– Lewis Hamilton talks about his role in the development of Ferrari’s Formula 1 car for the 2026 season and why things are going so much better than in his disastrous 2025 Ferrari debut season.
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“2026 has started as a really good year, and the energy in the team and the way we are all working together is very positive,” says the seven-time world champion to Formula1.com.
“I’m enjoying driving the new car. I was able to play an important role in the development of this car last year through simulator work. It’s nice to see that some of my input has gone into the design of the car. I can experience their positive impact now.”
Regarding his adaptation to the team led by Frederic Vasseur, he added: “It’s a huge difference [to Mercedes] and a massive undertaking. I think when people watch, they don’t understand how big the step is when you move to a new team.”
“You can jump into the cockpit, but the key point is learning the new tools, especially in the course of a different culture and a different way people work, and bringing this into harmony with your own way of working.”
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“If you look at last year, for example, it was the end of an era for a vehicle generation, and we didn’t make any more developments during the year.”
“So we were somewhat stuck at the level we had, which ultimately wasn’t good enough to fight for wins. But as a team, we learned so many lessons from last year and are now applying them this year, and that’s why the start has been so much better.”
The 41-year-old driver joined the team from Maranello in 2025 after spending twelve years at Mercedes, where he won six of his seven world championship titles.
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After the Briton struggled to settle into the new team last year, he has returned strongly in 2026 and was able to achieve his first podium finish with Ferrari in a Grand Prix at the Chinese Grand Prix.
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