Vasseur confident Ferrari and Hamilton will improve in 2026

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur is confident the team will be in a much stronger position in 2026, citing Lewis Hamilton's deeper integration and the lessons learned from a challenging 2025 season. He expects both the driver and the team to perform better with a year of experience under their belts.

Why it matters:

After a winless 2025 Grand Prix season, Ferrari is under immense pressure to rebound. Vasseur's public confidence signals a focus on internal stability and a belief that the foundational work with Hamilton will pay dividends, especially with major regulation changes on the horizon in 2026.

The details:

• Vasseur stated the team will "start 2026 in better shape" primarily because Lewis Hamilton now has a comprehensive understanding of the team's operations, software, and tools.
• He contrasted this with Hamilton's challenging debut year, implying the seven-time champion's performance was hindered by the acclimatization process.
• The 2025 season was a significant setback, with Ferrari failing to win a single Grand Prix—their only victory came in a Sprint race in China.
• Teammate Charles Leclerc has signaled that uncertainty surrounds the 2026 regulations for multiple teams, though Ferrari capitalized on similar major changes in 2022 to start that season strongly.

What's next:

The focus for Ferrari is now entirely on the 2026 project. The true test of Vasseur's confidence will be whether the team can translate Hamilton's familiarity and the hard lessons of 2025 into a car that can consistently fight at the front from the first race, avoiding the pitfalls that other teams may encounter with the new rules.