RacingLewis Hamilton says his miserable 2025 season with Ferrari came down to a clash with Formula 1’s ground-effect cars, not a sudden drop in speed, and he thinks either another year developing that concept or the incoming 2026 rules could have suited him better.
The scale of the season gives that argument some weight. Hamilton went through a full campaign without a podium for the first time in his Formula 1 career, even though he did win the Chinese Grand Prix Sprint. He also hit another unwanted first in Las Vegas, where he qualified last on pure pace. Speaking to media including RacingNews365 as a Ferrari driver reflecting on the season and the next rules cycle, Hamilton said the issue sat deeper than one bad weekend or one difficult stretch.
He explained that the SF-25 never really matched the way he wants to drive. Hamilton said he likes to brake hard and late, rotate the car aggressively, and “V” the corner so he can get back to the throttle early. Ground-effect cars, he said to media including RacingNews365, reward almost the opposite approach. Drivers brake earlier, carry the car through in more of a “U” shape, and live with a type of balance that tends toward understeer and gives less rear movement than he wants to feel.
That is why Hamilton’s view on the rule change is more nuanced than simply welcoming the end of this era. Asked whether his optimism for 2026 came from Formula 1 moving away from ground-effect machinery, Hamilton, Ferrari driver, told media including RacingNews365: “Well, one, I'm in a happy place in my life, and two, I think the cars are more enjoyable to drive than the ground effect ones.” But he also said the timing mattered. “However, if he had another year of the ground effects, it would have been a car that I would have been a part of developing.”
He pushed that point further in the same media session. Hamilton, Ferrari driver, told media including RacingNews365: “I think I probably would have been happier in this year's car than last year's, but there is no more bouncing, so it is a combination of those things.” According to the reports, Hamilton sees a missed opportunity in not carrying the concept forward long enough for him to shape it more directly.
At the same time, he does sound encouraged by what comes next. According to reports of those comments, Hamilton believes the 2026 cars should be more enjoyable, with aerodynamic rake and without the bouncing that marked this generation. The reports add that those traits look more like the Mercedes cars he drove from 2017 to 2021.
Hamilton also took a calm line on another part of the 2026 package that has drawn criticism, the heavier focus on electrical deployment and energy management. While other drivers have questioned those demands, Hamilton said the change should be treated as a different challenge, not something absurd. Hamilton, Ferrari driver, said in comments reported in the source material about the 2026 driving style shift: “I don't find it strange, it's just different.” He said drivers will have to be more strategic with how they manage laps and energy, according to those reports.