Lewis Hamilton reveals Ferrari have F1 masterplan to beat Mercedes

Hamilton smiling with FIA mic in hand edited to the right of Russell's Mercedes car on track in the background — Photo: © IMAGO

Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton reveals Ferrari have F1 masterplan to beat Mercedes

Hamilton is fired up to bring the fight to his old F1 team

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Wednesday 8 April 2026 18:54

F1 legend Lewis Hamilton is doing everything he can to ensure he assists Ferrari as much as possible as they embark on the challenge of catching up to Mercedes in 2026.

The Silver Arrows have dominated the opening rounds of the new regulations cycle, with F1 driver duo George Russell and Kimi Antonelli taking turns on the top step of the podium across the first three race weekends of the year.

Toto Wolff's outfit have attacked the overhauled chassis and power unit regulations and emerged as the frontrunners, leading the way in both the constructors' and the drivers' championship.

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Many may have thought this was bad luck for Hamilton, who made the decision to leave his former team ahead of 2025 having struggled to consistently outperform his former team-mate Russell since he joined Mercedes in 2022.

But Hamilton is more than ready to take on the challenge of closing the gap to the Brackley-based F1 squad, and has even looked competitive out on track against the W17 at times this year thanks to Ferrari providing him with the weapon of a lightning fast starting procedure.

F1 HEADLINES: Worrying Hamilton admission emerges, new Mercedes threat looms

Hamilton determined to catch Mercedes

In a recent interview with F1, Hamilton reflected on the difficult period of his career where he went almost 1,000 days without a grand prix win at Mercedes and then failed to pick up a grand prix podium during his first season in red.

After moving to Ferrari in 2025, Hamilton finally ended his grand prix podium drought at this year's Chinese GP, admitting that he 'never had to work so hard' to get a podium.

During the interview, F1 reporter Lawrence Barretto then asked the seven-time champion: "Have you got plenty of ideas on how to shut that gap [to Mercedes]?"

Hamilton then shared how he and his Ferrari squad are looking to destroy the Silver Arrows’ advantage day by day, saying: "We do. Yeah. I mean as I said last week, just having meetings trying to firstly see where they're going.

"I mean already through the last couple of weeks and even the last race I'm messaging with the head of aero for example and I'm like, ‘hey have you seen this? Have you seen that on that car?’ So the communication is really great.

"Everyone's flat out, pushing and honestly it's really inspiring to see whenever you work within a great organisation and you go and see back at the factory and you see in the office just everyone head down just flat out like pushing for every millisecond. Those are the bits that I love the most about this sport and that I wish people got to see.

"That's where you kind of, you go back and you get inspired and you come back, you're like, ‘Okay, the guys are really on it."

The 41-year-old then teased further improvements for the Scuderia, adding: "I'm excited for the next couple of months."

F1 2026 Drivers' Standings after the Japanese Grand Prix

Position	Driver	Team	Points
1	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	72
2	George Russell	Mercedes	63
3	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	49
4	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	41
5	Lando Norris	McLaren	25
6	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	21
7	Ollie Bearman	Haas	17
8	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	15
9	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	12
10	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	10
11	Arvid Lindblad	Racing Bulls	4
12	Isack Hadjar	Red Bull	4
13	Gabriel Bortoleto	Audi	2
14	Carlos Sainz	Williams	2
15	Esteban Ocon	Haas	1
16	Franco Colapinto	Alpine	1
17	Nico Hulkenberg	Audi	0
18	Alex Albon	Wiliams	0
19	Valtteri Bottas	Cadillac	0
20	Sergio Perez	Cadillac	0
21	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	0
22	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	0

Written by

Kerry Violet - F1 News Editor

Having graduated from the University of Sheffield with a 2:1 in Journalism in 2022, Kerry continued her pursuit of finding a full-time position in motorsport through work with the F1 Arcade in London, where she got to meet true fans of the sport and make a live grand prix watch party memorable for them. It was here that she confirmed her dream of combining her background in journalism and love of motorsport, going on to volunteer with the female-led platform Empoword Journalism. Having completed stints as a screen editor and sports editor, Kerry landed her first F1-specific editorial role with GPFans and has thoroughly enjoyed continuing to work closely with the sport ever since. The access GPFans offers Kerry has allowed her to interview big names such as Naomi Schiff and David Coulthard and given her experiences she could only have dreamt of as a young F1 fan.

View full biography

F1 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari Mercedes 2026 regulations