Lewis Hamilton could not have sounded more upbeat heading into a new season had his PR team scripted his message for him. Which, in fairness, they may well have done.
“That’s a wrap on testing,” the seven-time world champion posted to his 42.3 million Instagram followers after Ferrari finished top of the timesheets in Bahrain a couple of weeks ago. “It’s inspiring to watch a team pull out all the stops to build a car. It’s the most fascinating part of this job for me.”
Hamilton – who turned 41 over the winter and will be embarking on his 20th season in Formula One when the action gets under way in Melbourne this weekend – went on to thank the workforce back at Maranello for their hard work before finishing with a solemn promise, both to them and to his fans.
“I’m reset and refreshed,” he insisted. “I’m not going anywhere, so stick with me. 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. This is going to be one hell of a season. I’ve given everything to be here today. Let’s go team!!!”
Mood music is completely different
What a difference a few weeks makes. Two months ago the question on many paddock lips was: How much of the 2026 season would Hamilton actually complete? Would he make it back to Europe after the fly-aways? Would he last until the summer break? So miserable was he by the end of last season, so down on himself, so thoroughly trounced by his Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc, it was difficult to see a way back.
Hamilton was beginning to use the same ultra self-critical language he did during his final days at Mercedes, saying how “useless” he was, how much he wanted to put the “worst” season of his career behind him, how his Ferrari dream had turned into a “nightmare”.
The fear was, if Ferrari did not give him a car with which to compete in 2026, Hamilton might choose to put himself out of his misery rather than bleed out.
The mood music now is completely different. On track, arguably only Mercedes will be heading to Melbourne with more wind in their sails than Ferrari. Not only did Leclerc set the quickest one-lap and race simulation times of pre-season testing in Bahrain, Ferrari unveiled a number of innovations which caught the eye, including a spectacular “upside-down” rear wing which set tongues wagging. Not only that, but Ferrari’s smaller turbo appeared to give the Scuderia an appreciable advantage in practice race starts.
Off track, too, Hamilton appears to have got himself into a much better frame of mind. He spent Christmas with family in Colorado, where he has a home, taking his niece and nephew skiing. This, Hamilton told his Instagram followers, allowed him to “disconnect, recharge and find a bit of inner peace”.
Hamilton then proceeded to blow that inner peace out of the water by stepping out with one of the most famous women on the planet: Kim Kardashian.
Although Hamilton has been coy on whether he and KK are actually an item, telling journalists in Bahrain it was none of their business and merely smiling when George Russell asked him at F1’s traditional pre-season photoshoot whether he was “all loved up”, the evidence is pretty overwhelming. They spent New Year’s Eve together in Aspen, they were photographed after a night together at Estelle Manor in the Cotswolds (according to reports, Kardashian flew into Oxford airport on her $125m private jet, with three bodyguards and eight suitcases in tow, while Lewis arrived in a helicopter). They attended Super Bowl LX together. Most recently, American celebrity outlet TMZ papped them together at Amangiri, an ultra-exclusive five-star resort in the Utah desert.
Cynics will scoff, accusing Hamilton of using Ms Kardashian to help lay the foundations for his post-driving career, and vice-versa. But he does seem to be in a better headspace. “I’m conscious that we’re entering the Year of the Horse and leaving behind the Year of the Snake,” Hamilton wrote in another typically life-affirming Instagram post around new year. “The time for change is now.”
Hamilton has been as good as his word on that front. Gone is Marc Hynes, his long-time right-hand man, who has taken a permanent job at Cadillac F1 (he and Hamilton remain friends). Gone, too, is Ella Yeboah, his press officer from last season (again, the split was amicable). Most importantly, he has dispensed with the services of Riccardo Adami, his race engineer from last season, with whom he clearly struggled.
This last change – or rather, the lack of a new permanent race engineer for Hamilton – is one potential wrinkle heading into 2026. Even Hamilton has voiced fears that the failure to bed in a new race engineer in time for Melbourne could be “detrimental to his season”. For now, he is using Carlo Santi, Kimi Raikkonen’s old race engineer. The plan is then to switch to McLaren’s former lead trackside performance engineer Cédric Michel-Grosjean at some point. The Frenchman is still serving his notice period, having quit McLaren in December. But he has never run a driver before and no one quite knows how that might pan out or whether he will 100 per cent take over.
For the most part, though, Hamilton seems genuinely positive. He spent much of January, as he did last year, living out of his motorhome at Maranello, working with his engineers, developing the new car. Sources suggest the Briton feels as if it has “at least a bit of his own DNA” in the SF-26, as opposed to last year’s car, in which he had no input.
Hamilton also has a “new” trainer/physio this year; Australian Kylie Tomich, with whom he first worked after Angela Cullen left Mercedes a few years ago. Telegraph Sport understands Tomich is back again, with New Zealander Cullen looking after Hamilton at races and Tomich dealing with everything away from the track: nutrition, sleep, mindset. She has been flogging him hard.
“This is the most I’ve ever trained between seasons,” Hamilton claimed on Instagram last weekend. “I’m pushing hard every day to show up stronger than ever this year. With lifting, cardio, flexibility and strength training, everything is about progress and endurance and going further than the day before. See you soon, Melbourne.”
Feels like now or never
The question now is: can Hamilton still do it? Can he still be a force? It is one thing saying what a great mindset you are in, how hard you are working, posting Insta-videos of your workouts from exotic locations. It is quite another actually getting out on track and doing it. Many in the sport are of the opinion that the 41-year-old is deluding himself, that time waits for no man, that he is doing his legacy irreparable damage.
Hamilton, though, will not – cannot – let go. The way the 2021 championship was ripped from his grasp clearly still rankles. He is desperate to go out on his terms. A record eighth title remains the ultimate dream. But even a solid, respectable season, with maybe a win or two in the red of Ferrari, would feel like a more positive final chapter to his career than slinking out of the back door.
It feels like now or never. Hamilton never made any secret of the fact that he hated the previous ground effect cars. The all-new 2026 machines offer the chance of a complete reset. And just like 12 months ago, the Ferrari-Hamilton hype train is building up a head of steam.
“I don’t want to put any pressure on him but I think Lewis is going to have a fantastic year,” 1992 world champion Nigel Mansell predicted last month. “He’s a young 41. He’s strong as an ox and super fit. If Ferrari put the car underneath him that he deserves he can do the business still and get that magical eighth world title. I don’t think it’s over yet.”
Williams driver Alex Albon believes the new rules and lighter cars should suit Hamilton. “I don’t think I should say it,” the Williams driver replied when asked which driver he thinks the new regulations will suit the best during the Williams Team Torque podcast. “I think it’s Lewis. I think the lighter cars. I think that his style suits these cars a bit more. He makes the corners really short. And he doesn’t focus on exits. I don’t think that’s the worst thing in these cars.”
World champion Lando Norris agreed with Albon, saying at testing last month that it was “a cool thing to see Lewis back at the top and fighting” and adding that he was “sure you will be seeing more of [that] this year”.
Even Bernie Ecclestone – who rarely has a nice word for Hamilton – is getting on board. “Watch out for Ferrari,” Ecclestone said last week. “Formula One would benefit if Ferrari became world champion. Lewis doesn’t want to give up, doesn’t want to stop without having achieved it. Maybe it will work out this year. That would be a great story.”
The bookmakers, meanwhile, have Hamilton at 8/1, fourth favourite for the title, behind only George Russell, Max Verstappen and Ferrari team-mate Leclerc.
Of course, the sceptics will point to what happened last year, when Hamilton arrived in Melbourne off the back of one of the great winter PR campaigns. That iconic shot in the double-breasted suit at Maranello. That Time magazine cover, dressed all in white in front of a rearing black stallion. The hype machine was in overdrive back then, too.
Hamilton’s sprint race pole and victory at the second race in China hinted at great promise. Then both Ferraris were disqualified from the grand prix in Shanghai and both Hamilton and Ferrari’s seasons unravelled. The Briton ended the season without a single podium finish for the first time in his career. Who is to say it will be any different this time around? Even if Ferrari do provide him with a winning machine, can he beat Leclerc?
They may be right. Maybe he is over the hill. Maybe Ferrari will disappoint again in the opening races. Maybe Hamilton’s positive mindset will disintegrate in the face of reality. Maybe he will call time mid-season. But for now, Hamilton and his fans can still dream.