THE 2026 BLUEPRINT: HOW LEWIS HAMILTON IS SECRETLY SHAPING FERRARI’S NEXT-GEN POWER UNIT
Lewis Hamilton is betting on 2026: Discover why Jenson Button believes new F1 rules will save Hamilton’s struggling Ferrari career.
Jenson Button thinks the new Formula 1 rules are going to be a turning point for Lewis Hamilton’s future in the sport. Hamilton’s first year with Ferrari? Pretty rough. He didn’t even get on the podium once, a first for him, and finished sixth in the drivers’ standings, while Ferrari landed fourth in the Constructors’ Championship. Now, Hamilton’s 41 and not shy about wanting things to get better this season. Button, though, is still hopeful. He figures Hamilton’s early work with Ferrari’s 2026 car could really pay off.
Button knows what he’s talking about; he spent three years as Hamilton’s teammate at McLaren. Watching Hamilton struggle last season was hard for him. “It was tough, I have to say, watching Lewis in 2025,” Button told Sky Sports News before the new season kicks off in Australia on March 8. “I know how good he is. You could see how much it hurt him. You almost forget everything he’s accomplished because you just see the pain in his face. But honestly, with these new regulations, I think we’ll see Lewis back at his best.”
Button thinks Hamilton’s going to have a real say in how Ferrari builds the new car, and that’ll make a big difference. “He’ll help shape the car in a way that works for him,” Button said. “I hope we see that. Everyone wants to see Ferrari and Lewis fighting at the front again.”
The rule changes this time around are pretty major. The biggest stuff? Overhauls to the power unit and new hybrid engines. Aerodynamics are getting a shake-up, too, and F1’s dropping the drag reduction system completely. Teams also have to deal with new financial rules after the cap on operational costs went up. Ferrari’s hoping all this helps them get back in the title fight. Button, who just retired last year, says with all these changes, “anything is possible” as the sport heads into a new era.
Last season, Hamilton’s teammate Charles Leclerc outshone him, grabbing seven podiums even though they drove the same car. Leclerc’s been at Ferrari longer, so that probably helped, but Hamilton’s betting that another year at Maranello will give him what he needs by 2026.
Still, Button doesn’t sugarcoat it. If things don’t turn around for Hamilton this year, it might never work out, which could mean the end of the road for him in F1. “Switching teams and going up against someone who’s been there for years is always tough,” Button said. “But now Lewis has had time to settle in, build relationships, and shape the car’s direction. This year’s huge for him. If it doesn’t click, I don’t know if it ever will. This is his chance to turn things around.”
FRED VASSEUR REJECTS TEAM ORDERS AS FERRARI DRIVERS DUEL CLEANLY IN SHANGHAI
Lewis Hamilton secures his first Ferrari podium at the Chinese GP as Fred Vasseur praises his drivers' clean racing.
Fred Vasseur felt pretty good about Ferrari’s performance in the Chinese Grand Prix, especially the way his drivers fought each other so cleanly, even though, as he admitted, it could’ve ended up looking like a disaster.
Ferrari started the race in third and fourth, and, right from the get-go, both drivers didn’t hold back. They actually got ahead of the Mercedes for a bit, but it didn't last; they ended up getting passed again. In those early laps, the two Ferraris were stuck between the Mercedes cars: Kimi Antonelli stretched his lead while George Russell stayed glued to their tails.
Lewis Hamilton led George Russell early on, and those two swapped places a bunch of times. Ferrari’s drivers did, too. There were moments when they went side by side, pushing the absolute limit, without ever making contact. Honestly, they kept at it almost the entire race. The last big move happened on Lap 40. Hamilton passed Leclerc and held onto third place, finally putting a red car on the podium for the first time this year.
Even with all that fighting, both Ferraris came home without a scratch. The drivers both said they had a blast; it was tough, hard racing, but always clean.
Vasseur, who runs the show at Ferrari, was quick to praise them. “Huge respect for both of them,” he told the press. “They’re total pros, and it just made sense to let them race. Sure, sometimes you risk looking stupid if things go wrong, but that’s a chance I’m willing to take.”
He was clear about his philosophy early in the season: you’ve got to let the drivers race. No team orders from the pit wall, just a chance to let them build up the team spirit by pushing each other. “This is how you make real progress,” Vasseur said. “As long as they race like they did today, I won’t freeze the positions. Even on the radio, they were telling us they were having fun.”
Once Hamilton got past Leclerc on Lap 40, the order was set. Hamilton got his first podium for Ferrari, which was huge even if his first season with them had been tough so far. Vasseur wasn’t worried, though.
“It’s so much easier the second year,” Vasseur explained. “He’s been part of the project for a while now; he started working with us as far back as mid-2025, doing simulator runs. He’s got more of a stake in this now compared to when he just turned up last January, and the car was already built. He knows everyone better, and working with the team is just smoother.”
But Vasseur knows Ferrari still has a big gap to Mercedes. The team has shown some solid pace in these first two races, but closing that gap will take time. “We’ve got to keep chipping away with those small gains, that’s how we’ll catch up.”
Right now, Ferrari’s battles out on track aren’t causing any problems. As the season goes on, though, Vasseur’s going to have to keep a lid on any tension because the championship’s heating up. Ferrari trails Mercedes by 31 points, and Leclerc and Hamilton are both chasing Russell for the drivers’ title, sitting 17 and 18 points behind.
If Ferrari’s going to have any shot at beating Mercedes, they’ll need to be on it every step of the way and stay ready to jump if their rivals make a mistake.
MCLAREN FACE RELIABILITY CRISIS AFTER LANDO NORRIS AND OSCAR PIASTRI MISS CHINESE GRAND PRIX
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri suffer a double DNS at the Chinese GP due to Mercedes' power unit electrical failures.
McLaren’s hoping to turn things around after a rough weekend in China; both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri couldn’t even start the race on Sunday. For Norris, it’s the first time he’s ever sat out a race since he joined F1. Piastri’s probably even more frustrated that he hasn’t managed a single lap in two races this season. He crashed on his way to the grid back in Australia, and this time, both he and Norris ran into electrical issues with the Mercedes power unit. There just wasn’t enough time to fix anything.
It’s been a long time since things went this sideways for McLaren. The last time both cars missed the start was that weird 2005 U.S. Grand Prix in Indianapolis, when only six cars raced because of the Michelin tyre fiasco.
Oscar Piastri’s still trying to wrap his head around it all. Team boss Andrea Stella summed it up, saying, "It’s tough for Oscar. He still hasn’t started a race this campaign, and you can imagine that’s not easy to handle. But honestly, the guys are keeping their heads up."
He said the team’s gone through crazier stuff. The past season was a big step forward; they developed what they call a ‘winner’s mindset’ inside the team. Last year, when McLaren bagged the double championship, Stella said their real victory wasn’t in Abu Dhabi but in Qatar and Vegas. That’s where they held it together, even when things got messy.
Remember Qatar? Piastri lost a win because the team botched the strategy. Vegas wasn’t any better; both cars got disqualified for a technical issue right after crossing the line in second and fourth.
Stella gets it; you have to tough out these moments. He thinks every setback helps build the team into real champions. He sees that attitude in Piastri, Norris, and pretty much everyone on the crew right now.
He also pointed out that the problems in China weren’t the same in both cars. It just happened that they affected the same component. Pretty lousy luck, really, and not something McLaren could control this early in the season. Stella called it ‘exceptional and uncharacteristic’ for both cars to fail at once, especially for the same part. The team’s working with Mercedes’ High Performance Powertrains to pick it apart and see what’s what. Once they dig deeper, maybe they'll find out if anything on McLaren’s side played a role. But for now, it just stings.
