How do Hamilton's 79 points confirm his progress at Ferrari?

Ferrari's seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton arrives at the Barcelona‑Catalunya Grand Prix with a sense of vindication — and with the numbers to back it up.

After a difficult first year with Ferrari in 2025, the seven‑time world champion has delivered his strongest opening six‑race points haul since 2022, as shown by the season‑comparison data: 46 points in 2022, 67 in 2023, a dip to 20 and 27 in 2024–25, and a surge to 79 points in 2026.

For Hamilton, the turnaround is not a surprise but the result of a long‑term plan finally taking shape.

“I knew we would get to this point at some point,” Hamilton said on Thursday’s media day. “I knew that last year was a building year and I knew that if we acted on the things that I’d asked for we would eventually get to where we’re going.”

Hamilton’s first season with Ferrari was marked by inconsistency, a mismatch between driving style and car characteristics, and a development direction he repeatedly urged the team to rethink. The SF‑26, however, is the first Ferrari built with his full input — and the difference is visible both on track and in the standings.

“We still have work to do, we’re still not there just yet,” he admitted. “But the things that I was asking for last year, I’ve got a car that I’ve had input into, helped develop, adding things to new ways that we work together.”

Hamilton also highlighted the role of Team Principal Frédéric Vasseur, whose leadership has been central to Ferrari’s renewed competitiveness: “Fred has been great in collaborating with me and it feels great to be part of that and see progress.”

Commenting on Ferrari's 2026 F1 car, Hamilton said: "Our car is very good, the downforce package that we have is really good.

"We're going to have to double up, make sure that we're always one step ahead of everyone in terms of advancing so we can go through the corners quicker and catch up the deficit we may lose down the straights.

"We can improve efficiency, so we can maybe improve on drag to try and close that gap in speed. And there's lot of different things happening in these different tracks, so never say never and we're just going to keep pushing and give it absolutely everything," concluded the Briton.