Despite Ferrari’s resurgence, Lewis Hamilton refuses to project himself into the fight for the world title. The Briton prefers to acknowledge the Scuderia’s progress and stay focused on the work to be done.
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Third in the world championship after nine Grands Prix, Lewis Hamilton is having a much more convincing start to the 2026 season than his first year at Ferrari. With five podiums, including a victory in Barcelona, the seven-time world champion is now only 32 points behind the leader Kimi Antonelli.
Does this make Ferrari a credible contender in the fight for both titles? Not yet, according to the main interested party. As the Belgian Grand Prix approaches, Hamilton prefers to keep his feet on the ground and avoid any projections on the standings.
“I am really, really proud of the whole team at the factory. Every person brings something to the whole,” the Briton told the media.
Ferrari progresses thanks to collective work
Hamilton believes that Ferrari’s progress is above all the result of a collective effort. He highlights better cohesion within the team as well as the work done under the leadership of Frédéric Vasseur.
“Everyone is raising their level, each pushing a little more than before. We are working more coherently and more united than before, with excellent leadership from Fred. It is also encouraging to see the improvements we had requested arriving.”
The 41-year-old driver also praises the efforts made on the power unit. While Ferrari has not yet completely closed its gap, he considers that the Scuderia is moving in the right direction.
“The team has worked tremendously to improve the engine. It is not yet the complete solution, but it is a step forward. This is exactly what we must continue to do: move forward step by step.”
“I am not thinking about the championship”
While many see Ferrari returning to the title fight after its recent performances, Hamilton refuses to be distracted by this goal. His attention remains focused on the perfect execution of each race weekend.
“I am not thinking about the championship. I think about each race individually and executing our work as we did in Barcelona, where the pit stops, strategy, and the whole weekend were perfectly synchronized.”
For the Briton, reproducing this level of execution at every Grand Prix will be much more important than looking at the overall standings.
“The most important thing is to achieve this every weekend, not to think about what will happen in fifteen races.”
This cautious approach illustrates the philosophy adopted by Hamilton since the start of the season. While Ferrari now seems capable of regularly competing with Mercedes, the British driver prefers to continue building results gradually rather than getting carried away by title ambitions. A method that could precisely allow the Scuderia to remain sustainably in the battle over the coming events.
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