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis, where safety concerns prompted most of the grid to withdraw following the formation lap.
So accounting for those, then the number of grands prix entered is already past 1,000.
But let’s not descend too far into the tedium of arguing over such technicalities. It’s a huge moment for one of F1’s most iconic and successful teams. And where better to celebrate than Monaco, the race where it all started for Bruce McLaren in 1966?
Outside the Points
🏎️ Mercedes has withdrawn from talks to buy a minority stake in Alpine, The Athletic confirmed.
🎭 Interesting story in The Guardian today on some Williams ownership drama.
🖱️ And finally, most-clicked last time: Our weekly mailbag!
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