“The goal is to win”: Hamilton teases his F1 comeback with Ferrari

Written by Mia Wallace, Edited by Meghana Sree

On the dawn of his 20th season in F1, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton teases a successful 2026 season following the worst string of results of his career in 2025. 

Credit: Formula One

The champ had migrated to Ferrari last season, a move that effectively shocked the motorsport world after years of success with Mercedes. Evidently, not all change is good change, something that Hamilton learned quickly as he struggled through the 2025 season. Following multiple outings in Q3 of qualifying, uncharacteristic mistakes and a whopping zero podium finishes, it was clear that the 41-year-old had a lot of reflecting to do during the off-season. 

While reflecting on his break from racing this past winter and acknowledging fan support, Hamilton said: "For a moment, I forgot who I was, but thanks to you and your support, you’re not going to see that mindset again. I know what needs to be done.”

The Briton went on to discuss what aided him in coming into this season on a positive note, despite challenges the year prior. 

“A combination of things. The break was really positive – it was my surroundings, it was the people I was with.

“It’s not my first rodeo, so it’s understanding how to flip things and it’s not that easy to do each time. I always talk about cultivating a positive mental attitude, and that’s what I focused on. A lot of it came from training, so I was training hard from Christmas Day.

“I believe in myself that I’ve put more work in than anyone around me, and rediscovering myself was really a big part of it as well. As I said in one of my posts, I lost sight for a second of who I was and that person’s gone – you won’t see that person again.”

Credit: Formula One

Aside from the work put in away from the track, it is also important to note the positive strides Ferrari has taken on the track so far. During testing in both Barcelona and Bahrain, the prancing horse was amongst the strongest of the top teams.

Hamilton left the Barcelona shakedown with the fastest overall time of the week, and debuted Ferrari’s raw speed in Bahrain as he quickly surged to the front of the grid during practice starts. 

“We’ve learned a lot from last year,” Hamilton said. “We’re leaving behind the bad and moving forwards with the good. We’re sharp, prepared, and we know what we need to do. We also know there are massive challenges for all of us with the new regulations.” 

Much of the debate surrounding Hamilton’s move to Ferrari was speculation that adjusting to a new team and car would be quarrelsome for even a veteran driver. While he admits to a string of complications throughout the season with warming up to the car, it appears that Hamilton now has a much better grasp on things as he moves into his second year with the team. 

“It’s different to the first year, and it’s a much nicer feeling having spent a year with the team, understanding the culture, finding ways of working together,” he explained. “I think we’re in a good place now as a team, and I feel very gelled with team, so [I’m] much happier.”

This contentment rings a lot of positive bells, and when asked what his main goals are for the season ahead, it seemed that Hamilton’s vision for 2026 aligns with that high:

“The goal is to win.

“That’s what of course everyone’s working towards, every team is, but that’s our goal – to maximise on every opportunity, to be hopefully fighting in the top group, hopefully in the first races.”

Hamilton will have the opportunity to start that winning campaign tomorrow, with the first official free practices of the season rolling out the perfect opportunity to see where he stacks up against the rest of the grid.