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F1, Lewis Hamilton ready to play it all: redemption or failure

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On Feb. 1, 2025, Ferrari made official its agreement with seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton. An “important purchase” that boded many victories for the Redhead. Instead, after a year, the Briton has collected only great disappointments, having a nightmarish season, without even one victory with the Cavallino (apart from the Sprint in the Chinese GP). Now, with just a few weeks to go before the start of his second year in Maranello, Sir Lewis has no more excuses: either he finds a way to redeem himself or his adventure with Ferrari will be the biggest failure of his career.

Fabrizio PonciroliLewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc immediately on track with the new Ferrari SF-26: photos

In Maranello, Ferrari unveiled the SF-26, the new single-seater for the 2026 Formula 1 World Championship
Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton will race the SF-26 in the 2026 championship.
The all-white cockpit is reminiscent of the legendary '312 T' of Niki Lauda champion in 1975.
The SF-26 is the seventy-second car in the history of the Maranello-based team.
For Leclerc it will be the'eighth car of his adventure at Ferrari, for Hamilton, however, only the second.
The seven-time world champion was the first to take to the track in the SF-26 at Fiorano for the shakedown.
After Lewis it was the Monegasque’s turn to test the new single-seater at the Fiorano circuit.

Planned only a couple of race laps and a start test to check operation.
The first tests of the season will take place in Barcelona, on the Montmeló circuit, from Jan. 26 to 30.
The teams will fine-tune the new power units during the Catalan tests.
In February new tests in Bahrain, while the World Championship will start on Sunday, March 8 in Australia

At the end of testing in Barcelona, Lewis Hamilton appeared confident. “2026 represents a huge challenge for everyone: it is probably the biggest regulatory change I have experienced during my career,” the seven-time World Champion stressed. The new single-seater, the SF-26, looks significantly better than the previous version, and this is already a major step forward for Lewis Hamilton who, throughout the last World Championship, complained about his Ferrari.

Clearly, three days of testing cannot be enough to say that the wind has changed direction and Ferrari is ready to fight for the World Championship. However, having a good feeling with the single-seater is crucial for a driver who is back from a series of really heavy failures to endure, especially for one who has won the World Championship title seven times and is the one who has won the most GPs, exactly 105, in the history of Formula 1.

The Ferrari’s team is also ready to fight for the World Championship.

Even Rossa fans know that this is the key year for Lewis Hamilton. Either he finds a way to redeem his name or he will be branded a resounding flop. The second scenario would be a black mark on a truly spectacular career.

In the meantime, the various stables are preparing for the upcoming tests. A double test session has been scheduled in February in Bahrain, both open-door. The first is scheduled from Feb. 11 to 13, the second from Feb. 18 to 20, also in February. Lewis Hamilton aims to do even better with his new SF-26.

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