Twelve months into his multi-year Ferrari contract, Lewis Hamilton’s re-emergence into the public domain on Friday did not carry the weight of giddiness and expectation of a year ago. In hindsight, perhaps the delirium of his debut season was a bit too much for all involved.
Yet 2026 is an open book – new regulations and potentially a new pecking order – and the first season in which Hamilton can fully stamp his imprint on a new-look car. Whether or not the boffins in Maranello have heeded the knowledge and experience of Hamilton’s 19 years in Formula 1, however, is another matter altogether.
The 41-year-old, on a misty morning in northern Italy, drove a handful of laps around Ferrari’s Fiorano circuit on Friday morning, as the team unveiled their SF-26 car. Hundreds of tifosi fans still flocked to the bridge on the Via Abetone Inferiore – though not as many as last year – for a first glimpse of the scarlet red car decked with a white trim.
Hamilton and teammate Charles Leclerc, who signed autographs for the fans through the Fiorano circuit fencing, now head to Barcelona next week for a private five-day test alongside all the other teams bar Williams, who withdrew on Friday. The unknown facing all the teams is significant and Hamilton did not deviate from that narrative, in quotes supplied by Ferrari on Friday.
“The 2026 season represents a huge challenge for everyone, probably the biggest regulation change I have experienced in my career,” Hamilton said, before a pointed statement inferring his own involvement in the new car.
“When a new era begins everything revolves around development, growth as a team, and moving forward in the same direction,” he said.
“As a driver, being involved from the very start in the development of such a different car has been a particularly fascinating challenge, working closely with the engineers to help define a clear direction for it.
“It will be an extremely important year from a technical perspective, with the driver playing a central role in energy management, understanding the new systems and contributing to the car’s development.”
Time will tell whether the car is capable of powering Hamilton and Leclerc to race wins. Hamilton crashed out of his final practice session at the season-finale last year in Abu Dhabi, a picture-perfect shot for a year of calamity. Last year’s challenger was way below the standard required: neither driver recorded a grand prix win and Hamilton, in a first in 19 F1 seasons, failed to even register a podium as he struggled to get to grips with the capriciousness of the machinery beneath him.
Hamilton himself labelled his debut campaign the “worst season ever.” Post-session interviews were, more often than not, damning. You’d hope, therefore, that the only way is up.
The seven-time world champion has at least made one decision which felt like some time coming. It was clear from his first race in Australia last year that there was little synergy with his race engineer, Riccardo Adami.
While the Italian had been recommended to him by Sebastian Vettel, who’d also worked with him at Ferrari, miscommunication between Hamilton and Adami was a regular feature on raceday. Not to say Hamilton is easy to deal with in the midst of battle – he isn’t – but the Briton demands clarity beyond all else. A parting of ways, announced last week, felt inevitable.
Hamilton will work under Leclerc’s race engineer, Bryan Bozzi, next week in Barcelona, with just one car permitted on track at a time. By the time the team arrive in Bahrain on 11 February for the first of six days of pre-season testing, it is believed a new appointment will be made, with performance engineer Luca Diella the frontrunner as it stands.
While a more suitable ‘man-in-his-ear’ is an important step, but it won’t be decisive in deciphering whether Hamilton can challenge for a record-breaking eighth world championship. Yet it is an indication that the Briton is taking control of his own destiny, at least within the complex parameters of the old-school, stuck-in-their-ways Ferrari machine.
Year one in red confirmed to Hamilton everything he already knew: he should trust his instincts, be that in racing or mechanical scenarios. Of course, avoid alienating the personnel around him, but he’s a seven-time world champion for a reason. That is the optimum approach he should take this season.
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