Lewis Hamilton: F1 2025 version of myself has "gone"

Formula 1 in 2026 will be defining for Lewis Hamilton.

The seven-time world champion heads into the new regulation era amid questions regarding his future, as the past four seasons failed to witness the version which established him as arguably F1’s greatest ever.

It started with three troublesome seasons at Mercedes before his blockbuster move to Ferrari for 2025, but last year was his worst of the ground-effect cars. Hamilton suffered yet another season without a grand prix victory - his third in four years - while finishing sixth in the championship and 86 points behind team-mate Charles Leclerc, who regularly had the better of his Scuderia stablemate.

But it was the off-track matters which were also bad for the 41-year-old, as very short media sessions were a constant, often giving answers of few words and the words he did give, were those of a man who was a shadow of his former self.

Think back to Hungary when Hamilton called himself “useless” after a Q2 exit - far from his worst result in 2025 - suggesting that Ferrari needs to change its driver. So the Briton needs this fresh start more than anybody and there is the sense that he must make it click this time, otherwise retirement is a genuine possibility with 2026 being the final season on his current contract.

But the early signs are positive, as Hamilton is relishing the chance to drive a Ferrari which was developed with his input - unlike the SF-25 - and he claims he is “much happier” ahead of this weekend’s Melbourne opener after a “really positive” off-season.

“It's not my first rodeo, so it's understanding how to flip things and it's not that easy to do each time,” he said. “But I always talk about cultivating a positive mental attitude and that's what I focused on my winter doing.

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari (Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images)

“A lot of it came from training. So I was training hard from Christmas day, also knowing that I find it hard. I believe in myself that I've put more work in than anyone around me and I believe in myself and rediscovering myself was really a big part of it as well.

“I think I kind of lost sight for a second of who I was and that person's gone, so you won't see that person again.”

Much of this also comes from changes Hamilton has made to his team, starting with the race engineer position as Riccardo Adami has moved elsewhere after the two failed to strike an effective relationship last year.

For the interim, Adami’s replacement is Ferrari’s head of remote engineering Carlo Santi, while Hamilton also split with his manager Marc Hynes who is now at Cadillac. So when asked about his previous struggles and if there was a specific moment which prompted the changes, the world champion replied: “It was just something that built up over a period of time and I think it's normal.

“Lots of people have that at some point through their lives. It's important that you pick yourself back up and you evaluate where you've been and as I said, come back with that positive mental frame of mind.

“So I feel great arriving here: training has been fantastic, the work with the team has been amazing. Changes within my own personal space and in how I interact with the team, how the team is working is so much smoother than it was last year.”