More Hamilton documents regarding the SF-26? ‘It is a confidence game’

Ferrari may have finished the pre-season shakedown in Barcelona as the fastest of all, but the Scuderia did so in five of the previous 10 pre-seasons. And didn’t win the World title.

It has Anthony Davidson warning that this year he hopes Ferrari “listened” to its drivers about the design of the SF-26 as Formula 1 is, after all, a “confidence game”.

Pre-season success, but what comes next for Ferrari?

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Putting 2025 and its ground-effect aerodynamic cars to rest, this season not only marks the first year of Formula 1’s all-new technical regulations with cars that incorporate active aerodynamics, but it is also the first year that seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton has a voice in the process from start to finish.

Last year, the Briton sent multiple documents to Ferrari regarding the car, telling PlanetF1.com and other accredited media: “I’ve sent documents; I’ve done [that] through the year.

“After the first few races, I did a full document for the team. Then during this break, I had another two documents that I sent in, and so they would come in and want to address those.”

He expanded on that, saying: “There were no orders in it. It was just ideas of like, ‘Hey, if we did this…’, ‘have we tried this?’, ‘if we did this, perhaps we can ease up certain areas, or we can be better.’

“It’s just about just having conversations and Fred [Vasseur], and I said, and the team’s been really responsive.”

But while those documents were about the SF-25 and its setup, this year any ideas Hamilton, or Charles Leclerc, may have relates to the brand new SF-26. A completely different car.

Formula 1 is embracing a new era this season with shorter, lighter cars that incorporate active aerodynamics and are powered by a new engine formula with 50/50 split between electrical and combustion power.

It is the biggest technical change in the sport’s history.

And former F1 driver Davidson hopes Ferrari has listened to what its drivers have had to say about the changes.

“Who knows how the performance is going to be this year,” Davidson told Sky Sports F1.

“The one thing we do know is that they have two great racing drivers, two very experienced racing drivers that the team should listen to.

“Hopefully they listened to both of them over the winter, or even before that, and have channelled their energy, their focus, into giving the drivers what they feel they need out on track, and what’s important to them – how you go about building a modern-day F1 car to the best of your ability to fit what the driver needs.

“It’s a confidence game. The driver needs to feel comfortable and confident inside the car.”

Ferrari finished the pre-season shakedown on a high note with Hamilton clocking the fastest time at the Barcelona circuit, a tenth up on Mercedes’ George Russell.

But given his struggles last season, when he failed to even secure a grand prix podium, Davidson reckons feeling confident in the Ferrari is what will spur Hamilton to better results.

Results that could include a record-breaking eighth F1 World Championship title.

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“Lewis, particularly, a new driver within that team last year, didn’t feel confident in that car,” he continued.

“We saw moments where he was having spins all by himself, going off the track all by himself, moments we’ve never seen before from Lewis, at least on a regular basis.

“It rang alarm bells for me, and it should have as well for the team, because it proves that the car wasn’t to his liking.

“It’s not always up to the driver to get used to the car, [and the team saying] ‘This is the car. You deal with it’.

“It’s a team game, and you should rely on those two drivers to optimise the tools that you have back at the factory.”

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