Why F1’s 2026 rules reset could be a game changer for Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton will be pleased to see the back of F1’s ground-effect era.

2022-2025 has been Hamilton’s least successful period in F1, yielding just two grand prix victories, 20 podiums and only one pole position. It has been qualifying in particular where Hamilton has suffered the most notable performance drop-off.

2025 was unquestionably Hamilton’s worst F1 season to date. For the first time in his illustrious career, Ferrari’s big-money signing failed to finish on a grand prix podium, while he ended the year nearly 100 points adrift of teammate Charles Leclerc and suffered three consecutive Q1 exits. 

Hamilton’s struggles have led some to suggest that he is on the decline, while other naysayers have claimed he should retire as he approaches turning 41.

While Hamilton’s performances in 2025 were well below his high standards, it would be premature to say that he is ‘over the hill’. 2026, his second season with Ferrari, and F1’s subsequent rules reset, will provide a fairer picture of exactly where Hamilton stands.

Indeed, there are reasons to suggest that Hamilton will get on much better with the next generation of F1 cars.

The main reason for this is that the venturi tunnels will largely be gone for 2026, with flatter floor designs replacing the previous complex layout.

It is no secret that Hamilton has not got on with the F1’s latest iteration of ground-effect cars. Hamilton has not hidden this fact and simply replied “yes” when he was asked if he was glad to be see the back of the current car earlier this year. 

Additionally, this key change for 2026 should make the cars less ride-height sensitive. This is something that plagued Hamilton’s final years at Mercedes and also hampered Ferrari’s SF-25.

“The other key thing, and I think Lewis Hamilton will like this, the differentiator in performance will not be the floor anymore,” Sky Sports News reporter Craig Slater said in a video explaining the new-for-2026 rules.

“A side effect of the ground-effect era we’ve just had is that late-braking drivers like Hamilton, they were at a disadvantage because it was better to carry a higher minimum speed into the corners and that wasn’t his style at all.

“So I think there are good reasons to believe, Lewis Hamilton fans, that he will be better in the 2026 cars than he has been since 2021 basically.”

Slater’s summary aligns with past comments made by Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, who theorised that Hamilton’s driving style did not suit the post-2022 generation of F1 cars.

Hamilton is known for having an aggressive driving style featuring trademark late-braking and hard corner entries.

F1’s ground-effect cars required a smoother input, and Hamilton clearly struggled to adapt. This process was not helped by having to drive some pretty poor (to put it kindly) and unpredictable cars.

"For Lewis this generation of cars aren’t always suiting his driving style, he likes to be aggressive on corner entries and unfortunately this car at the moment can’t quite take it, especially on qualifying laps when it’s right on the edge,” Wolff said at the 2024 Qatar Grand Prix.

Could 2026 prove to be the clean break Hamilton needs?