Lewis Hamilton: ‘New F1 cars more fun to drive’ than previous eras

Lewis Hamilton: ‘New F1 cars more fun to drive’ than previous eras

Lewis Hamilton’s wealth of Formula 1 experience places him in the best place to assess the new technology of cars – and he’s having fun with what he’s driving to date.

The seven-time F1 world champion is coming into the fifth major rules overhaul of his profession and has often been vocal about which period of automobile he has most well-liked to race with, particularly after a gruelling experience in the ground-effect interval of 2022-25.

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Perhaps this offers gasoline to Hamilton’s positivity over the new technology of F1 cars which made their official observe debuts at the Barcelona shakedown this week, the place the British driver was available to take a look at out Ferrari’s SF-26 following a filming day run at Fiorano after its launch last week.

Hamilton, who unofficially set the quickest lap of the shakedown with a 1m16.348s and contributed to Ferrari’s complete of 444 laps of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya with team-mate Charles Leclerc, says the new F1 cars are more satisfying to drive as they’re more forgiving than the knife-edge stability that was a trademark of the ground-effect cars.

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“The car generation is actually a little bit more fun to drive,” Hamilton told F1 after the Barcelona shakedown. “It’s oversteery and snappy and sliding, but it’s a little bit easier to catch. I would definitely say more enjoyable.

“But we definitely have work to do to improve, of course, like everybody does. But I think we’ve had great debriefs. Everyone’s really on it. I really feel the winning mentality, like, in every single person in the team more than ever. So it’s a positive.”

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Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

Hamilton’s comments adopted an upbeat evaluation of Ferrari’s shakedown programme, which included the uncommon plan to run in moist circumstances on Tuesday. Red Bull was the only team to be a part of Ferrari on observe as soon as rain arrived, however the British driver was keen to experience the SF-26 in the moist, having had the “very hard” studying curve of his first wet-weather action in a Ferrari being in last yr’s Australian Grand Prix.

“It’s been a really enjoyable week, honestly. I think a huge amount of work over the winter on my side, but then what the team has done over the winter to make changes going into the test [is positive],” he explained.

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“A bit of an unusual start to the week when we tested and had a complete wet day, which was not something you would normally opt for, but last year I went to the first race and the Sunday of the actual race was the first time I had driven the Ferrari, and that was a very hard race. So it was good to have that experience and get that knowledge.

“And then just to see the mileage that we’ve been able to get the last couple of days, due to just so much great work from all the people back at the factory, which I’m really grateful for because having consistency, not having problems…

“Of course, there’s always small things, but we didn’t really have any downtime moments, while I’m sure perhaps they could potentially come up in the next weeks, but otherwise it’s a really, really solid couple of days.

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“And then in terms of just understanding the car and the balance, we have a lot less downforce than previous years.”

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Lewis Hamilton: “Today I did 85 laps in the morning, which is amazing”

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