Racing
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Lewis Hamilton has rejected the idea that Formula 1’s 2026 rules have suddenly played to his strengths, insisting his Ferrari resurgence is down to adaptation rather than any built-in advantage from the new cars.
Heading into the summer break, Hamilton has already outscored his entire 2025 campaign with 169 points, after managing 156 in his first Ferrari season. The contrast is sharp. Last year, in the final season of ground-effect regulations, he failed to score a grand prix podium for the first time in his career. This season he has taken five podiums in the last six races and delivered his first Ferrari grand prix win in Barcelona, his first Sunday victory since 2024.
That turnaround has fed the theory that the post-ground-effect generation is simply a better fit for Hamilton than the previous cars, but the seven-time world champion does not see it that way. Speaking to media including RacingNews365, Hamilton said: “I don't think it's more particularly more rewarding to anybody.” He added: “I think we've all had to make adjustments. I don't feel like I've made more adjustments than in any other era.”
Hamilton has said the current Ferrari has more of his racing DNA than last year’s car, but he argued that does not mean his driving style has changed. “I can drive it a little bit more like previous generations of cars,” he said. “But the races that I won in the previous generations of cars, I drove exactly the same as I do today.”
He also pushed back on the broader claim that certain rule sets have naturally favored him more than others. Hamilton said that despite the talk around which cars suited him, he still “won more races than most” in those earlier periods, and argued the biggest difference now is in the cars themselves. “The cars of today are just a little bit easier, more forgiving, and lighter,” he said.
A major change, in his view, is the absence of bouncing, which was a defining problem of the earlier ground-effect era. But Hamilton said that has been replaced by a different technical demand, with drivers and engineers now working much more deeply on throttle application and power deployment through the lap.
“We haven't got bouncing; the throttle and power application takes a lot of work, and tuning through that is just another element you have to do with the engineers,” Hamilton said. He explained that the challenge now goes beyond simple drivability because deployment is constantly being managed and adjusted. “Understanding that you can actually have an effect by going half throttle, throttle on, throttle 10% off. That changes the deployment through the lap, so understanding that is even more crucial than ever before.”
By framing his improved form this way, Hamilton is pointing to Ferrari’s growing understanding of the current car and the details of modern power management as the real reason for his recovery, rather than any suggestion that the regulations have handed him a natural edge.