Damon Hill outlines how Lewis Hamilton took control at Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton’s return to the top step of the podium was only a matter of time, according to Damon Hill, who believes the seven-time world champion’s influence has helped shape Ferrari’s improved SF-26.

Hamilton joined Ferrari last season in a fairytale partnership, pairing F1’s most successful driver with the sport’s most iconic team.

Damon Hill outlines Lewis Hamilton power shift at Ferrari

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The Briton, however, endured a torrid start to his time with Ferrari as he failed to secure a single Grand Prix podium in his first season – never mind a race win.

But with an eye on the future, Hamilton “sent documents” to Ferrari’s technical team regarding the changes, and hopefully improvements, that he wanted.

They weren’t “orders”, he told PlanetF1.com and other accredited media, “but 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 having conversations… The team’s been, really responsive.”

Ferrari attacked the new technical regulations with a car that addressed some of Hamilton’s concerns by redesigning the suspension.

The Briton went on to secure his first Grand Prix podium as a Ferrari driver in China, before adding a first Grand Prix win in red at the Barcelona race.

Such has been his form this season that Hamilton went into the summer break second in the Drivers’ Championship. He sits 50 points behind Kimi Antonelli.

“Cream always rises to the top, doesn’t it?” Hill told the official F1 website.

“I mean, he’s someone who is… you cut him in half, and it just says ‘competitor’ right the way through.

“He’s going to win at anything he does. I don’t think it sits easily with him to back off.

“He’s been working hard over the winter, clearly, and he’s worked on how he wants the Ferrari to be for him.

“They signed him, they paid a lot of money to have him, so he’s saying, ‘Okay, I’m not going to just sit here and do what you do. I’m going to tell you what I do, and you’re going to make it suit me’.

“The power he has, the reputation he has, he’s putting to work, to protect himself. He’s right to do that.”

Hamilton’s advice has paid off with Ferrari the only team aside from Mercedes with more than one win this season; Hamilton in Barcelona and Charles Leclerc at Silverstone.

Gerhard Berger, a former Ferrari race winner, says this is not only good for Hamilton, but also the Scuderia.

“In general, we are all so happy if we see a winning Ferrari. Ferrari is Ferrari,” he said.

“I was very happy also for Lewis, because for Lewis, it’s been very difficult.

“He came to Ferrari and wanted to repeat his success from the past. Suddenly, he found himself in a difficult situation from a technical side, but also from a teammate side – a very fast teammate.

“For Lewis, last year was very hard, but now it looks like he’s coming out of the corner a bit.”

Emerson Fittipaldi is happy that 41-year-old Hamilton was able to shut the door on the age question.

Lewis Hamilton v Charles Leclerc: Ferrari F1 2026 scores

F1 2026: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between teammates

F1 2026: Head-to-head race statistics between teammates

“I was so happy to see Lewis and Ferrari going fast,” said the two-time world champion.

“I remember last year… it happened to me in IndyCar, and in F1, when you get older people start saying, ‘Well, he cannot drive’, and everybody last year criticised Lewis. ‘He cannot beat Leclerc, he’s too old’.

“Now he’s going strong. I think for the sport it’s good, for the fans it’s good. Seeing Ferrari winning again, and Lewis winning again, is fantastic.

“One thing that nobody talks about a lot is the new car. It’s smaller, with less downforce, and to me it makes it harder to drive fast. I think it brings [out] more talent.

“I think that’s one of the reasons why Lewis improved, because of his car control, his feeling for the car – he’s an extremely talented driver.

“He’s working in his second year with Ferrari, he knows the engineers, and he knows the system.”

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