Lewis Hamilton was beaming with pride at his turnaround in the 2026 Formula 1 campaign, just a year on from calling himself “useless” at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
The seven-time world champion suffered a Q2 exit in Budapest last season while Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc took pole, prompting a very downbeat Hamilton.
He even claimed that Ferrari should replace him, coming amid a disappointing debut season with the Scuderia, which capped off Hamilton’s struggles with ground effect cars.
But the regulation switch for 2026 has been much kinder on the 41-year-old, who is finally driving a Ferrari that had his development input and is benefitting from personal changes.
It has led to Hamilton arriving at this weekend’s Hungarian GP sitting second in the championship, helped by his first win for almost two years at Barcelona in June.
“I’m proud of everyone in the team and also I am definitely proud of myself for getting myself out of the place that I was in,” said Hamilton, who is 45 points behind championship leader Kimi Antonelli.
“One day when I do my documentary, I’ll tell you all about that weekend [Hungary 2025] and what led up into it. But to come from there, even coming into this week, I felt a lot from last week, and I arrived worlds away from where I was last year, for which I’m really grateful for.
“Really grateful for what we’ve developed as a team, the pieces to the puzzle that have moved and come together, and now we come here with a great car, with a great package as a whole, and that we can fight with.”
Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
Photo by: Alastair Staley / LAT Images via Getty Images
Hamilton should have a lot of confidence for this weekend, particularly when he holds the Hungarian GP win record (eight) and it is the site of his last pole in 2023.
His Ferrari team has also been the nearest challenger to Mercedes in 2026, being the only squad to take wins from the Silver Arrows in two (Barcelona and Silverstone) of 10 rounds.
There is a good chance to make it three at the Hungaroring, considering it boasts plenty of slow-to-medium speed corners, which are a strength of the SF-26.
But team-mate Leclerc is eager to play down expectations, as Ferrari was also arguably the favourite in Monaco, but it endured a messy weekend compared to the faultless Antonelli.
“I still personally expect Mercedes to be the reference,” said Leclerc. “They are going to be very difficult to beat on the qualifying lap.
“But it’s also true that it’s a track that on paper should fit our car a little bit better. Of course, you’ve got car characteristics, you’ve got weaknesses, you’ve got strengths, and probably our strength is through corner balance and the grip that we have.
“On a track like this, it’s very important. So we might be a little bit closer, but at the end of the day, it’s all about the execution.
“If you are a little bit out of place, like we’ve seen in Monaco, where we weren’t exactly on the right window of the car, you lose more than what the car characteristics make you gain on a favourable track.
“So that’s really where we try to focus.”
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