Lewis Hamilton has enjoyed a sensational change of trajectory in his Ferrari career. There are various factors behind the breakthrough, but Hamilton has identified the \u201cmost important\u201d one.<\/p>\n
And that key puzzle piece is the \u201ccollaboration\u201d finally being there between himself and Ferrari. Claiming Ferrari reluctance to follow his guidance amid the poor 2025 results, Hamilton<\/a> revealed talks with the Ferrari chiefs about being \u201callies rather than foes,\u201d with this partnership now firing on all cylinders.<\/p>\n Lewis Hamilton hails Ferrari \u2018collaboration\u2019 turning point<\/p>\n Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for news you can trust.<\/p>\n Hamilton has rescued his Ferrari career in F1 2026.<\/p>\n From he and Charles Leclerc being told to \u201cfocus on driving, talk less\u201d by Ferrari chairman John Elkann amid an underwhelming 2025, Hamilton has emerged as an F1 2026 title contender. He won his first grand prix with Ferrari in Barcelona.<\/p>\n Ahead of his home race, the British Grand Prix, Hamilton was asked to identify the most important elements behind his Ferrari breakthrough.<\/p>\n Primarily, Hamilton pointed to the \u201ccollaboration\u201d finally being there with Ferrari.<\/p>\n \u201cOne being a car that I really have helped develop,\u201d Hamilton began. \u201cThere\u2019s items on the car \u2013 for example, front suspension \u2013 that I\u2019d asked for last year and had it made for the sim and tested it on that.<\/p>\n \u201cThis year, finally got the brakes that I wanted, which was a big push. Engineer changes in my personal team, readjusting some of my team and how they connect with the team.<\/p>\n \u201cRealigning myself with the higher powers within the organisation so that we\u2019re making sure that we\u2019re on the same track, and we\u2019re allies rather than foes.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd so that\u2019s just now in a much better place, and that\u2019s enabling us now to just move forward in synergy.<\/p>\n \u201cEach weekend was a really difficult weekend last year. So naturally when you\u2019re having that, people tend to listen to you less: \u2018Why are we going to listen to you when you\u2019re getting these results?\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cSo that\u2019s taken a long time to build that trust, and I think that trust is now there and things that I ask for get done.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a two-way street, naturally. We\u2019re really pushing each other along and the collaboration is finally there and I think that\u2019s the most important thing.\u201d<\/p>\n Hamilton believes that Ferrari has been on a \u201cremarkable\u201d trajectory after last season, which saw the team go without a win.<\/p>\n With new regulations coming into play, Hamilton wanted to see Ferrari become the innovators in F1 2026. He says this is exactly what has happened.<\/p>\n More on Lewis Hamilton from PlanetF1.com<\/p>\n New Lewis Hamilton contract? Vasseur grilled as Ferrari rumours hit overdrive<\/a><\/p>\n Hamilton stands firm on Ferrari simulator decision with Leclerc benefitting at Silverstone<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cTo be back up competing in the front, from where we were last year, it\u2019s a remarkable turnaround for us as a team,\u201d said Hamilton.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m very proud of everybody in the team. Just every weekend we\u2019re bringing new parts, we\u2019re constantly evolving.<\/p>\n \u201cQuestions I had last year were, \u2018Where\u2019s the innovation?\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cWe should be the leaders. Ferrari is the biggest and the most successful team in this sport.<\/p>\n \u201cIt should be the team that everyone\u2019s following, everyone should be looking at our car and to what we\u2019re doing and think, \u2018We\u2019ve got to do the same.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ve seen that this year with the rear wing, for example. What else do we have? Oh yeah, the exhaust element that now all the other teams have. So I think that\u2019s been great, really great to see.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got an amazing group of people working very hard to push us forward and propel us forward, and that\u2019s all I want to see. It\u2019s just small increments of movement forward.\u201d<\/p>\n Hamilton sits third in the drivers\u2019 championship standings<\/a>, 32 points behind leader Kimi Antonelli.<\/p>\n Additional reporting by Thomas Maher<\/p>\n Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp<\/a> to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.<\/p>\n You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel<\/a> for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!<\/p>\n