Lewis Hamilton is not someone who would let his things go unnoticed. Speaking ahead of the Barcelona- Catalunya GP, the Ferrari driver took a sharp dig through a pointed message to everyone on the grid.
At the same time, in the last year, Lewis Hamilton was in the middle of one of the worst seasons of his career. His debut at Ferrari in 2025 was bad; he finished podium-less for the first time in 18 years and ended the season with 86 points behind teammate Charles Leclerc, and at one point he was even suggested that Ferrari should change its drivers.
The 2026 regulation switch to nimbler cars was always going to be his chance. It was the first opportunity to develop a car as per his requirements and likings, having had no involvement in the 2025 machine’s development, and to make changes to his race engineer as well.
This reset has worked well for him. Lewis Hamilton is now 41 years old and sitting second in the drivers’ F1 championship with 90 points, just behind top Mercedes rookie sensation Kimi Antonelli, who holds a 66-point advantage after five consecutive wins.
Lewis Hamilton At Ferrari Changes and Feeling Happier
Lewis Hamilton has been specific about what he pushed through. He confirmed in Barcelona that since the Japanese Grand Prix, he had been running Carbon Industrie brake discs in an otherwise Brembo setup. He also pushed through a steering wheel redesign earlier in the season.
These are just some small changes on paper, but for a driver like Lewis Hamilton, driving a car that feels like his car makes all the difference.
Beyond all these technical things, Hamilton also acknowledged that now, he is much happier than before.
He told Sky Sports F1 that, “I’m fitter, I’m healthier, and in a better place personally. I’ve arrived with a much better attitude, I would say even a better attitude than I started last year. I’ve got no injuries.”
“I’m driving a car that I’ve helped develop, as opposed to last year, when I inherited a car that I had nothing to do with, and it is a new era which I just prefer.”
He also said, “So it is a combination things, and I’m just happy in my life as well, experience naturally really does help, and you might hear from some of your colleagues that haven’t won a world championship, and there’s a reason why they haven’t won a world championship, and there’s a reason why I have seven, and I know what it takes to win.”
“I know what it takes for a team to win, and I know many people that I work with know what it takes to have won championships in the past, and my sole goal is to help them and me to get to where we ultimately, I truly believe we can get to, and deserve to be,” concludes Lewis Hamilton.
Right now, he is holding a 15-point advantage over Charles Leclerc in the internal Ferrari battle and leads their qualifying head-to-head 5-4, which is a sharp change from 2025 when Charles Leclerc led that same battle 23-7.
Lewis Hamilton was also careful not to get too excited right now, as Kimi Antonelli, the 19-year-old Mercedes driver, has won every single race this season and leads the championship by a commanding margin.
The Ferrari is much improved, but not yet the fastest car on the grid. But Hamilton is not talking about being competitive. He is just focused on winning his eighth championship.
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