Lewis Hamilton will likely be delighted to have the ability to see behind the scenes of F1’s floor results period.
2022-2025 was Hamilton’s least profitable interval in F1, with simply two Grand Prix wins, 20 podiums and one pole place. Hamilton skilled probably the most noticeable drop in efficiency, significantly in qualifying.
2025 was arguably Hamilton’s worst F1 season so far. For the primary time in his illustrious profession, the big-money Ferrari contract failed to succeed in the Grand Prix podium, ending the season practically 100 factors behind teammate Charles Leclerc and struggling his third consecutive Q1 exit.
Hamilton’s struggles have led some to recommend he’s in decline, whereas naysayers have argued that he ought to retire as he approaches 41.
Hamilton’s efficiency in 2025 was properly under his excessive requirements, however it will be untimely to say he’s “over the hill”. 2026 will likely be his second season with Ferrari, and the following resetting of F1’s guidelines will give us a greater concept of the place Hamilton stands.
Certainly, there are causes to recommend Hamilton will fare higher with the subsequent technology of F1 vehicles.
The primary cause for that is that venturi tunnels will largely be phased out by 2026, with the earlier advanced format changed by flatter flooring designs.
It is no secret that Hamilton has hassle using F1’s newest floor results vehicles. Hamilton made no secret of this truth, and when requested earlier this 12 months if he was pleased to see the again of the present automobile, he merely answered “sure.”
Moreover, this necessary change for 2026 ought to make the automobile much less delicate to trip top. That is one thing that plagued Hamilton’s later years at Mercedes, and in addition hindered Ferrari’s SF-25.
Hamilton had a disastrous first season at Ferrari
“The opposite necessary factor, and I feel Lewis Hamilton would love this, is that the efficiency differentiator is now not the primary precedence,” Sky Sports activities Information reporter Craig Slater mentioned in a video explaining the brand new guidelines for 2026.
“As a facet impact of the bottom results period we had simply skilled, sluggish braking drivers like Hamilton had been at a drawback as a result of it was higher to enter corners with the next minimal velocity and that was not his type.
“So, Lewis Hamilton followers, I feel there’s good cause to imagine that he is principally going to be higher within the 2026 automobile than he was in 2021 and past.”
Slater’s abstract echoes earlier feedback from Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, who theorized that Hamilton’s driving type wouldn’t be appropriate for the 2022 technology of F1 vehicles.
Hamilton is thought for his aggressive driving type, characterised by his trademark late braking and arduous nook entry.
F1’s floor results vehicles required smoother inputs, and Hamilton clearly struggled to adapt. This course of wasn’t helped by having to drive a quite poor (to place it kindly) and unpredictable automobile.
“For Lewis, this technology of vehicles does not at all times swimsuit his driving type. He likes to be aggressive on nook entry and sadly for the time being this automobile simply cannot stand as much as that, particularly on the very finish of the qualifying lap,” Wolff mentioned on the 2024 Qatar Grand Prix.
Will 2026 be the clear break Hamilton wants?
