Lewis Hamilton is confident there will be “more to come” in the 2026 season after finally breaking the podium with Ferrari.
In his 26th race weekend appearance for Formula 1’s most famous team in China two weeks ago, Hamilton had a strong race to finish third behind the Mercedes driver, becoming his first podium finish as a Ferrari driver and ending a career-worst 16-month podium drought.
Third place in Shanghai follows a fourth place finish in the season opener in Melbourne, meaning Hamilton has made his best start to a season since he last challenged for a world title in 2021, and will take Ferrari into this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix with momentum as it looks to start closing the gap on early championship leaders Mercedes.
After a season in 2025 that was statistically the least successful of his career, Hamilton has been consistently strong since the start of this year’s preseason. He also paced teammate Charles Leclerc in the opening two race events, but struggled to do so consistently during a checkered first season in which he failed to score a podium in red.
“I definitely feel like I’m back to my best, mentally and physically,” Hamilton said after the race in Shanghai.
“I think there is still room for improvement.
“I think we can still get more performance out of this car. We’re learning as we go, especially the (energy) deployment.”
“I think there is still more to come.”
Hamilton talks about new mindset for 2026 on Christmas Day
It certainly hasn’t been difficult to notice a gradual change in Hamilton’s demeanor since the seven-time world champion returned from F1’s winter break.
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Kimi Antonelli, George Russell and Lewis Hamilton reflect on key moments from the Chinese Grand Prix in the cool-down room.
After an already difficult first season with Ferrari, Hamilton looked increasingly despondent in media interviews as a series of early qualifying retirements sent him into a downward spiral in the final races of 2025, admitting at the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi in December: “I can’t wait to get away from all this.”
He also said he plans to “take a complete break from the Matrix” to reset during the sport’s short offseason.
Three months in, this approach seems to have paid off quite a bit.
Hamilton, who turned 41 in January, said: “This winter’s training has been the heaviest and most intense I’ve ever had, which probably has something to do with getting older.” “Recovery will take longer.
“But I’ve managed to put these new tools together. I have great trainers that I’ve worked with in the past, but we’ve been working together since Christmas Day.
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Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc will face off in a Ferrari at the Chinese Grand Prix.
“Then the time in the factory, obviously being a new engineer, that was obviously a good boost as well. Morale within the team was very high.”
“And like I said, I just decided on Christmas Day how I’m going to start this season. I’ve decided mentally what I’m going to do, and I’m going to continue to fine-tune it.”
Does the new F1 car better suit Hamilton’s style?
It also appears to be helped by the fact that, unlike some of his colleagues, Hamilton is enjoying driving the new 2026 F1 car.
The revised Challenger, which was narrower, lighter and featured a 50/50 split between internal combustion and electric power, was highly divisive among drivers and fans of the sport, but Hamilton appears to have accepted the challenge after initially voicing some concerns about the car’s complexity and the energy distribution rules that come with it.
Such positivity is certainly fueled by the fact that Ferrari have been very competitive so far, but Hamilton speaks enthusiastically about the wheel-to-wheel racing he has seen so far and participated in throughout the first two races of the season.
After his back-and-forth battle with Leclerc in China, he went so far as to call it “the best race I’ve ever had in F1.”
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Watch the moment Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc’s wheels come together during a scrap at the Chinese Grand Prix.
Sky Sports F1’s Anthony Davidson believes the move away from ground-effect cars for the past four seasons has been a game-changer for the sport’s most successful driver.
Speaking on The F1 Show podcast, Davidson said: “No matter how much experience you have and how good you’ve been in F1 cars and over the generations, you can still come across a car that doesn’t suit your style.
“I think he proves that cars didn’t fit in the last ground effects era of F1.
“Whether he was in a Mercedes or a Ferrari, it was the same story. He didn’t understand the qualifying situation, we didn’t understand it, he was beaten by his team-mates, whether it was Leclerc or Russell – it was a great qualifying for sure – but from what I’ve seen so far he’s got his qualifying speed back and he’s enjoying driving the car.”
Davidson feels the turnaround in fortunes will be a “relief” for the Brits and good news for F1 as a whole.
“As he said at the Barcelona shakedown, he said: ‘This actually speaks to me. I can read what it does. I like how it moves around’ and he responded well to that,” Davidson added.
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Highlights of the 2026 Chinese Grand Prix.
“So I think it’s a relief for him. It’s great for us to see that. I think it’s good for the sport to have him back and he’s happy because towards the end of last year it was getting a little bit negative and I was wondering how long he could endure the never-ending misery of lack of performance.”
“I’ve been there as a driver and it was a really bad place.”
Hamilton ‘listens’ to car suggestions for 2026
A year into his Maranello career, Hamilton also spoke about the difference he feels now that he is a more established member of the team.
“In the middle to end of last year,[I]dug deep with the engineers and talked about what we wanted in the car, which we weren’t involved in developing last year, and decided to develop the car with them this year,” he explained after China.
“They listened and I saw them put some of the things I wanted into the car and I’m very grateful to them for listening on that front as well.
“Since we’re all facing the same direction, we feel a greater sense of unity with everyone.”
Lewis Hamilton will already have as many points after two races in 2026 as he did after five races in 2025.
Sky Sports F1’s David Croft believes the increased contribution Hamilton feels he can now make cannot be underestimated, as a new full-time race engineer to replace interim Carlo Santi is yet to arrive.
“I think the fact that he was involved in the development of this car makes a big difference for Lewis,” Croft said at the F1 show.
“He didn’t just come in and take over the situation.
“I think it would be an even bigger help if he could have a race engineer on hand and sort out the issues.”
Ferrari’s first win ‘looks even further ahead’ – Hamilton closes the gap with Mercedes
Hamilton’s first podium in red was a long time coming and was clearly welcome news for both driver and team management, but it is worth noting that despite the disappointment in 2025, a top three finish for Ferrari as a whole was not completely out of the question in Hamilton’s early years with the team.
Leclerc finished in the top three seven times last year and started the 2026 season in third place behind Mercedes in Melbourne.
Instead, it was Grand Prix wins that continued to elude Ferrari, with the last race victory still going to Hamilton’s predecessor Carlos Sainz at the Mexico City Grand Prix in October 2024.
Hamilton’s own last GP win was in 2024, but he feels that being on the podium again means he is closer to his first win with Ferrari than last year. However, he said the Scuderia still had plenty of room to match its old team after Mercedes’ back-to-back one-two finishes at the start of a new era in F1.
“I’m sure I can say I’m more in my sights than ever before. I couldn’t have been any further out of sight last year,” Hamilton said.
“But as you can see, in qualifying the (Mercedes) guys, somehow in qualifying (in China) we were a little bit closer, but in race trim I think they’re four-tenths, five-tenths of a second ahead of us at the moment.”
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Lewis Hamilton talks to George Russell about Mercedes’ pace on flight from Australia
“This is a big step forward to get, both in downforce, efficiency and power. This is a big upgrade that we need to push for.”
“But I really believe in everyone who has returned to Maranello and I believe that it is not an impossible feat to overcome. So, yes, Forza Ferrari, we need to keep pushing.”
Sky Sports F1 Japan GP Schedule
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A look back at some of the most dramatic moments that happened at the Japanese Grand Prix.
Thursday, March 26th
4am: Driver press conference
7am: Paddock uncut
Friday, March 27th
2am: Japanese GP Practice 1 (Session starts at 2:30am)*
4:30am: Team boss press conference
5:45am: Japanese GP Practice 2 (session starts at 6am)*
7:15am: F1 Show*
Saturday, March 28th
2:15am: Japanese GP Practice 3 (session starts at 2:30am)*
5am: Japanese GP qualifying build-up*
6am: Japanese GP Qualifying*
8am: Ted’s Qualification Notes*
Sunday, March 29th
4:30am: Preparations for the Japanese Grand Prix – Grand Prix Sunday*
6am: Japanese Grand Prix*
8am: Japanese GP reaction – checkered flag*
9am: Ted’s Notes*
*The main event will also be broadcast live on Sky Sports
F1 will next head to the iconic Suzuka Circuit for this week’s Japanese Grand Prix, which will be broadcast live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports now – cancel anytime with no contract
