Lewis Hamilton has changed his mind about driving Silverstone after 2026 rule changes

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Lewis Hamilton raised fears about how the 2026 F1 cars would handle the challenge posed by the Silverstone circuit.

Speaking in the pre-race press conference, Hamilton said the drivers were facing ‘the most unprecedented weekend in terms of power deployment’. His colleagues agreed in their social media group chat.

Hamilton added that it would feel like ‘a completely different track’ if drivers were forced to coast through iconic corners like Maggots and Becketts. Already, he was talking about ‘rectifying it for next year’ (when the power split will be adjusted in favour of the ICE).

Lewis Hamilton: My fears about Silverstone weren’t realised

Max Verstappen said he started laughing when driving the track on the simulator because of how quickly he was running out of electrical energy. Aside from the first corner and final chicane, the high-speed circuit lacks the kind of major braking events that are needed for harvesting.

How is energy management affecting the spectacle at Silverstone? 🪫

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Put simply, the concern was that the track would demand far more energy than the battery was able to provide.

But after qualifying third for Sunday’s Grand Prix, Hamilton said he had been pleasantly ‘surprised’ by the driving experience. He holds the record for most wins at a single circuit with nine here.

“I think we’ve all been surprised,” said Hamilton. “It’s really a lot better than we anticipated. It’s still really great fun to drive this track. For me, it’s my favourite circuit.”

Hamilton lost the lead to Kimi Antonelli in the Sprint race after appearing to run out of energy on the Hangar Straight, but he remained positive.

Further back, there were glimpses of the ‘yo-yo racing’ that characterised the early rounds of the season, though opinions will be split on how this affected the spectacle.

As for the low-fuel running, Antonelli’s pole time of a 1:28.1 was 3.3 seconds slower than Max Verstappen’s qualifying benchmark from last year.

In Miami, the last venue in the circa-90-second bracket, the time loss relative to the 2025 cars was only 1.5 seconds. It’s clear that cornering speeds have fallen considerably, then, but for Hamilton, the ‘fun’ factor remains.