Round 12 of the 2025 F1 season takes place at Silverstone as the British GP comes around once again, and Scuderia Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton has opened up on communicating with Loic Serra regarding the 2026 package.
Heading into his home race that he has won a staggering nine times, the 40-year-old discussed his feeling in the car and the step forward in Austria.
The 105-time race winner had a pretty good weekend at the Red Bull Racing. He was 0.090s slower than Charles Leclerc in qualifying as they ended up P2 and P4 on the grid. On race day the seven-time World Champion finished 9.2s behind his teammate as the pair finished P3 and P4 behind the dominant McLarens.
Lewis Hamilton working closely with Loic Serra to have input on Ferrari’s 2026 F1 car
After the race last weekend, Lewis Hamilton discussed in the print media pen how he hoped to adapt quicker than Carlos Sainz did to an oversteering Ferrari.
A car with a solid amount of oversteer is something Charles Leclerc very much likes, along with other drivers such as Max Verstappen. It has proven to be very fast in the ground effect era.
However, on F1 British GP media day, Hamilton struck a different tone in his print media session as he explained how he hopes to have some of his DNA in the Ferrari 2026 car, with Loic Serra leading the development on the chassis side.
The pair worked together at Mercedes for many years before both joined Ferrari. Serra joined in October 2024, Hamilton followed in January 2025.
“This year with this car, there’s obviously we have lots of different tools and things that we, the ways in which we can set the car up.
“Obviously, Charles has been here for a long time, and he’s been a part of evolving, developing this car. He’s very accustomed to it. They’ve found, and he’s found one way in which the car works.
Other set-up directions did not work
“And I’ve tried all the other directions that should work, but they just don’t for whatever reasons.
“I’ve slowly migrated to the place where Charles does run the car. And last week was the closest that I’ve been, and our pace was the closest it has ever been.
“So, it is still tough. It’s a tough balance to drive, and it’s not a comfortable one. It’s not one that I want to have in the future.
“So, I’m working with Loic and with all the guys at the factory to make sure that the next car will have naturally some of my DNA in it.
“And hopefully, we’ll be able to get some of the characteristics that I’m hoping to have in it for next year.”
Can the potential wet weather play into the hands of Lewis Hamilton at the F1 British GP?
Lewis Hamilton goes into his home race without a Grand Prix podium in 2025, a quite remarkable statistic for the most successful driver in F1 history.
As always when the circus travels to Silverstone, the threat of rain is almost always a possibility.
Asked if the DNA of a car is not so important in those conditions and can be driven around, Lewis Hamilton explained how important having confidence in the car — as well as needing it to be fast — is vital to a good result.
He destroyed the field in horrendous conditions here in 2008, as well as taking a memorable victory in mixed conditions last year.
“I mean, I think in the wet, definitely there’s more of the same edge of the seat or the feeling from your butt that’s really helping you make even more of a difference compared to others.
“But the car still plays a huge role. If you have a car that’s braking when you don’t want it to brake, and you have snaps and instability, that doesn’t matter how good you are, you can’t drive around those issues.
“So, you still need the package underneath you. You still need temperature in your tyres and your brakes, and not having glazing, and not having inconsistent brakes, all those sorts of things.”
