Why Hamilton is ‘back to his best’ in F1 2026

Lewis Hamilton says he is ‘back to his best’, though he insists there’s still “room to improve”, following his first podium with Ferrari at Formula 1’s Chinese Grand Prix.

At a Shanghai International Circuit where his sprint win was a rare highlight last year, Hamilton outqualified team-mate Charles Leclerc in both sessions and came out on top in their lengthy Sunday battle.

This allowed the Briton to stand on the third step of the podium, alongside the Mercedes drivers, who eventually proved untouchable.

This was a relief for Hamilton, who endured the longest wait for a maiden Ferrari podium in history, as this was his 26th grand prix start with the Scuderia.

“I started this voyage and this dream of moving to Ferrari and being on the top step with them, and this podium has taken longer than I had hoped,” the seven-time world champion admitted.

“After a difficult year last year, to be able to be a part of developing with them, working with them over the past year, gives me huge pride and it’s such a privilege to be a part of this brand. They provided us a really solid car.”

Asked if he felt as though he was now back to his best after a tricky first year in the Maranello-based squad, the 41-year-old replied: “I definitely feel like I’m back to my best, both mentally and physically, yes.”

But Hamilton still pointed to “room to improve”, partly due to his age and partly because he’s still adapting to the Italian outfit. The Englishman has switched to a new race engineer in Carlo Santi, who previously worked with Kimi Raikkonen; this arrangement is provisional for the time being, with a decision to be made later on whether Santi will complete the season in this role.

“Training this winter has been the heaviest and the most intense that I’ve ever had, and that probably comes hand in hand with being older,” the Englishman said. “It takes longer to recover. But I’ve managed to pull these new tools together. I’ve got a great trainer that I’ve been working with in the past, but we worked together since Christmas Day. Then the time at the factory, obviously new engineer, and that’s obviously been a real good boost as well. Great morale within the team.

“I do think there’s more to come. I think I can still eke out more performance from this car. I’m still learning about it as I go, particularly with deployment and that. Then on the backside, mid to end of last year, digging deep with the engineers and talking to them about the things that I wanted from a car that I didn’t have any part of developing last year.

“To then develop the car with them this year and to see them listen and put some of those things that I’d asked for on the car, I’m incredibly grateful to them for listening on that side of things. It just makes you feel more united with everyone because you’re moving in the same direction.”

One should not play down the way Hamilton was unable to influence the development of the SF-25 as he joined the Scuderia rather late ahead of the 2025 campaign – his first day in Maranello was 20 January. Team boss Fred Vasseur is perfectly aware of this, and that’s why – besides better integration within the squad – he’s not surprised Hamilton’s performance has improved.

“Honestly, I think it’s always much easier the second [season], because you are part of the project from the beginning; he was in the simulator in the middle of ‘25, when we started the project,” Vasseur pointed out after the Chinese GP. “And I think he feels also a bit more involved into the project than he was one year ago; when he joined the team in January, the car was there.

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

Photo by: Yong Teck Lim / LAT Images via Getty Images

“He knows also a little bit more everybody, the relationship is getting better and better, it’s easier for him to deal with people and to work with everybody. Step by step, we have to do marginal gains, because it’s like this that we’ll close the gap.”

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– The Autosport.com Team