We rate F1 2026 title contenders - Lewis Hamilton

It is no overstatement to say 2025 was Lewis Hamilton's annus horribilis, with the seven-time world champion's blockbuster move to Ferrari not exactly going the way he had imagined. Amid struggles with a difficult-to-drive SF-25, a pole-to-flag win in the Chinese Grand Prix sprint turned out to be a false dawn as he went on to record his first-ever campaign without a grand prix podium in his 18-year career. With the dreaded ground-effect cars now in the rearview mirror, can Hamilton bounce back?

Jake Boxall-Legge - Leclerc might be a little too tough to beat

There was a disconnect between Lewis Hamilton and the nature of the 2022-25 machines, one that continued to persist with his move to Ferrari. The move to Maranello from Mercedes was much more fraught than anticipated, and the lack of a consistent entourage arguably compounded the difficulties that the seven-time world champion faced behind the wheel of last year's SF-25.

The new car, however, looks fast. Although Hamilton is less enthused by the energy management side of the 2026 formula, he's noted that the new cars – from a mechanical standpoint – are much more fun to drive. And if he's engaged and comfortable with his latest chariot, the ingredients are there for a much brighter second year at Ferrari. That said, Charles Leclerc might be a little too tough to beat on a regular basis.

Stuart Codling - Instability under braking will hurt Hamilton

Time was when I would unquestioningly have backed Lewis Hamilton to win a world championship in any reasonably good car. But that was then and this, indubitably, is now.

Although the circumstances of testing made it tricky to get a proper measure of car performance through all the games of smoke and mirrors, Ferrari’s technical package seems promising. Of the two drivers, though, it seems Leclerc is the more motivated and up for the challenge of maximising car performance under the new regulations, whereas Lewis has remained relatively negative.

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

Photo by: Rudy Carezzevoli / Getty Images

Also, Lewis likes a stable car under braking, and this isn’t what he’s going to get with the flighty 2026 machines, along with the not-always-predictable effects of the electric motor harvesting under deceleration. Shame, but the formula continues to move away from his skill set.

Filip Cleeren - It's now or never for Hamilton's Ferrari gamble

There's no hiding from the fact Ferrari has been somewhat of a graveyard for world champions, just ask Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel. Hamilton was the latest ace for whom the Scuderia's allure was too hard to resist. It was pretty gut-wrenching to see how an anticlimactic first season with Hamilton broke his spirits, but I've also seen few drivers with Hamilton's remarkable ability to recharge his batteries, wipe the slate clean and go again.

Recharging his batteries is something Hamilton will have to do rather a lot of with these cars, but all indications point to him getting on much better with the 2026 generation of machinery. Will Hamilton rediscovering his mojo be enough to beat a formidably fast Charles Leclerc over an entire season? I am not convinced, but at least the pre-season form table suggests the 41-year-old will get a chance to add to his successes instead of seeing his storied career go out with a whimper.

Learn more about Lewis Hamilton and his road to F1 through his career in pictures.

How our rating system works

To set the drivers apart, we have taken inspiration from the official F1 game to attribute scores in four different categories, out of a maximum of 100.

• Experience (EXP): An objective score simply based on the driver's experience level through total race starts
• Racecraft (RAC): The driver's ability to race wheel to wheel, either to defend a position or pull off a decisive overtake, without landing themselves in trouble with the stewards
• Consistency (CON): The driver's ability to keep clean, avoid unforced errors while being consistently quick in a race
• Pace (PAC): Reflects a driver's pace over one lap, largely in relation to their team-mate
• Overall Rating (OVR): The four above categories will be combined into an overall rating, weighted towards Pace.