FIORANO MODENESE, Italy (AP) — Team principal Fred Vasseur says Ferrari is “more united than ever” as Lewis Hamilton test drove the car designed to bring the Italian giant back to the front of the Formula 1 field following a troubled 2025.
Hamilton was at the wheel as the SF-26 took to Ferrari’s Fiorano test track on a cool, damp winter’s day for brief “shakedown” runs Friday ahead of the start of official F1 preseason testing next week in Spain.
One of the biggest regulation changes in F1 history could offer Ferrari the chance to move on from a difficult 2025 season in which Hamilton and teammate Charles Leclerc failed to win a single Grand Prix. In his debut season with Ferrari, seven-time champion Hamilton didn’t even make a Grand Prix podium — a first for his career — though he did win a sprint race.
“This car is the result of a tremendous team effort and represents the start of a completely new journey, built around a different set of rules that inevitably brings a number of unknowns,” Vasseur said. “The team is aligned and more united than ever as we look ahead to the season.”
Ferrari’s lack of success in 2025 had given rise to speculation over Vasseur’s place as team principal before he was handed a contract extension in July with emphatic backing from Ferrari management.
Hamilton said it’s been “a particularly fascinating challenge” to develop the SF-26, especially as the rules have changed to mandate smaller, lighter cars with a crucial role for electrical power.
“The 2026 season represents a huge challenge for everyone, probably the biggest regulation change I have experienced in my career,” Hamilton said Friday. “When a new era begins everything revolves around development, growth as a team, and moving forward in the same direction.”
The first race of the new season is the Australian Grand Prix on March 8.
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