Aiming for redemption
Today in Barcelona, with the first day of shakedown running, the 2026 Formula 1 season officially gets underway — the season of revolution. New aerodynamics, different power units, and a real chance for teams to overturn the hierarchies that have become established over recent years. It represents a golden opportunity for Ferrari, coming off a disastrous 2025 campaign and eager to finally return to fighting for race wins and for a World Championship that has been missing since the 2007–2008 seasons.
Speaking of redemption, this year all the attention of Ferrari fans — and not only them — will be focused on Lewis Hamilton. The seven-time world champion’s first season with the Prancing Horse on his chest was one to forget; now the British driver is called upon to deliver a true sporting resurgence, also to avoid the risk that this campaign could turn into his final season in the Formula 1 Circus. Interviewed by Leo Turrini for QN, Ivan Capelli — former Ferrari driver and now a highly regarded Sky Italia TV commentator — attempted to analyse the current situation at the Scuderia and that of car number 44.
“I believe Ferrari has a duty to be competitive,” Ivan Capelli said. “I expect them to be up there, fighting with the best. Lewis, in my opinion, still wants to take risks. He is coming off a bad year and he knows it. He will look for redemption; I can’t imagine a career ending marked by sadness. However, I find it strange that his new race engineer has not yet been officially announced, to replace Riccardo Adami. Maybe it’s just a matter of hours, but certain things should be clarified in advance.”
Lewis or Adrian?
Ivan Capelli did not miss the opportunity to take a small swipe at Ferrari over their failure to secure Adrian Newey. The current Aston Martin team principal, with whom Capelli worked during his time at Leyton House, had been very close to joining the Scuderia in 2024 before the deal — as is well known — ultimately collapsed. “There was a negotiation,” Ivan Capelli confirmed. “As far as I know, it did not materialise because he was asking for operational freedom within the company that his counterparts did not feel able to grant.”
But would Ferrari have needed Adrian Newey behind the desk more than Hamilton behind the wheel? On this point, Ivan Capelli has no doubts at all: “Newey, any day of the week. Ferrari already had a top driver: that’s Charles Leclerc. Anyway, that’s how it went, and there’s no point in continuing to talk about it,” concluded the former Milanese driver.
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