Lewis Hamilton Says Ferrari’s 2026 Start Is Already Better Than Last Year

Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton enter the 2026 season with high hopes of achieving much better results than the previous year. Hamilton’s debut season was nothing short of a nightmare, and he certainly took some time to recover from the disappointment and move on. Now, following the private testing in Barcelona, the seven-time champion claims that there are some positive feelings as compared to the previous year.

The private testing session will provide the teams and drivers with a good idea of what to expect for the remainder of the 2026 season. Though Lewis Hamilton has already accepted that it will be difficult to predict the development arc. Moreover, Hamilton is skeptical about his chances to succeed because of the biggest change in regulations in his career.

Regardless of initial doubts, Lewis Hamilton is sure that the feeling this time around is much better than his ‘nightmare’ debut season. The Briton failed to amass even a podium finish over the 24 races and thus ended the worst season of his career. Speaking of the private testing sessions, Hamilton recalled feeling far worse in the car last time.

As such, considering that the 2026 season marked the beginning of new regulations, the initial positive feelings were a great sign. The car felt much more reliable compared to the previous year, and Hamilton was sure of it from the beginning. The seven-time champion is hopeful that this positive momentum continues on for the rest of the year, and hopefully throughout the regulations as well.

So, you know, last year we had a worse start to testing, and considering this is a completely new set of regulations, it’s actually better than we’ve experienced in the past. So I’m really hopeful that continues.

Lewis Hamilton said, as reported by RacingNews365.

Lewis Hamilton labels Ferrari’s SF-26 ‘really reliable’

The commencement of the 2026 season is right around the corner, and Ferrari will definitely hope to achieve a massive turnaround in performance from the previous season. The team’s running has been trouble-free so far, and Hamilton hopes that this continues for the remainder of the season. Ahead of the upcoming test session in Bahrain, the 41-year-old reveals how the car is performing for now.

Lewis Hamilton accepted that there were some unknown factors regarding the full potential of the car. Moreover, he wanted to clock in as many miles as possible over the test sessions. Hamilton revealed that he finished over 82 laps on Thursday, which certainly was a big deal as many other teams struggled to finish that many laps. As such, the seven-time champion applauded the team for developing a car that was ‘really reliable’ so far.

I don’t know. Of course, when you come to a test, you always hope to get a lot of mileage. Like [on Thursday], I did 85 laps in the morning, which is amazing. And that’s really down to all the people at the factory who have done such a great job to make sure the car, so far, is really reliable.

Lewis Hamilton noted.

Despite initial positivity, the year has just begun, and the full picture will be revealed only after a couple of races. However, Lewis Hamilton hopes to keep up with the promising feelings and achieve much better results this time around. This year is very crucial for Ferrari as it will set their pace for the remainder of the regulations. Moreover, the season will be make or break for Hamilton’s career as he might retire if he fails to perform well under the new regulations.

Continue Reading: Red Bull and Max Verstappen Braces for “Sleepless Nights” as Monumental 2026 F1 Challenge Looms

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