Lewis Hamilton arrives at the 2026 F1 Hungarian GP in a far stronger position than he found himself in 12 months ago, both personally and as part of Ferrari’s continued development.
After recent performances showed that Ferrari can challenge at the front, Hamilton believes the team now has a competitive overall package. However, despite the progress made and the expected suitability of the Hungaroring, the seven-time World Champion still views Mercedes as the benchmark heading into the weekend.
Hamilton arrives in Hungary ‘worlds away’ from last year
Hamilton has reflected on the progress he and Ferrari have made since his difficult weekend at the Hungaroring last season.
The seven-time World Champion endured one of his toughest weekends of the year at the 2025 Hungarian Grand Prix. Having seen teammate Charles Leclerc take a shock pole position, the now 41-year-old was down in 12th on the grid.
However, Hamilton believes the work he has completed both personally and with the team has placed him in a significantly stronger position 12 months later.
“Definitely 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. One day when I do my documentary I’ll tell you all about that weekend 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 in much worlds away from where I was last year. I feel really grateful for where we’ve developed as a team, the pieces to the puzzle that I moved and come together and now we come here with a great car, with a great package as a whole that we can fight with.“
Recent results show Ferrari are moving forward
Lewis Hamilton also believes Ferrari’s recent performances have demonstrated the progress the team has made, despite mistakes and damage preventing it from maximising its potential at several events.
He explained that a small change in set-up direction at Silverstone took his Ferrari out of contention for victory, while damage to his car affected his chances during the previous race weekend.
“Every weekend the goal is to try and extract the most from the weekend and I would say we had a couple of really good weekends and we got to Silverstone and started out strong and one step in the wrong direction that took us away from competing for a win. And then same thing last week, so that just shows how it can sometimes go in the sport. But I’m still grateful that we’ve had the consistency and we’re still scoring points.“
Hamilton felt Ferrari were closer to the leading pace of Mercedes than the team had expected at circuits it had initially anticipated would prove difficult.
“But when I meant that we could have, I think out of pure pace, I think the front runners weren’t that. Normally Kimi [Antonelli] can be so fast, he pulls away and he wasn’t that ballistic like he normally is and we were a lot closer than we had thought. So to go to two circuits that we thought we would be quite far behind and be as close as we were, have Charles [Leclerc] win the Grand Prix and me coming in second I think is a world of showing that we’re moving in the right direction.“
Mercedes remain the team to beat
Although the characteristics of the Hungaroring could suit Ferrari’s package, Lewis Hamilton refused to make any confident predictions about the team’s position ahead of the 2026 F1 Hungarian GP.
Mercedes overturned similar expectations by winning in Monaco, another circuit dominated by slower corners, and Hamilton expects the championship leaders to remain strong in Hungary.
“There isn’t anything. I think Mercedes are still the team to beat. They’ve won almost all the races. They’re quick in all circuits, fast and slow speed circuits, so they were quickest in Monaco. We have to anticipate they could be quickest this weekend as well.“
