Lewis Hamilton makes ‘amazing’ Sebastian Vettel comparison when asked why he’s so invested in Ferrari’s 2026 ambitions

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Lewis Hamilton hasn’t had the easiest start to life as a Ferrari Formula 1 driver and has been made to wait a long time to achieve his first podium with them.

He came agonisingly close at the British Grand Prix in front of his adoring home fans, but most encouraging were his team’s new upgrades.

Ferrari haven’t given up on trying to make the SF25 better yet, and are aware that there are plenty of areas to improve on. Hamilton has complained about multiple things.

With a tight fight for second place in the constructors’ championship, team boss Fred Vasseur will want the team to achieve as much as they can while focusing on developing a strong car for 2026.

Ferrari have already taken a bold gamble with their 2026 F1 car by continuing to invest in this year’s machine for so long.

After weeks of analysis, Ferrari will ‘likely’ make a secret change to Hamilton’s car in a bid to maximise the upgrades they are bringing. They want to extract everything they can from the SF25.

READ MORE: Ferrari now have one ‘internal’ question about Lewis Hamilton that could have a big impact on his future in Maranello

Lewis Hamilton makes ‘amazing’ Sebastian Vettel comparison about 2026 F1 car efforts

Hamilton will love Ferrari’s data, which is telling them that a new rear suspension upgrade for Spa will bring definite improvements.

However, away from the track, he’s hard at work making sure that whatever they add to their car can help them in the future.

Speaking in the official Formula 1 pre-race press conference, he admitted that he doesn’t want to fall short of a title with Ferrari, such as some of the ‘amazing’ drivers that have come before him.

“I feel it’s my job to challenge every area and challenge everybody in the team, especially the guys at the top who are making the decision,” he said. “If you look at the team in the last 20 years, they’ve had amazing drivers – Kimi, Fernando, Sebastian. I refuse for that to be the case with me.

“I’m going the extra mile. I’m fortunate to have had experiences in two other great teams. For sure things are going to be different, it’s a difficult culture and everything, but if you take the same path all the time you get the same result.”

READ MORE: The exciting Lewis Hamilton statistic that shows how quickly he’s improving during his first Ferrari season

Why have other F1 champions failed to lead Ferrari to success?

As Hamilton mentioned, the likes of Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso have failed to win titles with Ferrari.

Alonso fell short in 2010 and 2012 due to a mix of strategy and poor decision-making, while Vettel could blame his shortfalls in 2017 and 2018 on wrong turns in development.

Hamilton doesn’t want to copy the mistakes of those drivers as well as his team, and is working extra hard in a bid to turn things around.

Whether or not the Briton will be successful is almost impossible to tell, with the potential for the grid to be completely transformed next year. The harder he works, the more likely he is to win an eighth world title.