Damon Hill thinks Lewis Hamilton is ‘in the mix’ with Ferrari after watching him during F1 testing

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Damon Hill and Johnny Herbert have been very positive about Lewis Hamilton’s chances with Ferrari ahead of the 2026 Formula 1 season.

Lewis Hamilton had a tricky start to pre-season testing in Bahrain, but by the end of the test, both he and Ferrari looked far more confident.

Hamilton struggled with the car’s braking at the beginning of running in Bahrain, but the SF-26’s stability seemed to improve as testing went on.

After failing to finish on the podium in 2025, Hamilton will hope to be far more competitive this season.

Martin Brundle is confident Hamilton’s fortunes will improve this year, and his former rivals Damon Hill and Johnny Herbert agree with his sentiment.

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Damon Hill thinks Lewis Hamilton is enjoying the ‘driving experience’ of Ferrari’s 2026 F1 car

Hill was speaking to Herbert about Hamilton on the Stay on Track Podcast ahead of the season opener in Australia.

The 1996 world champion said: “I think Ferrari are very interesting. I think they seem to be quite happy with where they are.”

Herbert replied: “Lewis has been positive with his comments about how happy he is with the car.”

Hill continued: “I think there weren’t any long faces, so I think he’s happy with it as far as the driving experience goes. I think he seems to be liking it.

“They’re in the mix, they’re in the top four. But it’s picking the winner from that, and the feeling is that the Mercedes have been hiding their light under a bushel.

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“How many times have we been to Bahrain in pre-season testing and Ferrari have looked good, or Barcelona for that matter?

“This is the slight worry with Ferrari, they kind of get themselves too far ahead too soon, but anyway, it was a good performance.

“They weren’t breaking down all the time; there’s a difference, the drivers looked happy driving the cars.”

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Johnny Herbert thinks a ‘changed’ Lewis Hamilton could challenge Charles Leclerc this season

Hill asked Herbert about who would come on top between Hamilton and Charles Leclerc if Ferrari are in championship contention, and he said: “The biggest thing, as it has been over the last season, for sure, is it was always Charles who was able to pluck the best out of the Ferrari.

“I know Lewis had that great Sprint Race in China, which he won, then they had the struggles during the race weekend when they got disqualified because they were wearing the floors out, but they were never really in contention at any point.

“But Charles was always doing a better job, but it was a more uncomfortable Lewis, and he was telling the world how uncomfortable he was with the car, and it wasn’t suiting him. That’s changed.

“Now, it’s changed, now we’re going to have to see if he can beat him.”

Herbert also suggested that Riccardo Adami moving on could be a ‘very positive’ thing for Hamilton if the relationship was never that strong to begin with. Both former drivers went on to say that a ‘happier Lewis’ could be a quicker Lewis.

Leclerc clearly came out on top in his first season, going head-to-head with Hamilton last year, beating him by 86 points.

Team principal Fred Vasseur will want to avoid a similar situation to the one that McLaren faced last year, with both drivers fighting for the championship.

Trying to choose whether to back Hamilton or Leclerc if a third driver is threatening their first drivers’ championship victory since 2007 could cause huge issues internally for the team.