Hamilton suggests personnel changes needed to ‘optimise teamwork’ in 2026 as he reflects on lessons from debut Ferrari season

Lewis Hamilton has suggested that he and Ferrari may need to look at making changes to personnel ahead of 2026, with the seven-time World Champion admitting that they will examine factors that could help to “optimise our teamwork” after a challenging 2025.

Following his headline switch from Mercedes to the Scuderia, Hamilton has faced some ups and downs during his maiden campaign with the Italian outfit. While there were positive moments – including his Sprint victory in China – there have also been trickier times, and Hamilton is yet to stand on a Grand Prix podium since joining the team.

Looking back on the positive factors that he will carry into next season ahead of this campaign’s finale in Abu Dhabi, Hamilton reflected on his introduction to life as a Ferrari driver.

“I'll always remember the first day in Maranello, and the first day driving when my family were there in Fiorano,” he explained. “I will carry the spirit of this team. The team has the best spirit, the people here in this team have the best energy.

“It's a really beautiful environment to work in because of the people and there's so much passion there, so I just take that bundle of passion and just try and put that into next season.”

In terms of the biggest lesson that he has learned during the year, Hamilton responded: “That I'm resilient. I said it in the last race, I've surprised myself with how resilient I am and, if I can get through a season like this, then there's nothing that I can't face moving forward.”

Given the challenges that he and the team have experienced during the season, Hamilton opened up about how he will learn from this campaign and the approach that he will take when it comes to making changes.

“It's not actually a straightforward process,” the 40-year-old said. “We're obviously testing next week and then we go back to the factory. I've got to decide what my approach is when it comes to sitting down with the key stakeholders to make the decisions, and how that approach is to create the change that's needed.

“In terms of personal reflection, every weekend I've written down what I felt went wrong that weekend, the decisions I've taken, so there's a lot of learnings to do there. Through my break I will analyse those decisions and make markers on how I can make better decisions in the future.

“My surroundings in terms of personal personnel, team personnel, how you utilise people, whether people need to move into different positions to work better – all these different things need to be looked upon in my personal space so that we can optimise our teamwork.”

Hamilton answered “yes” when pushed further on whether changes have to be made – and when asked if they could not just carry on, he added: “Definitely not.”

For now the focus is on the final weekend of the current championship in Abu Dhabi – and while a title fight is playing out ahead between Lando Norris, Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri, Hamilton does not expect Ferrari to play a role in that battle.

“We're nothing to do with what's happening at the forefront,” he explained. “Some weekends our car is a little bit more competitive than others. We know our car is not on par with the top three teams – that's inevitably why we’re where we are.

“But we come here in full force. Everyone is really positive – we want to end on a high and I'm incredibly proud of every single person in the team. I really hope this weekend we can deliver something positive and leave off on the right foot.”