No “game-changer” behind Lewis Hamilton’s F1 resurgence with Ferrari
Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur sheds light on Lewis Hamilton's return to form in F1.
Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur insists there is no “game-changer” behind Lewis Hamilton’s Formula 1 resurgence.
Seven-time world champion Hamilton has impressively bounced back from a nightmare debut season with Ferrari in 2026, securing five grand prix podium finishes including his first victory in nearly two years in Barcelona.
Hamilton’s form this term has marked a huge contrast compared to last year, where he endured his first podium-less campaign in F1. Just a handful of months later, the 41-year-old Briton is leading Ferrari’s title charge and sits third in the world championship, just 32 points behind Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
Asked what has been the key to Hamilton’s transformed performances, Vasseur told media including Crash.net at Silverstone: “I think it’s coming from both sides.
“That we know Lewis more, he knows more the team. That we work on the car from the beginning, because he was there when we started the project a long year ago.
“Small stone after small stone, it’s not that there is a game-changer, it’s not a one single stone, it’s much more aligned today. The car is probably also better than last year, for sure, and step-by-step we are improving.”
2009 world champion Jenson Button believes his former McLaren team-mate’s return to form is directly linked to the latest generation of F1 cars suiting Hamilton’s driving style.
"I'm sure over the winter they had time to sit down and discuss what worked for him, what doesn't work for him," Button told the Sky Sports F1 Show.
"It's the first year, you know, their relationship, the engineer relationship is always a really tricky one as well, especially when you've left someone like Bono [Peter Bonnington] at Mercedes. It's such a close relationship. So, it does take a minute.
"It has to be part of it, but I still think the biggest part of it is just the car. The car suits his style more. It's a Formula 1 car he's used to driving in terms of feel. For me, that is way above settling into a team and making them listen.
“He wasn't there at Mercedes either the last four years. He's not really been the Lewis that we remember, absolutely annihilating his team-mate in qualifying. George [Russell] had the better of him quite a lot of the time.
“So, I think it's down more so to the style of cars. We're back to a car that's more natural now. It's more of a normal Formula 1 car."
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