Hamilton hails Ferrari for having rediscovered its innovative spirit in 2026

Lewis Hamilton believes Ferrari has rediscovered its innovative spirit after a difficult first season together, with the seven-time World Champion praising the team's renewed direction and revealing the internal changes that have transformed his experience at Maranello.

After joining Ferrari for the 2025 season, Hamilton endured a frustrating debut campaign as the Scuderia struggled to consistently challenge at the front.

However, the picture has changed dramatically in 2026, with Ferrari emerging as one of the leading forces on the grid and Hamilton once again fighting for victories and podiums on a regular basis.

Speaking ahead of this weekend's British Grand Prix, the Briton said the turnaround has been the result of both technical progress and a much stronger working relationship between himself and the team.

"Yeah, I mean, to be back up competing in the front, from where we were last year, it's a remarkable turnaround for us as a team," Hamilton said.

"I'm very proud of everybody in the team. Just every weekend we're bringing new parts, we're constantly evolving," continued the seven-time world champion.

Hamilton revealed that one of his biggest frustrations during his first season at Ferrari was what he perceived as a lack of innovation, insisting that Formula 1's most successful team should be setting the benchmark rather than following its rivals.

"You know, questions I had last year was, 'Where's the innovation?' You know, we should be the leaders. Ferrari is the biggest and the most successful team in this sport.

"It should be the team that everyone's following, everyone should be looking at our car and to what we're doing and think, 'We've got to do the same'?"

The Briton believes Ferrari has now started to achieve exactly that: "You've seen that this year with the rear wing, for example. What else do we have? Oh yeah, the exhaust element that now all the other teams have."

Ferrari has introduced several eye-catching technical concepts during the 2026 campaign, including its distinctive exhaust winglet and the so-called "Macarena" or flip-flop rear wing, innovations that have attracted attention throughout the paddock.

"So I think that's been great, really great to see. We've got an amazing group of people working very hard to push us forward and propel us forward, and that's all I want to see. It's just small increments of movement forward."

Hamilton also explained that his improved form is not solely the result of a more competitive car. He revealed that Ferrari has implemented several of the changes he had requested after his difficult first season, while significant adjustments have also been made to the way he works with the team.

"One being a car that I really have helped develop," he said. "There's items on the car, for example front suspension that I'd asked for last year and had it made for the sim and tested it on that."

"This year, finally got the brakes that I wanted, which was a big push."

Beyond the technical developments, Hamilton disclosed that changes within his own engineering group and a stronger relationship with Ferrari's senior management have also played a crucial role.

"Engineer changes in my personal team, readjusting some of my team and how they connect with the team, realigning myself with the higher powers within the organisation so that we're making sure that we're on the same track and we're allies rather than foes."

"And so that's just now in a much better place, and that's enabling us now to just move forward in synergy."

Hamilton admitted that the difficult results during his first year at Ferrari made it harder for his feedback to carry weight within the organisation, but he believes that has now changed completely.

"I think also having those, you know, each weekend was a really difficult weekend last year. So naturally when you're having that, people tend to listen to you less. 'Why are we going to listen to you when you're getting these results?'"

"So that's taken a long time to build that trust, and I think that trust is now there and things that I ask for get done. It's a two-way street, naturally. We're really pushing each other along and the collaboration is finally there, and I think that's the most important thing."