(Motorsport-Total.com) – Lewis Hamilton’s first season at Ferrari was a disappointment overall. Although the Formula 1 record world champion won the sprint in China, he never stood on the podium at a Grand Prix throughout the entire year. Meanwhile, teammate Charles Leclerc made it onto the podium seven times.
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“Lewis simply never found the confidence,” says expert Marc Surer in an exclusive video interview on the Formel1.de YouTube channel. He suspects that the now 41-year-old never really warmed up to the cars of the ground-effect era.
According to Surer, the fact that a completely new set of regulations will take effect in 2026, focusing on entirely different things than before, could therefore be an advantage for Hamilton. “He has already proven at Mercedes that he can manage an engine well,” says the former Formula 1 driver.
“He was actually always stronger in the race than he was in qualifying. And that will remain the case. I believe Leclerc is an artist who simply gets the maximum out of qualifying. That’s why he has so many pole positions,” Surer explains.
In fact, the Monegasque has already secured 27 poles in his Formula 1 career – but only eight Grand Prix victories. According to Surer, this is not because Leclerc is weak in the race, but because the Ferrari “hasn’t really been a winning car in recent years.”
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Rather, the Monegasque simply regularly gets everything out of the car in qualifying, and therefore Surer suspects that Leclerc “will continue to be the faster one in qualifying.” “But in the race, Lewis Hamilton will be able to use his experience and cleverness,” he emphasizes.
“He has done that very well in the past, managing power and so on. That’s why I do believe he will look better than last year,” Surer predicts. In 2025, Hamilton finished the season with 156:242 championship points, significantly behind his teammate.
In 2026, things could be much closer internally between him and Leclerc. And if Ferrari then has a car that can compete for the world championship title, the Scuderia would have to decide early in the championship “who they back,” Surer emphasizes.
“Because I believe that with this competition, you can’t let both of them race freely for too long,” says the Swiss.
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