Lewis Hamilton has revealed his pre-season training block was the “most intense he’s ever had” as he looks to re-find his form after a poor debut season with Ferrari.
Hamilton failed to secure a podium in his inaugural Scuderia campaign, marking the first time in 19 seasons he failed to register a top-three finish.
Yet the start of the 2026 season has seen Hamilton show signs of renewed vigour, impressing off the start-line and competing for front-running positions against the Mercedes pairing of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli, as well as Charles Leclerc.
At the last round in China, Hamilton picked up his first podium in red with a third-place finish and ahead of this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix, the seven-time F1 world champion divulged his pre-season preparations and a firm decision he made on Christmas Day.
“Training this winter has been the heaviest and the most intense that I’ve ever had, and that probably comes hand in hand with being older, said the 41-year-old. “It takes longer to recover.
“But I’ve managed to pull these new tools together. I’ve got a great trainer that I’ve been working with in the past, but we worked together since Christmas Day.
“Then the time at the factory, obviously new engineer, and that’s obviously been a real good boost as well. Great morale within the team.
“And as I said, I just decided on Christmas Day how I was going to start this season. I decided what I was going to do mentally and I’m going to continue to tweak that.”
Hamilton is working with Carlo Santi as his temporary race engineer, having dispensed with Riccardo Adami. Cedric Michel-Grosjean is expected to fill the role permanently in the coming weeks.
Hamilton added after China: “I definitely feel like I’m back to my best, both mentally and physically.
“I still think there’s room to improve. “I think I can still eke out more performance from this car. I’m still learning about it as I go, particularly with [energy] deployment.
“I do think there’s more to come.”
Hamilton is a five-time winner of the Japanese Grand Prix and is still eyeing his first grand prix victory for Ferrari. The Scuderia have not claimed a win since October 2024 with former driver Carlos Sainz.
