Lewis Hamilton will now love Adrian Newey’s 2026 prediction amid F1 paddock whispers about Ferrari

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Lewis Hamilton was the biggest winner when the Formula 1 regulations were overhauled in 2014. He’d joined Mercedes because he believed they were best-placed to capitalise, and it was a masterstroke.

Hamilton left McLaren at the end of 2012, and while he won a race in a competitive 2013 showing, it’s clear that he was playing the long game. After the V6 hybrids replaced the V8s, he won six world championships in seven seasons.

The power units have remained largely the same since. But next year, they will become far more reliant on the battery – making the cars up to 50% electric – and the MGU-H will be removed.

This time, Hamilton has placed his faith in Ferrari rather than Mercedes. Once again, he has moved on the eve of a seismic regulation change.

Adrian Newey said F1 could be an engine formula next year – Ferrari may be well placed

According to Lawrence Barretto, F1 paddock ‘insiders’ believe Ferrari’s power unit will be the ‘best in class’ next year, alongside Mercedes. That would put them ahead of Red Bull Powertrains, Honda and Audi.

Back in 2014, power output was clearly the biggest factor in determining performance. All four Mercedes-supplied teams finished in the top six, with Williams jumping up from the lower midfield to third, and the advantage was set in stone for years.

And crucially, Aston Martin designer Adrian Newey, one of the most respected and experienced engineering minds in the paddock, expects a repeat in 2026. Speaking to AMuS in January, he said there was ‘a big chance’ that F1 could become an ‘engine formula’ at the start of its new cycle.

If indeed Newey is correct, and the whispers about Ferrari are too, then logically, Hamilton may be furnished with a title-contending car. That optimism can drag him through the mire of his 2025 season.

George Russell knows the key to Lewis Hamilton turning his Ferrari career around

Car performance isn’t the only question mark for Hamilton heading into next year. He must prove that he’s still good enough to win a championship.

That seems unthinkable for the sport’s most successful driver, but his 2024 season was statistically the weakest of his career, and 2025 is on course to be even worse.

George Russell says Hamilton is ‘talking nonsense’ after he called himself ‘useless’ in Hungary. But clearly, he must rediscover his self-belief.

Hamilton has, it should be said, come alive this season when the car has been in its optimal performance window, with the China Sprint the best example. Next year’s machinery may also better suit his driving style, allowing him to hit top form far more consistently.

Equally, though, a driver his age or older hasn’t won the title since the 1960s. Damon Hill has warned that Hamilton can’t escape ‘the clock’, even if the sport has changed enormously in the last 60 years.