Lewis Hamilton motivated: “Now I’m in sync with the team and able to maximize the car”

Lewis Hamilton will start from third on the grid at the Mexican Grand Prix with a single goal in mind: to attack. The objective is clear — use the slipstream from Charles Leclerc and pole-sitter Lando Norris to launch towards the lead and chase what would be his first true triumph in Ferrari colors. It is a dream that fuels ambition, though the road to realizing it remains long and tricky, much like the straight that leads to Turn 1 at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.Before even looking ahead to the race, it’s worth considering the significance of this third place. It marks not only Hamilton’s best qualifying result of the season but also proof that his gap to Leclerc is steadily shrinking — a clear sign of progress compared to the early rounds of 2025, when the differences between the two Ferrari drivers were much wider.

Of course, it’s not the kind of result that can fully satisfy a seven-time world champion, even if the driver alongside him is one of the most gifted talents on the grid. Yet it represents another crucial step in Hamilton’s adaptation to Ferrari — the process of learning how to extract the maximum from a completely new car and team environment. This optimization and adaptability to the package are exactly what Hamilton had been missing at times this year, while Leclerc has often managed to deliver podiums through a more complete understanding of the SF-25.

Hamilton himself emphasized this point, explaining that step by step he feels increasingly comfortable with the car, the result of a long year of work that is now starting to pay off. After all, it’s not unusual for a driver to need time to adapt when moving to a completely different technical and procedural environment — patience is often key to success in such transitions.

It’s no coincidence that Hamilton highlighted procedures as a major area of progress. With Ferrari’s car development now largely frozen — whether by choice or technical limits — operations and consistency become the main levers for improvement. Earlier in the season, Ferrari appeared strong on the operational and strategic front, but the second half saw some costly mistakes that weakened that foundation, compromising potential results.

Both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, as well as team principal Frédéric Vasseur, have pointed to procedural progress as one of the key recent improvements. This has given the Maranello team greater solidity in qualifying sessions, especially across the back-to-back weekends in Austin and Mexico City. Technical factors also played a role: the smooth surface of the Mexican circuit allows Ferrari to run the SF-25 lower to the ground — an ideal window for a car that is highly sensitive to ride height changes.

Still, Hamilton knew that a leap in execution was required — from lap preparation to tyre management, every small detail could make a crucial difference. Today, however, the British driver feels he has taken a genuine step forward, not only technically but also in terms of his full integration into the team.

“I’m really grateful to the team for all the hard work and constant effort throughout the year,” Hamilton said. “Of course, I wish I could have experienced this earlier in the season, but the important thing is that we keep improving and stay positive. Our pace has been strong all weekend, and we’ve made great progress with the car.”

He added: “Obviously, I missed FP1, which didn’t really affect the weekend, but of course the more laps you get, the more you learn. I think I got the most out of the car. It’s not easy to put a lap together here, but I’m happy to be in this position.”

This fine-tuning work doesn’t concern just the car but also the driver pushing it to the limit. Lewis Hamilton admitted that the adaptation process has been long and complex, but now it is finally starting to bear fruit, thanks to a growing connection with his engineers. After spending more than a decade working with the same people at Mercedes, building new technical and personal relationships within Ferrari was always going to take time.

“It’s taken me a full year to get to this point — it’s really been a mountain to climb,” he said. “But finally, being in tune with everything around me — with myself and with my engineers — we’ve really started to extract the potential of the car.”

“I’m really, really happy. It’s been a tough year, and I can’t believe it’s taken this long to reach this level, but that’s okay. What matters is the journey, and I’ve grown so much along the way.”

For the race, the goal is clear: to turn the good feeling from qualifying into a tangible result and fight for his first real Ferrari podium. The start will be his first and best opportunity to attack, taking advantage of the slipstream and putting pressure on both his teammate and Lando Norris.

There’s also a key difference that Lewis Hamilton is fully aware of: the McLaren driver cannot afford mistakes in the title fight, while Lewis Hamilton has nothing to lose — a mindset that frees him to go on the attack. “Tomorrow I definitely want to be aggressive,” he said. “I’ve got nothing to lose, but he does. We’re going to fight hard, I’m sure of that, and hopefully we’ll be close enough to battle.”