Lewis Hamilton begins his second season at Ferrari with a clear mission. After a disappointing debut year, in which he failed to achieve a podium for the first time in his career and was outperformed by teammate Charles Leclerc, he is fully focused on winning. The past test weeks in Bahrain show great promise for Hamilton, although it remains to be seen whether things will click this year between the celebrated Briton and the Italian team.
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“The goal is to win. That’s what we’re working towards,” Hamilton said Thursday during the FIA press conference in Melbourne. “Every team does that, but that is our goal: to make the most of every opportunity and compete at the front, hopefully as early as the first races.” Experts saw that Ferrari came out strong from the test days, although Hamilton does not want to make concrete statements about the relative balance of power. “It’s hard to say,” he explained. “Mercedes looked fast, and I don’t know if Red Bull has shown its true potential yet; so it’s really very exciting. That doesn’t change the fact that I have a great group of people behind me who are fully focused on delivering performance and maximizing every weekend.”
Good winter tests
Ferrari had a productive winter with many test kilometers and strong times in Barcelona and Bahrain, which increases confidence heading into the season opener. “We covered a lot of kilometers during the winter tests,” Hamilton admitted. “An enormous amount of work has been done by the team at the factory, but we also achieved good results during those tests,” he added. “We leave the bad behind and move forward with the good. We are sharp, prepared, and we know what we need to do. At the same time, we also know that the new rules and regulations bring enormous challenges.”
Despite the lack of a permanent race engineer, Hamilton feels better equipped than 12 months ago. “It’s vastly different from the first year and it feels much better,” he said. “I’ve been with this team for a year now, I’ve gotten to know the culture and I understand how the people here work. We are simply better attuned to each other and because of that, I also feel more connected to the team. So yes, I am much happier.”
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‘Reinvented myself’
Last year, Hamilton still openly doubted his future in Formula 1. Where does this renewed positivity come from? “A combination of things,” he explained. “The winter break was very positive. The environment felt familiar, as did the people I was with. It’s not always easy, but I always try to adopt a positive mindset and that’s what I focused on during the winter; building self-confidence and working harder than anyone else. Reinventing myself was also an important part of that.”
“As I’ve already shared on social media, I was lost for a while,” he honestly declared. “But you won’t see that person again.” Hamilton described the recent period as a turning point: “Many people go through that at some point in their lives, and it is important that you pick yourself up again and come back with a positive attitude. I feel great now and the training and the collaboration with the team have been fantastic. My personal life, but also how I approach the team and how the team works; everything is running much smoother than last year.”
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