Twelve months ago, many questions surrounded whether Lewis Hamilton’s blockbuster move to Ferrari had gone wrong. But now, the seven-time world champion has remarkably transformed himself into a bona fide 2026 title contender.
The turning point was punctuated by an emotional maiden victory for the Italian outfit last month in Barcelona.
Yet, the catalyst for this dramatic turnaround wasn't a sudden aerodynamic breakthrough. While improvements to the car have undoubtedly played their part, Hamilton believes the biggest change has happened away from the stopwatch.
According to the Briton, his resurgence with the Scuderia has been driven by something far more fundamental: trust.
From frustration to collaboration
After a difficult first season in red, Hamilton admits it took time to earn Ferrari's confidence.
Rather than simply demanding technical changes, he says the relationship between himself and the team had to evolve before meaningful progress could be made. That process has now unlocked the collaboration he believes was missing throughout 2025.
“One being a car that I really have helped develop,” Hamilton began, speaking last weekend in Silverstone.
“There’s items on the car – for example, front suspension – that I’d asked for last year and had it made for the sim and tested it on that.
“This year, I finally got the brakes that I wanted, which was a big push. Engineer changes in my personal team, readjusting some of my team and how they connect with the team.
“Realigning myself with the higher powers within the organisation so that we’re making sure that we’re on the same track, and we’re allies rather than foes.
“And so that’s just now in a much better place, and that’s enabling us now to just move forward in synergy.
The trust Ferrari was missing
Hamilton says success did not come overnight. Instead, it required Ferrari to gradually place greater faith in his experience and technical feedback after a year in which poor performances inevitably weakened his influence.
Only once that confidence had been rebuilt could the partnership begin operating as he had always envisioned.
“Each weekend was a really difficult weekend last year,” he continued.
“So naturally when you’re having that, people tend to listen to you less: ‘Why are we going to listen to you when you’re getting these results?’
“So that’s taken a long time to build that trust, and I think that trust is now there and things that I ask for get done.
“It’s a two-way street, naturally. We’re really pushing each other along and the collaboration is finally there and I think that’s the most important thing.”
Those words underline just how significant the cultural shift has been inside Ferrari. Rather than battling to have his voice heard, Hamilton now describes a united operation where ideas flow in both directions and decisions are made collectively.
Read also: Vasseur shuts down Hamilton contract extension chatterIt is a partnership that has helped propel Ferrari back to the front after a winless 2025 campaign. Hamilton has also praised the team's remarkable progress under Formula 1's new regulations, believing Ferrari embraced innovation at exactly the right time.
For the 106-time Grand Prix winner, however, the greatest breakthrough has not been a new suspension, revised brakes or any other technical upgrade.
It has been building the mutual trust that finally allowed Ferrari and one of the sport's greatest champions to work as one.
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