Lewis Hamilton has opened up about leading a major initiative within Ferrari, which involves restructuring the team in a way that could help develop a potent car for the 2026 Formula One season.
Hamilton switched to Ferrari in January this year, and after six months with his new team, he seems to understand the areas that need a significant push to win championships in the future.
Coming into Ferrari with seven world championship titles, he is one of the best drivers the red team could rely on if it wants to build a championship-winning car. Notably, the last driver to have secured a championship with Ferrari was Kimi Räikkönen, who won the title nearly two decades ago in 2007.
When Hamilton was quizzed ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix about what he did during his days off in the recent break after the race at Silverstone, the Briton said:
Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and Scuderia Ferrari looks on in the Drivers Press Conference during previews ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Belgium at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on July 24, 2025 in Spa,…
Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and Scuderia Ferrari looks on in the Drivers Press Conference during previews ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Belgium at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on July 24, 2025 in Spa, Belgium.
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“Yeah, I was at the factory for two weeks, a couple of days each week. We did preparation — naturally, going over where we were in the previous race, things that we need to change. I held a lot of meetings, so I’ve called on lots of meetings with the heads of the team.
“I’ve sat with John [Elkann], Benedetto [Vigna], and Fred [Vasseur] in several meetings. I’ve sat with the head of car development, with Loic [Serra] and also the heads of different departments — talking about the engine for next year, front suspension for next year, rear suspension for next year, things that you want, issues that I have with this car.
“I’ve sent documents, as I’ve done throughout the year. After the first few races, I did a full document for the team. Then, during this break, I had another two documents that I sent in. So, then I come in and want to address those.
“Some of it’s structural adjustments that we need to make as a team in order to get better in all the areas we want to improve. And the other one was really about the car — the current issues that I have with this car. Some things you do want to take on to next year’s car, and some that you need to work on changing for next year.
“We did development for — tried the 2026 car for the first time and started work on that. Thirty engineers come into the room, and you sit and debrief with every single one of them. So, big, big push. And otherwise just training — maybe a little bit too hard, a bit heavy this weekend.”