Lewis Hamilton dismissed that his more competitive performance in 2026 is due to the new Formula 1 regulations fitting his driving style better than the ground effect.
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In 2025, the seven-time world champion had a campaign well below expectations with Ferrari, finishing a season without wins for the first time. During the championship, he scored a total of 156 points, but this year, in 11 races contested, he already has 169 and is in second place in the championship with five podiums and one victory.
So far, he has been vocal that the current team car has more of his racing DNA than the SF-25, but there are essential differences in how both cars need to be driven. In an assessment, Hamilton does not think the driving style required for 2026 is “more rewarding for anyone.”
“I don’t think it’s particularly more rewarding for anyone. I think we all had to make adjustments. I don’t feel like I’ve made more adjustments than at any other time. I think, in the end, I can certainly drive differently. I can drive a bit more like in previous generations of cars, although, in the races I won with those previous generations, I drove exactly the same way I drive today,” he emphasized.
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“So, there’s a lot of talk about how that generation of cars suited me and, in fact, I won more races than most in that period. But today’s cars are just a bit easier, more forgiving, and lighter. We don’t have the bouncing problem; throttle control and power delivery require a lot of work, and fine-tuning that with the engineers is another aspect to manage,” he continued.
“In the past, it was just about drivability, while today it involves drivability and managing how and when you release power—something you change all the time—plus understanding that you can influence the car’s behavior by varying the pedal position: accelerating halfway, full throttle, or easing off 10% of the throttle. This changes power delivery throughout the lap; therefore, understanding this dynamic is more crucial than ever,” he concluded.
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