Ferrari have now decided not to make one ‘profound’ change to Lewis Hamilton’s 2026 F1 car

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Lewis Hamilton is now pinning his hopes on the 2026 F1 regulations being the key for his return to the top, having endured a discouraging first season with Ferrari in 2025.

The 40-year-old moved to Maranello after 12 seasons with Mercedes, and he even stated in February that Ferrari had “every ingredient” to win a title again. Ferrari have not won the F1 drivers’ championship since 2007 and also won their most recent constructors’ title in 2008.

But while Hamilton had high hopes for his first season as a Ferrari driver, the Briton soon felt the Scuderia actually lack in many ways. Hamilton has urged Ferrari to introduce large-scale changes throughout the 2025 F1 season, having drawn on his dominant years for Mercedes.

Hamilton is desperate to get Ferrari in a stronger position ahead of the arrival of the 2026 F1 regulations, featuring new engine, aerodynamic, chassis and tyre rules. The new regulations should deliver cars that are more suited to Hamilton than the ground-effect cars since 2022.

Charles Leclerc’s podiums convince Ferrari to rule out a major suspension change in 2026

F1’s 2026 regulations will remove the venturi channels that are vital for improving a ground-effect car. The change in regulations will even allow for ride height set-ups more in line with what Hamilton thrived with, as he won six of his seven titles for Mercedes from 2014-2020.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about F1’s engine and aerodynamic regulations

And Gazzetta dello Sport reports that Charles Leclerc taking back-to-back podiums with P3 in the 2025 United States Grand Prix and P2 in the Mexico City Grand Prix ‘eliminated many doubts’ that Ferrari had about the suspension set-up that they will use for the 2026 season.

Ferrari have now ruled out running a ‘profoundly modified’ suspension set-up in 2026, with Leclerc’s recent rostrums convincing the Scuderia that they only need to revise, rather than revolutionise, their geometries. His podiums came at a crucial phase of Ferrari’s 2026 plans.

Engineers in Maranello had been weighing up major changes to their front and rear internal suspension set-ups for 2026 before Leclerc’s P3 in the 2025 United States GP and P2 in the Mexico City GP. His rostrums marked Ferrari’s sixth and seventh of the 2025 season thus far.

Ferrari will change the spring rates of the torsion bars and heave damper on their 2026 car

Now, Ferrari’s engineers only intend to change the spring rates of the torsion bars and heave damper, which manages the ride height, with their 2026 car. Ferrari introduced a major rear suspension upgrade at the 2025 Belgian Grand Prix, of which the effects were still uncertain.

The Scuderia introduced their upgrade at Spa in July to try to reduce the nervousness of the rear of the SF-25, and to also let the team run the car lower to the ground. But Ferrari’s rear suspension upgrade in Belgium created problems as the car did not react to set-up changes.

Ferrari also remain the only one of F1’s top four teams yet to win a Grand Prix in 2025 after the first 20 rounds of this year’s scheduled 24. Yet Leclerc’s P2 in the Mexico City GP after a P3 in the United States GP has shown Ferrari that their suspension set-up can bring results.