Lewis Hamilton's move to Ferrari has been analysed, second-guessed and dissected for more than a year, but the seven-time world champion has now laid out in his own words what the first year at Maranello really looked like — and what has changed in 2026.
Speaking in the Suzuka media pen after his first podium of the season, Hamilton made a distinction few outside Ferrari seem to have grasped: his influence over the 2025 car he inherited, and the 2026 machine he has actively helped design, are two entirely different things.
"Firstly, on the car, when I joined Ferrari last year, I had nothing to do with any of the build of that car. That's obviously I joined the team and the car is already in the process of being made as I joined," Hamilton said.
It is a reminder that even a reigning seven-time champion cannot reshape a Formula 1 car mid-build. The SF-25 Hamilton raced in 2025 had been baked, aerodynamically and mechanically, long before he signed his deal. His 2025 results — frustrating, inconsistent, and punctuated by clear car-balance issues — were in large part a function of that inheritance.
The 2026 SF-26 is a different project entirely. Under the new regulations Ferrari, like every other team, started with a blank sheet. For the first time, Hamilton's feedback, preferences and driving style have shaped the foundation of the car.
"It started out a really good year and the energy within the team and just how we're all operating together. It's been really, really positive. So, I'm enjoying driving the new car, and it's a car that I got to play a heavy role in helping build," Hamilton said.
One of his sharpest observations was about the level of communication he now has with Ferrari's technical leadership — far denser than many expected him to generate in the famously insular Italian environment.
"I'm messaging with the head of aero, for example, and I'm like, hey, have you seen this? Have you seen that on that car? So the communication is really great. Everyone's flat out pushing, and it's honestly, it's really, really inspiring," Hamilton said.
That picture — of a chatty, engaged, technically involved Hamilton — stands in stark contrast to the moody final season at Mercedes described by some inside Brackley. Ferrari appear to have given him what he went there for: a seat at the technical table and a cultural reset.
The results are still catching up with the internal optimism. Hamilton finally landed on the podium at Suzuka after a long, attritional chase — a podium he admitted was among the hardest of his career.
"I've been trying to get that podium for a long time. It felt like never had to work so hard as to get a podium," he said.
And Hamilton is not pretending the SF-26 is already a match for the Mercedes-powered McLaren that has set the early 2026 benchmark.
"It looks like McLaren have taken a step forward. Naturally, they've got the Mercedes engine, which is a long way ahead of us at the moment," Hamilton said.
He put a number on the challenge facing Ferrari if the team wants to fight for wins this year.
"We've got a huge amount of work to do to be 8/10 off or 7/10, whatever it is. Even if you bring an upgrade of a couple of tenths — 3 tenths, 4 tenths — it's still a long way off. So to close that gap is going to take a mighty push from everybody," he said.
For Hamilton, the frustration of 2025 appears to have crystallised into something more useful: ownership of the 2026 project. He cannot blame an inherited car this time. The energy, the group chat, the aero suggestions — it is all his now.
So is the challenge of closing a Mercedes-shaped gap.
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*Originally published on [Formula One News](https://newsformula.one/article/hamilton-ferrari-2026-car-build-podium-suzuka). Visit for full coverage.*