The seven-time champion may be one of the biggest names in the sport and one of four champions on the 2026 grid, but he still has unfinished business in F1.
In his first season with the Scuderia, Hamilton only made it to the top step of the podium after the Chinese GP sprint, whereas his team-mate Charles Leclerc secured seven grand prix podiums in 2025.
But despite the Monegasque’s relative success last season, both he and Hamilton were frequent critics of the SF-25.
Both drivers could be heard complaining over the handling of Ferrari’s 2025 challenger, citing issues with power steering, an inability to tackle varying grip levels, and the chassis as a whole, with the latter at one point leading Leclerc to label the car as ‘undriveable’ during last year’s Hungarian GP.
Will the SF-26 be a good fit for Hamilton?
At the age of 41, Hamilton only has a couple of seasons left to pick up the eighth drivers’ title that has slipped from his grip in the past.
As such, he has a lot riding on the Scuderia’s latest F1 car, which was officially announced earlier this week as the ‘SF-26’.
New regulations across the grid could work well in Hamilton’s favour as the competitive order will likely be reset, but where will Ferrari find themselves amongst that order?
According to a report from La Gazzetta dello Sport, Ferrari’s 2026 car will primarily aim to address the most obvious issues the team struggled with last season, including, ‘the difficulty in getting the tyres to work properly and the chronic lack of grip in critical conditions.’
Something else which works in Hamilton’s favour is the fact that the SF-26 is the first car both he and former Mercedes performance director Loic Serra have both had time to work on since moving to Ferrari.
The Italian newspaper have reported that the Scuderia’s technical team are hoping to make the biggest change to the vehicle dynamics of the 2026 car, an area which Serra has already displayed expertise in across his career.
It is believed that Ferrari’s idea is to completely redesign the suspension units to bring more stability and predictability to the 2026 challenger, specifically by moving from a pull rod system to a push rod layout on both cars.
The report also highlighted that this technical direction is good news for Hamilton and Leclerc, as it will aim to give them, ‘a predictable and consistent car that doesn’t lose efficiency or become unmanageable as grip levels change on the track’.