Lewis Hamilton says his aim is to win the 2026 F1 title and Ferrari is “coming out of a bad situation” as he begins his second season with the team.
Hamilton had a disappointing first season with Ferrari in 2025, failing to finish on the podium all year for the first time in his F1 career, but he is clearly in a positive mood heading into this weekend’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
It is the first time since 2021 that Hamilton has been able to challenge for the championship, and the 41-year-old insisted he is “much happier” than he was 12 months ago, when he spent a year at Ferrari understanding the company’s culture and team management.
“We achieved great mileage in the winter tests. There was an incredible amount of work from the team back at the factory, but we were able to achieve those tests as well,” he said.
“We’ve learned a lot from last year. We’re leaving the bad behind and moving forward with the good and just being sharp. We’re ready and we know what we have to do. We also know there are big challenges for all of us with the new rules and regulations.”
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During the Bahrain test, Ferrari were impressed with Charles Leclerc being fastest, with Hamilton and Leclerc also showing strong long-run pace. This shows the top rankings more representatively.
Paddock consensus is that Ferrari and Mercedes are favorites for the first race in Melbourne, but Hamilton hinted that Red Bull could be a potential punching bag when asked about realistic ambitions.
“The goal is to win. That’s what everyone aims for, every team does. But that’s our goal, to make the most of every opportunity, to be lean and to fight, hopefully in the top group, preferably in the first race. We don’t really know.”
“Mercedes looks particularly fast and I’m not sure we’ve seen Red Bull fully unleashed yet, so it’s really, really exciting.”
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McLaren’s Oscar Piastri became “stuck” on track during the Bahrain test before Lewis Hamilton made a practice start again in a Ferrari.
“But no matter what, I feel like I have great people behind me who are going to put their heads down and bring in the performance and are focused on getting the most out of every weekend.”
Hamilton explains how he ‘lost track of who he was’
Hamilton struggled during F1’s ground effects era that began in 2022, but the new car for 2026 should suit the Ferrari driver’s style of handling a controlled but more sliding car.
The Ferrari driver said in an Instagram post that he would “not hold back” and last month said he had “forgot who I am”.
When asked where the new energy came from, he said: “A lot of things came together. This break was really positive. It was the environment around me and the people I was with. It’s not my first rodeo, so I understand how to turn things around, but it’s not that easy to do it every time.”
“But I always talk about developing a positive mental attitude. That’s what I’ve been focusing on over the winter, and a lot of that has come from training. I’ve been training hard since Christmas Day.”
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“I also learned that I believed in myself and that I worked harder than everyone around me, and believing in myself and rediscovering myself was a really big part of it. I kind of lost track of who I was for a moment, and that person was gone, and I’d never see that person again.”
Hamilton has yet to find a new race engineer after parting ways with long-time manager Mark Hynes during the off-season and Riccardo Adami moved to another role at Ferrari. Kimi Raikkonen’s former engineer Carlo Santi will work with Hamilton until a commitment is made.
Hamilton continued, “(I) came back with a positive mental framework, so it feels great to arrive here. The training was great, the engine, working with the team was great.”
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Former racing driver Anthony Davidson believes Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton can fight for an eighth world title if he can qualify well
“The changes in my personal space, the way I interact with my team, and the way they work together has become much smoother than last year.”
Sky Sports F1 Australian GP Schedule
Thursday, March 5th
9:45pm: F3 practice
10:55pm: F2 practice
Friday, March 6th
1am: Australian GP Practice 1 (Session starts at 1:30am)*
2:55am: F3 Qualifying*
3:30am: Team boss press conference
3:50am: F2 Qualifying*
4:35am: Australian GP Practice 2 (session starts at 5am)*
6:15am: F1 Show*
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Saturday, March 7th
0.10am: F3 sprint*
1:10am: Australian GP Practice 3 (session starts at 1:30am)*
3:05am: F2 Sprint*
4:10am: Australian GP qualifying build-up*
5am: Australian Grand Prix Qualifying*
7am: Ted’s Qualification Notebook*
9:45pm: F3 Feature Race*
Sunday, March 8th
12:20am: F2 Feature Race*
2:30am: Preparation for Australian Grand Prix: Grand Prix Sunday*
4am: Australian Grand Prix*
6am: Australian Grand Prix reaction: Checkered flag*
7am: Ted’s Notes*
7.55am: Australian GP race replay*
10am: Australian GP Highlights (also on Sky One)*
*Also held at Sky Sports Main Event
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