Hamilton says Ferrari shake-up changed everything

Lewis Hamilton says Ferrari’s winter restructuring has transformed his daily life at Maranello, with the seven-time world champion describing himself as in a “really happy place” ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix after a bruising first season with the team.

Hamilton said the change has come from both a switch on his side of the garage and broader changes inside Ferrari. “With the team, it has taken a long time to adjust, on both sides,” he said. “But we've made so many changes internally, both within the team and how we operate back at the factory, and it is like the best it's ever been in terms of how we work together.”

The turnaround follows a first year that never matched expectations. Hamilton spent much of the season struggling with what he described as a car Ferrari was no longer developing, and he finished the campaign without a podium. His Saturdays became especially painful late in the year, with three straight Q1 exits.

He pointed to Hungary as the low point. Hamilton qualified 12th there and later called himself “useless” after a weekend that came to symbolize how far out of rhythm he and the team had become.

Ferrari responded over the winter by changing Hamilton’s race engineer. Riccardo Adami was moved off his car after the pair failed to gel, with Carlo Santi, previously Kimi Raikkonen’s race engineer, stepping into the role. Ferrari also plans for Cedric Michel-Grosjean to eventually take over the position.

For Hamilton, that reset has eased one of the biggest frustrations from his first season. He said last year was made harder by feeling unable to contribute as much as he wanted on the technical side when the car’s development had effectively stalled. Under Ferrari’s new structure, he said that has changed, particularly in the work now being done on the team’s 2026 car.