Lewis Hamilton says his goal is to win the 2026 Formula 1 title and that Ferrari are “leaving behind the bad” as he begins his second season with the team.
Hamilton endured a frustrating first year at Ferrari in 2025, failing to stand on the podium for the first time in his F1 career, but arrives at this weekend’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix in a noticeably more positive mood. Not since 2021 has he been able to challenge for the championship, and the 41-year-old says he is “much happier” than 12 months ago after spending a year with Ferrari to understand their culture and operations.
“We got great mileage done in winter testing – an amazing amount of work has been done from the team back at the factory, but also delivering on those tests,” he said. “We’ve learned a lot from last year. We’re leaving behind the bad and moving forwards with the good, and we’re just sharp. We are prepared, and we know what we need to do. We also know there’s massive challenges for all of us with the new rules and regulations.”
Ferrari showed encouraging form during Bahrain testing, with Charles Leclerc quickest and both Leclerc and Hamilton demonstrating strong long-run pace, giving a more representative view of the pecking order. The paddock consensus is that Ferrari and Mercedes are favourites for the Melbourne race, though Hamilton hinted Red Bull may still be holding something back.
“The goal is to win. That’s what everyone’s working towards – every team is. But that’s our goal, to maximise on every opportunity, to be lean, to be hopefully fighting in the top group, hopefully in the first races. We don’t really know,” he said. “Mercedes looks particularly quick, and I’m not really sure whether we have seen the full unleashed Red Bull yet, so it’s really, really exciting. But I do know that, whatever the case, I feel like I’ve got a great group of people behind me who are head down, focused on bringing performance and really maximising from every weekend.”
Hamilton struggled during F1’s ground-effect era that began in 2022, but the 2026 cars should better suit his style, which handles a car that can slide while remaining under control. He wrote on Instagram that there will be “no holding back” and acknowledged he had “forgotten who I was” at one point.
Asked where the renewed energy came from, Hamilton credited a positive break, his surroundings, people close to him and intense training. “It’s not my first rodeo, so it’s understanding how to flip things, and it’s not that easy to do each time. But I always talk about cultivating a positive mental attitude, and that’s what I focus on my winter doing, and a lot of it came from training. I was training hard from Christmas Day,” he said. “Also knowing that I believe in myself, that I put more work in than anyone around me, and rediscovering myself was really a big part of it as well. I kind of like lost sight for a second of who I was, and that person’s gone, so you won’t see that person again.”
Hamilton parted ways with long-term manager Mark Hynes during the off-season and has not yet been given a permanent race engineer after Riccardo Adami moved to a different role at Ferrari. Carlo Santi, formerly Kimi Räikkönen’s engineer, will work with Hamilton until a permanent appointment is made. Hamilton said changes in his personal approach and smoother team interactions have helped his refreshed mindset: “[I’ve] come back with that positive mental frame of mind, so I feel great arriving here. Training has been fantastic, the engine, the work with the team has been amazing.”
The Australian Grand Prix weekend schedule includes practice sessions, qualifying and the race across March 5-8, with live coverage available for fans.