Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton has made it clear that he “really believes we can fight” for the 2026 title and feels “more focused than ever”, with the Briton looking to continue his competitive second campaign at the team in Hungary this weekend.
After a difficult start to life in red last year, Hamilton is enjoying a new lease of life with the Scuderia, having made several changes behind the scenes over the winter and gelled with F1’s new generation of cars.
Indeed, following his podium-less 2025, the seven-time World Champion has five rostrums from the opening 10 rounds this season, including his first Grand Prix win for Ferrari at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya last month.
Arriving at the Hungarian Grand Prix, which marks the final round before the sport’s annual summer break, Hamilton sits second in the Drivers’ Championship standings on 159 points, 45 behind Mercedes rival Kimi Antonelli.
Asked about his chances of winning around the Hungaroring, where he has claimed pole position a record nine times and victory a record eight times, Hamilton said: “I don’t want to make assumptions. We went to a couple of races… I mean we ultimately should have won the last two races, I think, if we perfected the weekend.
“In Silverstone, the car was capable of winning, and then in Spa, we were a lot more competitive than we thought, so I think I missed something on that weekend. That’s something I don’t want to do this weekend.
“I think we’ve got a car that can compete. Mercedes is still the car to beat, and they won’t be easy to beat this weekend, but I do think we’ve made subtle progress. Hopefully we can be fighting with them this weekend.”
Pushed on how good it feels to be in the mix for the title, Hamilton added: “It’s amazing. It’s a great feeling. Especially if you look at the contrast of where we were last year here.
“For one, I’m really proud of the team, of the step we’ve taken collectively, and then I have to always acknowledge my own efforts, the work that I’ve put in and the changes that I’ve made to enable us to be where we are. I’m really proud of myself for that.
“Still a lot of work to do, still a mountain to climb in the second half of the season, but I’m more focused than ever and really believe that we can fight.”
On the other side of the Ferrari garage, Charles Leclerc is looking to continue his own positive trajectory at recent events, after victory in Britain and a P2 finish in Belgium, with memories of his pole in Budapest last year also fresh in the memory.
“The last few races we’ve been performing well,” said the Monegasque. “I think we’ve done a good job in maximising our package, and that meant in the last two races we were in contention for the win with a little bit of luck and VSC (Virtual Safety Car) at the right time – but we were still there and more competitive than what we thought.
“Having said that, I think we need to really be careful because with these cars, the smallest detail that you don’t do right can swing massively the performance, and it can end up as a disastrous weekend when you expect a very good weekend, and the opposite as well is true.
“So, our goal is to really focus on the preparation, not really thinking about what are the expectations around us, because surely the expectations are quite a lot for a weekend like this on a track like that. We are just focusing on the preparation and we’ll see how it goes.”
