Lewis Hamilton ‘more connected’ to 2026 car as he delivers positive F1 testing verdict

Lewis Hamilton has said that he is ‘more connected’ to the 2026 Ferrari car in comparison to last year.

Hamilton was sounding more optimistic about his 2026 campaign with Ferrari during a press conference during pre-season testing in Bahrain on Wednesday.

And the British driver signalled that he feels he has had more input in the development of this year’s package.
 

“I generally feel personally in the best place that I've been in a long, long time with rearranging things within my team.” Hamilton said.

“And then, with the car, I think we started off quite well so far. And it's an exciting time with this new generation of car as well because it's all brand new.

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“We're all trying to figure it out on the go. And as where last year we were locked into a car that ultimately I inherited, this is a car that I've been able to be a part of developing on the simulator for the last, you know, 10 months, 8 months. And, and so like a bit of my DNA is within it. So I'm more connected to this one for sure.”

The Ferrari driver moved to acknowledge his struggles during his debut with the team last year but reaffirmed his commitment to the Scuderia.
 

"My belief in the team is still absolutely the same. 100% faith in this team and what they're capable of. And that's why I joined the team. I knew it wasn't going to be an overnight thing where we'd have success immediately. That's why I signed a longer deal"

Hamilton also seemed to change his tune somewhat on his opinion on the 2026 F1 regulations change saying that he thinks they’re more fun to drive in comparison to the ground effect era cars which the seven-time world champion notoriously struggled to adapt to.

He said: “There's still so many elements that are completely under our control. So it's just different and new, and I still find it quite fun. I think the cars are more fun to drive, to be honest. They're, they're easier to correct, and so you can have snaps and keep it on track. Obviously the previous year's cars were just a bit too on edge.”

Ferrari has largely had a positive start to the season with the team’s pace and reliability impressing their rivals.

The team was third overall on the timesheets following last week’s sessions and Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur says the SF-26 has managed well over 4500km so far this winter, which tallies with paddock rumours that the engine in the car when Hamilton stopped hadn’t been changed since Barcelona.