Lewis Hamilton expressed optimism about his performance with Ferrari's SF-26 car during the 2026 Formula 1 pre-season testing in Bahrain. The seven-time champion highlighted his involvement in the car's development and recent team changes as key factors. Meanwhile, Aston Martin and Red Bull faced reliability issues during the sessions.
Lewis Hamilton, who joined Ferrari in 2025, described his debut season as disappointing, finishing sixth in the standings with zero grand prix victories and 86 points behind teammate Charles Leclerc. He attributed some struggles to the SF-25 car being developed without his input while he was still at Mercedes. During the Bahrain pre-season testing, Hamilton noted his 'DNA' is now within the SF-26, having contributed to its development on the simulator for the last eight to ten months.
'I spent a lot of time rebuilding over this winter, refocusing, really getting my body and my mind to a much better place,' Hamilton said on Wednesday. He feels in the best place in a long time, citing rearrangements such as a change in race engineer—Riccardo Adami has moved on—and splitting with manager Marc Hynes. 'This is a car that I've been able to be a part of developing... so like a bit of my DNA is within it. So, I'm more connected to this one for sure.'
Hamilton maintained full faith in the team, stating, 'My belief in the team is still absolutely the same, 100% faith in this team and what they're capable of.' He acknowledged that success would not come immediately, which is why he signed a longer deal, and emphasized lessons learned from 2025 with ongoing improvements.
In contrast, Aston Martin encountered early reliability problems with the AMR26. Fernando Alonso was limited to 28 laps in the morning session due to an engine issue, requiring borescope inspection of the Honda power unit. Teammate Lance Stroll reported the team was four seconds off the pace after the first week. Alonso remained optimistic, saying, 'I think everything can be fixed for sure, short and medium-term... There is a solution in place.' Team principal Mike Krack described these as 'growing pains' from the new Honda partnership, in-house gearbox, and suspension development, admitting, 'We were late to the party' and that reliability was lacking.
Red Bull also faced issues, with Isack Hadjar limited to 13 laps in the RB22 due to a water leak in the Red Bull Powertrains engine. Cadillac's Sergio Perez managed only two laps initially before improving but remained 7.153 seconds off Charles Leclerc's pace.
