‘You won’t see that person again’ – Lewis Hamilton on big Ferrari change for F1 2026

Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton has lifted the lid on the process of “rediscovering myself” ahead of the F1 2026 season.

And he says “you won’t see that person again” after cutting a downbeat figure for much of his first season with the team in 2025.

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Hamilton joined Ferrari from Mercedes at the beginning of last year in one of the biggest transfers in F1 history.

However, the seven-time world champion endured the worst season of his career, failing to register a podium finish across a campaign for the first time since he arrived on the grid in 2007.

Hamilton ended 2025 with four consecutive Q1 eliminations, becoming the first Ferrari driver to qualify last on pure pace since 2009 in Las Vegas and finishing the year 86 points adrift of teammate Charles Leclerc.

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Expectations have grown at Ferrari on the back of an impressive pre-season with the new SF-26, with the Scuderia among the favourites for victory at this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix.

In a social media post last month, Hamilton said that “I forgot who he was” during his struggles in 2025 before declaring “you’re not going to see that mindset again” in 2026.

Appearing in Thursday’s FIA press conference in Melbourne, the 41-year-old explained the process of rediscovering himself over the winter.

Asked what’s behind his renewed positivity in 2026, Hamilton replied: “A combination of things.

“I think the break was really positive. It was my surroundings, it was the people that I was with.

“It’s not my first rodeo, so it’s understanding how to flip things and it’s not that easy to do each time, but I always talk about cultivating a positive mental attitude and that’s what I focus on the winter doing.

“A lot of it came from training, so I was training hard from Christmas day. Also knowing that I believe in myself and I’ve put more work in than anyone around me.

“I believe in my myself and rediscovering myself was really a big part of it as well.

“I think, as I said in one of my posts, I kind of lost sight for a second of who I was and that person’s gone, so you won’t see that person again.

“I think it was just something that built up over a period of time. I think it’s normal.

“I think lots of people have that at some point through their lives and it’s important that you pick yourself back up and you evaluate where you’ve been and come back with that positive mental frame of mind.

“I feel great arriving here. Training has been fantastic. The engine, the work with the team has been amazing.

“Changes within my own personal space and in how I interact with the team.

“How the team is working is so much smoother than it was last year.”

Asked how different he feels at Ferrari entering his second season with the team, he said: “Massively.

“Different to the first year and and a much nicer feeling coming having spent a year at the team, understanding the culture, understanding ways, finding ways of working together.

“I think we’re in a good place now, together as a team, and I feel very gelled with the team today, so much happier.

“I think it’s the culture, the difference in culture. The difference in which the team operates compared to what I’ve experienced with British teams, for example.

“And I think it’s really just getting to know each other. I think there’s lots of meetings, lots of discussions, lots of communication, improving communication naturally [with] time at the factory, which I gave a lot last year, but continue to truly show up.

“Just asking for change is one thing, but finding ways to create allyship and show that why change is better for us as a whole, and going on the journey together to discovering that and making those improvements.

“I think we have started to do that towards the end of last year and particularly going into this season.

“And again, just because it was such a steep learning curve last year and we were kind of learning on the go.

“But I think we are so much more prepared this year, which I’m really, really excited for.

“And it goes back to the confidence and the reason I joined the team, the belief that I have in joining the team and what I believe I can do with this team is even stronger than it ever was before.”

Asked how confident he is entering the 2026 season, he explained: “I would say it’s not a confidence thing.

“I think we got great mileage done in winter testing, an amazing amount of work has been done from the team back at the factory, but also delivering on those tests.

“We’ve learned a lot from last year. We’re leaving behind the bad and moving forward with the good.

“And I think we’re just sharp. I think we’re sharp, prepared and we know what we need to do.

“We also know there’s massive challenges for all of us with the new rules and regulations.”

On his goals for 2026, he added: “The goal is to win.

“That’s what, of course, everyone’s working towards, every team is, but that’s our goal: to maximise on every opportunity, to be lean, to be hopefully fighting in the top group in the first races.

“We don’t really know. Mercedes look particularly quick and I’m not really sure whether or not we’re seeing the full, unleashed Red Bull yet.

“So it’s really, really exciting, but I do know that, whatever the case, I feel like I’ve got a great group of people behind me who are head down, focused on bringing performance and really maximising every weekend.”

Additional reporting by Mat Coch

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