Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) denies rumour: “There’s all this talk”

His first season with Ferrari was a disaster: Lewis Hamilton failed to secure a single Grand Prix podium finish, let alone win a race; he was outshone by his team-mate Charles Leclerc and finished a mere sixth in the World Championship – he has never finished lower in his 19 years in Formula 1!

It’s a completely different story in 2026: Hamilton has rediscovered his old form, won his 106th Grand Prix in Barcelona and sits second in the provisional World Championship standings behind Kimi Antonelli.

Experts such as Formula 1 world champions Nico Rosberg, Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve highlighted this issue last year: not only did Hamilton struggle to adapt to the culture at Ferrari, but he also failed to cope with the winged-car generation.

As evidence, the experts pointed out that Lewis managed to win just two races during the four-year ‘wing car’ era from early 2022 to late 2025, Silverstone 2024 and Belgium 2024, although the victory at Spa was a gift – George Russell crossed the finish line first but was disqualified for having an underweight car.

In 2026, a new era began in the premier class, with lighter, more manoeuvrable cars, and suddenly Hamilton is back to his old self. But the 41-year-old Englishman denies that his newfound speed is down to the type of racing car.

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“I drove the races I won with the previous generation of cars in exactly the same way as I do today. There’s all this talk that this generation didn’t suit me, but it’s not that simple.”

“Today’s cars are simply a bit easier to handle, more forgiving of driving errors and lighter. They don’t bounce around as much. Getting the power delivery right requires a lot of work in collaboration with the engineers.”

“It used to be all about drivability; today, drivability is about how the power is delivered. You have to constantly adjust to this and understand that you can influence it by using half-throttle, lifting off the throttle, going full throttle or lifting off by 10 per cent. The power delivery changes several times during a lap. So this understanding is even more important than it used to be.”