Lewis Hamilton, in his first half-season with Ferrari, has experienced mixed results on track. Despite the ups and downs, the seven-time Formula 1 world champion has been working tirelessly behind the scenes, preparing as much material and insight as possible to support the Italian team’s push for a stronger 2026 campaign.
At the Belgian Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton revealed that his behind-the-scenes efforts included compiling detailed notes and documents, which were sent to various technical departments within Ferrari. Drawing on his extensive experience during his long periods of success with McLaren and Mercedes, Hamilton has applied the same methodical approach to sharing insights and data with his new team.
The 40-year-old driver is putting in significant effort alongside the Ferrari team to enhance competitiveness for the upcoming season and, ultimately, to end the team’s championship drought that has persisted since 2008.
Lewis Hamilton’s work behind the scenes
During the Belgian Grand Prix weekend, Lewis Hamilton disclosed that he holds numerous meetings with the senior management at Ferrari and that he has shared a substantial amount of targeted documentation aimed at improving every part of the team.
“I held a lot of meetings, so I called many sessions with the team’s leadership. I participated in several meetings with John [Elkann], Benedetto [Vigna], and Fred [Vasseur],” Lewis Hamilton explained.
“I sat down with the head of development of our car, Loic [Serra],” he added. “But also with the heads of different departments, discussing the engine for next year, the front suspension for next year, the rear suspension for next year. Even the things we want and the problems we currently have with the car.”
Lewis Hamilton further revealed, “I sent documents. I did it throughout the year. After the first races, I prepared a comprehensive document for the team. Then, during this break between races, I sent two more, and they arrived, and they wanted to address them.”
He elaborated, “Part of it involves structural changes that we need to make as a team to improve in every aspect we want to enhance. Then another concerned the car itself, the problems I currently have with this car, and some things we would like to bring to next year’s car. And the last one focused on areas we need to work on and change for next year,” explained the seven-time world champion.
New details about the documents
The following weekend, at the Hungarian Grand Prix, Hamilton was asked to clarify his previous statements from Belgium. He was specifically questioned about the format of the documents—whether they were in PowerPoint, Word, or Excel—and what they contained.
The British driver gave a vague response: “I’m not sure what I should say. It seems everyone wants to ask me, but it’s just a Word document.”
He was then asked whether the notes in those Word documents were positive, negative, or a combination of both. Hamilton has not gone into full detail publicly, but it is clear that the documents represent a comprehensive effort to provide Ferrari with actionable insights on both the car’s current performance and the technical areas they will focus on for 2026.
Through these efforts, Lewis Hamilton demonstrates that his contribution to Ferrari extends far beyond his performances on the track. He is actively engaging with the team’s technical leadership to ensure that Ferrari can extract maximum value from his experience and insights, helping to shape the car for the future and increase the team’s competitiveness in the next season.
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