Lewis Hamilton has spoken about an \u201cincredibly enthusiastic\u201d mood at Ferrari in the build-up to the 2026 season, with the seven-time World Champion feeling a \u201cwinning mentality in every single person more than ever\u201d.<\/p>\n
Hamilton<\/a> and Ferrari<\/a> enjoyed a solid start to F1\u2019s new era of regulations at last week\u2019s Barcelona Shakedown \u2013 the famous Italian marque working through their programme without major issues and learning plenty about the SF-26 package.<\/p>\n Sharing his reflections afterwards, Hamilton said: \u201cIt\u2019s been a really enjoyable week, honestly. I think a huge amount of work over the winter, on my personal side, but what the team have done over the winter to make changes going into the test.<\/p>\n \u201cTo see the mileage that we\u2019ve been able to get the last couple of days due to just so much great work from all the people back at the factory, which I\u2019m really grateful for because having consistency, not having problems\u2026<\/p>\n \u201cOf course, there\u2019s always small things, but we didn\u2019t really have any downtime moments. I\u2019m sure they could potentially come over the next weeks, but otherwise just a really, really solid couple of days.<\/p>\n \u201cWe definitely have work to do to improve, of course, like everybody does, but I think we\u2019ve had great debriefs, everyone\u2019s really on it \u2013 I really feel the winning mentality in every single person in the team more than ever, so it\u2019s a positive.\u201d<\/p>\n Hamilton, who endured a difficult first season at Ferrari, went on to ponder what might lie ahead for himself and the team in 2026 \u2013 the Briton pointing out that the latest generation of F1 car \u201cis actually a little bit more fun to drive\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone\u2019s positive and incredibly enthusiastic,\u201d he made clear. \u201cI mean, we\u2019re under no illusions. We know we\u2019ve got work to do. Mercedes have done great running as well. I think Red Bull and Haas did some great running as well, so we don\u2019t really know where we are, but I think it\u2019s a solid first week and we can really build from here.<\/p>\n \u201cThere may be some big leaps that we\u2019re going to need to take, and development\u2019s going to be key. Just really making sure we leave no stone unturned, and we\u2019re just really clear and concise with our communication and the decisions we take.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s going to take all of us to be at our best. I\u2019m just seeing that everyone\u2019s really coming with new energy this year, which is great.\u201d<\/p>\n