Hamilton is ready for a comeback
In 2025 Charles Leclerc won the head-to-head at Ferrari against Lewis Hamilton quite clearly, but the seven-time world champion had the satisfaction of winning the Sprint in China, a peak never repeated later in the season by either Leclerc or Hamilton.
The SF-25 proved to be a car not up to the goals set at the beginning of the season and the hope is that the SF-26 will allow Leclerc and Hamilton to constantly fight for the top step of the podium starting from the inaugural GP scheduled in Melbourne, Australia, this weekend.
If the Ferrari SF-26 proves to be a championship-winning car, the Ferrari derby would take on a potentially difficult-to-manage significance, but Hamilton immediately wanted to cool things down: “How do I plan to stay ahead of Leclerc? I don’t see it that way – Hamilton stated in an interview given to Corriere della Sera – Ferrari is one thing. In Italy, and outside, people follow it like a religion and love it like the Pope. My goal is not to divide the fans, we both want to win and it’s clear that I would like to be the one to do it and I’m working for that. But the team comes first. Charles is a phenomenal driver for how he drives, for his ethics, and he has been here for 8 years.”
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Hamilton, however, is convinced that he has narrowed if not even closed the gap with Leclerc in terms of familiarity with the Ferrari world, also thanks to a brand new regulation: “I arrive at this championship in a different way. I have been working on the 2026 car for 14 months, in the simulator and with the engineers. Compared to the previous one which I found already designed, and I could change very little, in this car there is a bit of my DNA and that excites me.”
