F1 legend Lewis Hamilton issues Ferrari DEMANDS over 2026 car

Vasseur, Hamilton, socials — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 News & Gossip

Lewis Hamilton issues Ferrari DEMANDS over 2026 car

Lewis Hamilton's 2025 has not gone to plan

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Sunday 17 August 2025 17:56

Lewis Hamilton has already requested information about Ferrari's 2026 power unit, to try and shape the team's car design to suit his talents, according to Italian media.

The seven-time champion will hope for a complete reset in 2026, with wholesale regulation changes offering a chance for both he and Ferrari to get back into championship contention.

Hamilton has clearly struggled with the current iteration of F1 cars, only having picked up two race wins since the last major regulation changes in 2022.

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Since joining Ferrari at the start of 2025, Hamilton hasn't even been able to secure a single grand prix podium, and is sat down in sixth in the drivers' championship, 42 points behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.

His struggles have been clear for all to see, and now Italian publication Gazzetta have revealed one of the reasons behind his problems with the SF-25 car.

They state that the Ferrari power unit's engine brake has a much sharper intervention than what Hamilton has been used to with the Mercedes power units that he has used since entering the sport with McLaren in 2007.

This may have prevented Hamilton from having the right feel in the car under braking, and according to the above publication, Hamilton has requested information from his team about the 2026 power unit in order to try and eliminate the problem and give the new car a more familiar feel.

F1 undergoes wholesale regulation changes in 2026

Will Hamilton remain with Ferrari?

Hamilton's current contract runs until the end of the 2026 season, and the likelihood is that he will want to try out the new generation of F1 cars before even considering retirement from the sport.

However, his comments at the Hungarian Grand Prix were laced with intrigue. Hamilton called himself 'useless', and suggested that the team should consider replacing him after his run of poor performances.

A day later when he had failed to improve on his 12th-place qualifying position, Hamilton said: "When you have a feeling you have a feeling, and there’s a lot going on in the background that’s not great."

These comments led several pundits to question whether Hamilton's heart was still in F1, with Ralf Schumacher urging him to make an immediate decision to retire from the sport.

Hamilton will hope that the new generation of F1 cars will help him to make a return to the kind of form that saw him claim six world championships in seven seasons between 2014-2020.

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Lewis Hamilton Ferrari Charles Leclerc