Lewis Hamilton has said Ferrari's lack of engine power is holding back what would otherwise be the best car in Formula 1 this year.
Despite a strong start to 2026 as the closest challenger to Mercedes, Ferrari has dropped behind the Mercedes-powered McLaren cars in recent races.
A hallmark of the team's season has been its lightning starts off the line, although its car appears to fade over the course of a race.
Hamilton qualified fifth for Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix.
Ferrari are hoping to benefit from a ruling to be given extra capacity to upgrade their engine after Montreal's race on Sunday, a regulation aimed at narrowing the competitive field
Asked if he agreed with people in the paddock who suggest Ferrari have the strongest chassis, but is being held back by the engine, Hamilton said: "Yes, absolutely.
"I mean, the guys at the factory have done an amazing job with the car and we still have improvements to make, but the car is fantastic.
"It's just it's a battle of development through the season, obviously some people bring upgrades one weekend and others the other. We're just at the mercy of the lack of power that we have. I know that everyone worked really hard on the engine and reliability is obviously is very good. It's just when you're lacking that straight line speed against the Merc it's very, very tough.
"But nonetheless we have to expect that the rest of the season that's just the way it is so we'll just try and see if we can continue to add on to the car and try and close the gap if we can go quicker through corners in some races maybe we can get closer to a challenge in front of us."
Sunday's race is a crucial point in the season in terms of engine development going forward.
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The Canadian Grand Prix is the final one in the FIA's measurement period under what is known as Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities (ADUO).
Any manufacturer that is between 2-4% behind the best internal combustion engine in the field in terms of pure power will be granted an additional upgrade for the current year, and another for 2027. Its development budget allowance under the cost cap will increase by $3 million.
If the deficit exceeds 4%, the number of permitted upgrades increases to two per season and the additional allowance rises to $4.65 million.
As is customary in Formula 1, ADUO has become a key political battleground issue behind the scenes. Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, leader of the benchmark Mercedes team, is wary of it becoming a "leapfrogging" device for teams.
Ferrari has long argued they will be eligible for the upgrade. The FIA will confirm after Sunday's race which manufacturers are eligible for the additional allocations.
This year Mercedes, Red Bull, Ferrari, Audi and Honda are all competing as engine manufacturers.
Complicating ADUO slightly is the lack of certainty over what F1's engine rules will look like beyond 2026.
The sport started the season with a controversial and much-debated 50/50 split between internal combustion power and electrical elements, with an unprecedented focus on battery harvesting and deployment.
However, due to driver and fan criticism, the sport's manufacturers have agreed in principle to shift that to closer to a 60/40 split in favour of combustion power for next season, while there is pressure in some quarters to move further away from the electrical side of the equation in the years following that. The move back to 60/40 has not yet been officially agreed upon.
