Is this Ferrari's year? Lewis Hamilton all smiles after Barcelona shakedown

F1 legend Lewis Hamilton appeared with a smile plastered across his face after his first outing in the SF-26 at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya this week.

The seven-time champion took over from Charles Leclerc on Tuesday afternoon at the Spanish shakedown, getting behind the wheel of Ferrari's new F1 car following a positive shakedown at Fiorano in front of the tifosi.

Though the first stint of 2026 testing is taking place behind closed doors, select media have been allowed to report on the day's running following the events, with Hamilton speaking to media after his Ferrari outing earlier this week.

Even when the British icon spoke of 'challenging' weather conditions and the task of getting to grips with the 2026 regulations, he couldn't help but smile.

Hamilton praised everyone back at the Ferrari factory for helping prepare for the major rules reset, which could shake-up the competitive order and hand him the chance to compete for race wins and perhaps even a championship in the coming years.

F1 HEADLINES: Hamilton's boss confirms Ferrari 'reset' as car issues cut Barcelona testing short

Hamilton: Barcelona shakedown could have been 'so much worse'

Reflecting on his rain-affected outing on Tuesday, Hamilton said: "Very challenging today, obviously, cause it started raining at 10:00, 10:30. So, obviously Charles had a little bit of dry running, but then it's been wet all afternoon.

"So, figuring out how to get the tyres working, it was really productive. I think we got 120 laps or something like that, given it's in the wet conditions and we had a red flag and that. I think that's pretty solid. So, really proud of everyone back at the factory for getting the car to this point. We've got a lot of information on the car today. We definitely need to keep it up. Lots and lots to do, but a good first day."

After reportedly putting in 56 of those laps personally, Hamilton admitted Ferrari's situation could have been ‘so much worse’ given all the major changes being introduced thanks to the regulations change.

"I mean, it could be so much worse so, and such a big rule regulation change. So, to get through the day without too many major... there were no major issues," he revealed.

"It's just small little increments that we're trying to improve on, I think it's great and as I said, we just need to try and get some more days like this."

Asked specifically what was on Ferrari’s checklist for the remainder of their Barcelona schedule, the 41-year-old replied: "Hoping to experience the car on the dry and I think just understanding balance, understanding the new SM that we have and how to utilise it and feel it, I've not driven it in the dry so I don't really have a feeling for it, obviously we drove it in the wet which is only the front part and then just understanding the deployment, I think deployment's going to be crucial and understanding that, how to utilise the power, the battery throughout the lap and recharging, all that kind of stuff but I mean we've done a huge amount of work.

"Everyone's done a huge amount of work on the simulator so it's not like it's 100 per cent brand new for us but we still have to go through our sessions and through the data to try and optimise it."

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