ended the season harbouring \u201can unbearable amount of anger and rage\u201d<\/a> following three successive Q1 exits to close the season \u2014 a far cry from the giddy excitement of seeing himself wearing Ferrari\u2019s famous colour for the first time around a year earlier.<\/p>\nBut the tough lessons of 2025, plus an off-season disconnected from the paddock, has Hamilton feeling better prepared than ever for a new season.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I always try to enter into a season with confidence, but of course you\u2019re faced with all sorts of different challenges along the way,\u201d he said during testing. \u201cI\u2019ve obviously gone through quite a bit, and all of last year is behind me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really felt I spent a lot of time rebuilding over this winter, refocusing, really getting my body and my mind into a much better place \u2014 in general, just making sure that I\u2019m able to arrive feeling better.<\/p>\n
Ferrari’s British driver Lewis Hamilton shields his face from the sun during an interview on the first day of the Formula One pre-season testing at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir on February 11, 2026. (Photo by Giuseppe CACACE \/ AFP)Source: AFP<\/p>\n
\u201cI generally feel personally in the best place that I\u2019ve been in a long, long time, with rearranging things within my team.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hamilton\u2019s Ferrari move was always targeted at success in 2026, but the team\u2019s unexpectedly close second-place finish behind McLaren in the 2024 constructors championship raised expectations beyond the realm of reality.<\/p>\n
Last year\u2019s car was far weaker and less predictable than its predecessor, and team boss Fred Vasseur later admitted that Ferrari had switched off development very early in the year, cutting its losses and focusing on the challenge of 2026 instead.<\/p>\n
It reframes Hamilton\u2019s tough first season as essential learning ahead of his examination this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s definitely been a challenge, and one that I\u2019ve enjoyed for the most part,\u201d he said. \u201cI think, having had a year now with the team, everything is much more settled \u2014 the ins and outs of the working relationship.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m really, really excited about this season. I think everyone\u2019s really showed up with really great positivity. Even at the end of the last year, just the empathy within the team, the hunger, you could see as I travelled around the workshop to go and see people before Christmas, and then to see them show up this year, it\u2019s a really positive feeling so far.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jack Miller: 2026 Starts Now | 07:52<\/p>\n
\u2018MY DNA IS WITHIN IT\u2019<\/p>\n
The added advantage of coming into this season \u2014 featuring all-new rules \u2014 with a year at Ferrari already under his belt is that he\u2019s been able to influence the team\u2019s development program for the first time.<\/p>\n
He found last year\u2019s Ferrari to be a poor match for his driving style after more than a decade racing for Mercedes. Combined with his general distaste for the ground-effect regulations, he was rarely a match for Leclerc.<\/p>\n
Ferrari too, however, shares some blame. The car was clearly a step backwards year on year, the team having taken a gamble on some significant changes before putting the 2025 cue in the rack.<\/p>\n
There was also the matter of the team supposedly not listening to some of his feedback. Hamilton\u2019s title-winning experience could put the finishing touches on Ferrari\u2019s long-awaited championship comeback, but reports suggest some factions inside Maranello resented being told to do things differently.<\/p>\n
Hamilton went into the off-season break emphasising the need for serious changes behind the scenes. He\u2019s returned sounding far more optimistic that car and team are in better shape to fight at the front.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the car, we\u2019ve started off quite well so far,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s an exciting time with this new generation of car as well, because it\u2019s all brand new \u2014 we\u2019re all trying to figure it out on the go.<\/p>\n
Ferrari’s British driver Lewis Hamilton climbs into his car during the first day of the Formula One pre-season testing at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir on February 11, 2026. (Photo by Giuseppe CACACE \/ AFP)Source: AFP<\/p>\n
\u201cLast year we were locked into a car that ultimately I inherited. This is a car that I\u2019ve been able to be a part of developing on the simulator for the last 10 months, eight months, so a bit of my DNA is within it, so I\u2019m more connected to this one, for sure.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy belief in the team is still absolutely the same \u2014 100 per cent faith in this team and what they\u2019re capable of, and that\u2019s why I joined the team.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew it wasn\u2019t going to be an overnight thing, that we\u2019d have success immediately. That\u2019s why I signed a longer deal, because I knew more often than not it\u2019s a process.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like we\u2019ve also learned a huge amount from last year as a team, and there have been changes that we\u2019ve made.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone\u2019s constantly keen to make improvements and be better, so I think we\u2019re working better together than ever before. I\u2019m excited for that.\u201d<\/p>\n
This generation of car also appears better suited to Hamilton. Despite the myriad intricacies of this complex new chassis and engine formula, the general aerodynamic philosophy of the car is much more closely aligned with the prevalent ideology of the Briton\u2019s title-winning era, with ground effect banished from the sport.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the cars are more fun to drive, to be honest,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re easier to correct, so you have snaps and keep it on track. The previous year\u2019s cars were just a bit too on edge.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a less downforce, but you still have to discover the grip, you still have to utilise the grip. There are still so many elements completely under our control.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just different and new, and I still find it quite fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
Broc Feeney wins third Supercars race | 02:57<\/p>\n
HAMILTON SET FOR NEW ENGINEER<\/p>\n
One of the most notable changes from the outside will be to Hamilton\u2019s race engineer.<\/p>\n
His and Adami\u2019s sometimes tense, sometimes comical communication became a major talking point through the year.<\/p>\n
Both Hamilton and team boss Vasseur denied there was any issue in the driver-engineer working relationship, arguing that they were new to each other and would take time to find a mutual wavelength.<\/p>\n
In January, however, the team announced that Adami would shift from the pit wall and instead take up a role with Ferrari\u2019s young driver academy.<\/p>\n
A permanent replacement has yet to be announced, but for the early stage of the season Hamilton will work with long-time Ferrari engineer Carlo Santi.<\/p>\n
Santi was Kimi R\u00e4ikk\u00f6nen\u2019s race engineer in 2018, during the Finn\u2019s second stint at the team. He had been R\u00e4ikk\u00f6nen\u2019s performance engineer in the years before that.<\/p>\n
After R\u00e4ikk\u00f6nen left the team at the end of 2018, Santi moved to a factory-based role heading up the team\u2019s remote race operations centre.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith Riccardo, it was a pretty difficult decision to make,\u201d Hamilton said, per the F1 website. \u201cI\u2019m really, really grateful for all the effort he put in last year and his patience. It was a difficult year for us all.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s actually quite a difficult era, because it\u2019s not long term, the solution that I currently have; it\u2019s only a few races, and so early on in the season it\u2019s going to all be switching up again and I\u2019ll have to learn to work with someone new.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s detrimental for me too, [going into] a season where you want to arrive with people that have done multiple seasons, that have been through thick and thin, and I can\u2019t.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it is the situation that I\u2019m faced with, and I\u2019ll try and do the best that I can. The team is trying to do the best they can to make it as seamless as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
The identity of Adami\u2019s long-term replacement is unknown, but rumours heavily link the role to Oscar Piastri\u2019s former lead trackside performance engineer, C\u00e9dric Michel-Grosjean.<\/p>\n
Michel-Grosjean left McLaren at the end of last season but would likely have had a months-long non-compete period as part of his contract given his seniority.<\/p>\n
Despite the significant interest in the change, team boss Vasseur said a single person wouldn\u2019t make or break Hamilton\u2019s Ferrari tenure.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe team today is something like 1500 people,\u201d he said, per Planet F1. \u201cIt\u2019s not about one race engineer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe guy that you see on the pit wall is leading a team of people working on the car, and it\u2019s not a matter of individuals.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn F1 it\u2019s always about the team. It\u2019s never about an individual.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hamilton, however, is one of the individuals with the capacity to make a difference on his own.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ll find out soon whether he has all the pieces in place to do so. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lewis Hamilton says he\u2019s feeling better than he has in years as he attempts to bury the disappointment…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":501897,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[1724,64,63,936,242205,242206,13275,2055,33107,252389,51268,817,112376,813,816,18894,2105,49600,3555,34866,252396,252392,167188,33097,250645,252397,252394,252386,252383,2114,252395,31307,252393,252388,81644,252390,33111,85,18394,252387,252391,250648,252384,12000,2753,252385],"class_list":{"0":"post-501896","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-formula-1","8":"tag-asia","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-bahrain","12":"tag-carlo-santi","13":"tag-cedric-michel-grosjean","14":"tag-charles-leclerc","15":"tag-constructors-championship","16":"tag-development-program","17":"tag-done-multiple-seasons","18":"tag-engine-formula","19":"tag-f1","20":"tag-final-tally","21":"tag-formula-1","22":"tag-formula1","23":"tag-frederic-vasseur","24":"tag-getty-images-inc","25":"tag-ground-effect-regulations","26":"tag-jack-miller","27":"tag-joe-portlock","28":"tag-lead-trackside-performance","29":"tag-long-awaited-championship-comeback","30":"tag-long-term-replacement","31":"tag-maiden-campaign","32":"tag-mindset-shifts","33":"tag-months-long-non-compete-period","34":"tag-myriad-intricacies","35":"tag-off-season-break","36":"tag-permanent-replacement","37":"tag-pit-wall","38":"tag-prevalent-ideology","39":"tag-race-engineer","40":"tag-race-operations-centre","41":"tag-remote-race-operations","42":"tag-riccardo-adami","43":"tag-seven-time-champion-status","44":"tag-single-person","45":"tag-sports","46":"tag-talking-point","47":"tag-time-rebuilding","48":"tag-title-winning-experience","49":"tag-toprak-razgatl","50":"tag-trackside-performance-engineer","51":"tag-western-asia","52":"tag-world-champion","53":"tag-young-driver-academy"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=501896"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501896\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/501897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=501896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=501896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=501896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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