Last Updated on February 4 2026, 9:31 pm
Lewis Hamilton’s first season with Ferrari in 2025 was expected to be the beginning of an exciting new era. However, it became one of the most challenging campaigns of his illustrious Formula 1 career. After leaving Mercedes in a move that stunned the paddock, the seven-time world champion struggled to make a lasting impact in red.
However, despite these setbacks, former Formula 1 driver Riccardo Patrese believes that Hamilton’s story is far from over and that an eighth world title is still within his reach.
MORE F1 NEWS – New personnel shake-up in Hamilton’s team
A shock move and a difficult debut
Hamilton surprised the Formula 1 world at the start of 2024 when he announced that he would be leaving Mercedes at the end of the season. After more than a decade with the Brackley-based team, the British driver felt the need for a new challenge, and Ferrari offered exactly that.
Expectations were enormous. A seven-time world champion joining the sport’s most iconic team was always going to attract global attention.
However, reality proved far more complicated. Ferrari struggled to deliver a consistently competitive car, and Hamilton never looked entirely comfortable throughout the season. Aside from victory in the Chinese sprint race, there were few standout moments. For a driver accustomed to winning races and championships, 2025 was a year to forget.
Signs of renewed optimism for 2026
Looking ahead to 2026, the mood surrounding Hamilton appears noticeably brighter. During pre-season testing in Barcelona, the Briton was seen smiling and relaxed, in stark contrast to the frustration that was so often visible last year. According to Patrese, there are good reasons for this renewed optimism.
One major change behind the scenes is the departure of Hamilton’s race engineer, Riccardo Adami. Patrese believes this could be a turning point: “I think Lewis Hamilton will perform better now that he has changed engineers,” he told BetVictor, suggesting that Ferrari is finally moving in the right direction.
Why the race engineer matters so much
Patrese was candid in his assessment of Hamilton’s struggles in 2025, pointing to clear tension between the driver and his former engineer during races.
“From the conversations we heard during the races, it was clear that there was friction between him and Adami,” he explained.
“The race engineer plays a crucial role in boosting a driver’s confidence.”
In Formula 1, the relationship between driver and race engineer is paramount. Strategy calls, feedback on car balance and emotional support all flow through that connection. Patrese believes that Hamilton never truly felt comfortable with his race engineer, and that this alone could cost vital tenths of a second.
“If Lewis didn’t feel comfortable with his race engineer, a new engineer could improve his mood and make a big difference,” said Patrese. “A good race engineer can really make a huge difference.”
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Lessons from Patrese’s own career
To underline his point, Patrese drew on his own experiences at Williams. Despite having identical machinery and equal opportunities within the team, he witnessed firsthand the significant influence a race engineer can have on performance.
“Even if the cars, the team and the opportunities are all the same, the race engineer can still make a big difference for the driver,” he explained. “They can also affect how you make that specific car perform better.”
Having raced alongside legends such as Nigel Mansell, Patrese knows how narrow the margins are at the highest level and how quickly confidence can fluctuate.
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Belief is the key to an eighth title
For Patrese, Hamilton’s biggest challenge is not speed or skill, but belief.
“I think Lewis Hamilton can do it,” he said. “He needs to believe again that he can be competitive enough to win races. If he does that, he can start thinking about an eighth world title.”
Hamilton’s career has repeatedly shown that success breeds confidence. Patrese believes that if Ferrari provides him with a winning car, the rest will fall into place. ‘If he returns to his former self, he has proven time and again that he is an incredibly fast driver,’ he said.
“And if he gets the chance to win races again, his confidence will grow. If he can rekindle the confidence he lost a little last year, then anything is possible.”
READ MORE – Lewis Hamilton: The €37 Million “Luxury Project” Linking Him With an American Superstar
A competitive landscape awaits
While Patrese is optimistic about Hamilton’s chances in 2026, the competition will be fierce. Mercedes, Hamilton’s former team, made an excellent impression during the first test in Barcelona, completing more laps than any other team. George Russell and rookie driver Kimi Antonelli were both encouraged by the early signs.
For Hamilton, the challenge is clear. A fresh start at Ferrari, a new voice on the radio and renewed belief could open the door to making history. Although an eighth world title may seem far away, Patrese insists it is not out of reach.
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NEXT ARTICLE – Williams confess they don’t know yet what happened to make them miss the Barcelona test
This week, Williams revealed their 2026 livery complete with partners adorning the historic blue colours of the Grove based Formula One team. They missed the Barcelona test last week in what many believe may prove disastrous for the British racing marque.
Missing a pre-season test is usually sign of big trouble ahead and Williams were the last team to do so back in 2019 when they were absent from the first 2.5 days in Barcelona. Prior to this, Force India (now Aston Martin) had a shocker of a pre-season, finding themselves absent from the first two complete tests in Jerez and Barcelona in 2015.
The same year the soon to be defunct Marrusia missed the entire pre-season along with the opening weekend in Melbourne, going on to score no points all year before a name change yo Manor.
Missing Barcelona not a positive step
So however, James Vowles chooses to spin the matter, missing the Barcelona test was a huge negative for the Williams team. However, unlike Aston Martin who merely failed to set themselves proper deadlines for sign off on technical aspects of the car not giving production enough time to ready them for Barcelona, Williams did indeed make a choice to miss the Barcelona test to invest their time in something they believed would be more productive.
The Aston Martin AMR26 limped onto the track late on Thursday completing just five laps, before the final day in the hands of Fernando Alonso another 49 laps were added. Yet the Williams announcement the week before the cars were due to hit the track in the Catalan capital was nuanced.
“Atlassian Williams F1 Team has taken the decision not to participate in next week’s shakedown test in Barcelon…. The team will instead conduct a series of tests including a VTT [Virtual Track Testing] programme next week with the 2026 car to prepare for the first official test in Bahrain and the first race of the season in Melbourne,” read a statement from the team.
For fans of the famous old British F1 team., the news came as a blow falling Williams finest season in 2025 in recent memory. They scored more points than in the three previous year’s combined and finished an impressive 5th, behind the leading four McLaren, Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari…CONTINUE TO READ THIS STORY
Sofia Trevena is an academic-turned-journalist with a background in cultural studies and published research on global sports. She examines Formula 1 as both a competition and a cultural phenomenon, providing analysis grounded in both scholarship and journalism. She also has a love of Formula 1 history and writes often on that topic.
This just in – We have the same odds of seeing Lewis win an 8th F1 title as we do hearing trump use full sentences!
TWO Lewis articles today! Nothing new but goooooo Lewis! I can understand patriotism to your country but you guys have heard of George Russel, Oliver Bearman, Arvid Linblad, and some Lando Norris bloke, yea? Twenty-two cars and drivers on the grid this year! Twenty-one of those are not Lewis Hamilton! Maybe some of those guys are good too. I hear your Norris guy has potential. I think he won a couple races last season. Probably even started on pole more than once. I don’t know…. Maybe he can even challenge Sir Lewis Hamilton on track one day!
Oh!!! You guys have heard Lewis has a teammate, right?! Wouldn’t Lewis need to beat his teammate before he can win his 8th title?! When was the last time that happened? Maybe cover a few of the other TWENTY-ONE F1 drivers. I mean, they’re not Sir Lewis, but some could maybe drive OK. Maybe even win if Lewis allows them to.