Lewis Hamilton has listed a number of reasons for his Ferrari resurgence. Compared to his first season in red, which brought little joy and mostly misery for the seven-time world champion, this campaign has been stellar so far. He finally has his first podium and Grand Prix victory with the team and is second in the drivers’ championship at the summer break.
Hamilton has spoken about how his 2026 car has some of his “DNA” in it, because he was able to have a say in its creation, compared to the 2025 car which he simply inherited when he first joined from Mercedes. A staff reshuffle, including the appointment of a new race engineer on his side of the garage, has also helped.
But fomer Formula 1 world champion Emerson Fittipaldi thinks there is also another factor at play – one which has been spoken about far less. He believes the new generation of race cars created for these 2026 regulations have made it “harder to be fast” and so Hamilton’s talent is shining through more than before.
He said: “One thing hardly anyone talks about much is the new car. It is smaller, and you have to make do with less downforce, and in my view that makes the job behind the wheel more difficult. It has become harder to be fast. That is why I think it brings out the talent more, and I think that is one of the reasons Lewis has been able to improve.
“He has a good feel for the car and he is in control of it because he is an extremely talented driver. What’s more, this is his second year with Ferrari, so he knows the engineers and he is now familiar with the system too. I was very happy when I saw just how fast Lewis and Ferrari are.
“I can still remember last year very well. The same thing happened to me in the IndyCar Series and in Formula 1. As you get older, people say you cannot drive anymore and last year Lewis came in for criticism from all sides. But now he is fast again, and I think that is good for the sport and the fans. It is fantastic to see Ferrari and Lewis winning again.”
Hamilton is 50 points behind championship leader Kimi Antonelli after the first 11 rounds of the season. He is nine ahead of former team-mate George Russell in third and 31 better off than his current partner at Ferrari, Charles Leclerc, who was hampered by a rough patch in June where he failed to finish races in Monaco and Barcelona before struggling to just eighth place in Austria.
Key to Hamilton’s season so far has been consistency and also strong reliability from his car. He is the only driver up to now to complete every racing lap of 2026 and also the only man on the grid who has scored points in every Grand Prix. He also has not finished lower than sixth place in any Sunday race, and has five podiums from the first 11 races including that maiden Ferrari win in Barcelona.