Lewis Hamilton has spoken about an “incredibly enthusiastic” mood at Ferrari in the build-up to the 2026 season, with the seven-time World Champion feeling a “winning mentality in every single person more than ever”.
Hamilton and Ferrari enjoyed a solid start to F1’s new era of regulations at last week’s Barcelona Shakedown – the famous Italian marque working through their programme without major issues and learning plenty about the SF-26 package.
Sharing his reflections afterwards, Hamilton said: “It’s been a really enjoyable week, honestly. I think a huge amount of work over the winter, on my personal side, but what the team have done over the winter to make changes going into the test.
“To see the mileage that we’ve been able to get the last couple of days due to just so much great work from all the people back at the factory, which I’m really grateful for because having consistency, not having problems…
“Of course, there’s always small things, but we didn’t really have any downtime moments. I’m sure they could potentially come over the next weeks, but otherwise just a really, really solid couple of days.
“We definitely have work to do to improve, of course, like everybody does, but I think we’ve had great debriefs, everyone’s really on it – I really feel the winning mentality in every single person in the team more than ever, so it’s a positive.”
Hamilton, who endured a difficult first season at Ferrari, went on to ponder what might lie ahead for himself and the team in 2026 – the Briton pointing out that the latest generation of F1 car “is actually a little bit more fun to drive”.
“Everyone’s positive and incredibly enthusiastic,” he made clear. “I mean, we’re under no illusions. We know we’ve got work to do. Mercedes have done great running as well. I think Red Bull and Haas did some great running as well, so we don’t really know where we are, but I think it’s a solid first week and we can really build from here.
“There may be some big leaps that we’re going to need to take, and development’s going to be key. Just really making sure we leave no stone unturned, and we’re just really clear and concise with our communication and the decisions we take.
“It’s going to take all of us to be at our best. I’m just seeing that everyone’s really coming with new energy this year, which is great.”
Hamilton and the rest of the F1 field will be back in action in Bahrain next week, as the first of two official pre-season tests gets under way.
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