Hamilton: 2026 preparations already underway for 'several months'
Lewis Hamilton confirms Ferrari's 2026 preparations began months ago, facing the shortest off-season of his career after a podium-less debut year. He will immediately resume simulator work as the team targets a fresh start under sweeping new regulations.
Lewis Hamilton has revealed that work on his 2026 Formula 1 campaign with Ferrari has been ongoing for "several months," highlighting the intense and compressed timeline teams face ahead of the sport's next major regulatory overhaul. The seven-time world champion, coming off a difficult debut season with the Scuderia, emphasized the shortest off-season break of his career, with simulator work and testing resuming almost immediately.
Why it matters:
The 2026 season represents a crucial reset for Hamilton and Ferrari, offering a chance to move past a disappointing 2025 campaign and attack a new set of technical regulations from the ground up. With the competitive order potentially up for grabs, early and intensive preparation could be a decisive factor in determining which teams hit the ground running when the new era begins in Australia.
The details:
- Hamilton confirmed that background work for the 2026 car and season has been in progress for several months already, underscoring the long lead time required for a new rules cycle.
- His schedule remains packed, with simulator sessions scheduled for the week following the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and a Pirelli tire test for the 2026 compounds also on the agenda.
- The driver noted this off-season is "the shortest that we've ever had," leaving little time for physical and mental recovery before preparations ramp up again.
- Hamilton finished his first year with Ferrari a distant sixth in the drivers' championship with 156 points, failing to secure a single Grand Prix podium for the first time in his 19-season career.
Looking ahead:
Hamilton plans a thorough debrief with Ferrari to analyze the weaknesses of the past season and identify areas for improvement, both on a technical and operational level. This includes reviewing his own personal team's processes regarding travel and time management. The focus now shifts entirely to 2026, a season that will not only introduce new chassis and aerodynamic rules but also next-generation power units that Mercedes CEO Toto Wolff has suggested could propel cars toward 400 km/h speeds on certain circuits.