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As F1 starts a new regulatory era that could reset the hierarchy, Martin Brundle has identified the internal battle at Ferrari as the biggest litmus test for Lewis Hamilton.
Hamilton will begin his 20th year on the grid at the Australian Grand Prix this weekend. But the seven-time champion also enters the 2026 season after turning 41 years old in January, and Brundle believes the younger drivers like Charles Leclerc will make life “tough” for him.
F1’s 2026 regulations could help Hamilton return to form, as cars are now shorter, narrower and lighter than the ground-effect behemoths he hated. Hamilton was never able to modify his driving style for ground-effect cars, and joining Ferrari in 2025 added another challenge.
Brundle is “confident” that Hamilton will have a better year in 2026, after seeing how much happier he seemed during pre-season testing in Bahrain. However, the Briton now needs to deliver on the track, as the stopwatch does not care how many F1 titles he won in the past.
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Martin Brundle questions whether 41-year-old Lewis Hamilton can still match Charles Leclerc’s raw speed
Leclerc also took advantage of Hamilton’s issues adjusting to the first non-British F1 team of his career in Ferrari to rule their head-to-head in 2025. The 28-year-old beat Hamilton 19-5 in qualifying and 18-3 for Grand Prix results – excluding their double DSQ and double DNFs.
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Brundle believes it will now be paramount that Hamilton is at least “right on” Leclerc’s pace, if not faster than the Monegasque, at Ferrari during the 2026 F1 season. It will not be good enough if the Briton is comprehensively beaten in another teammate head-to-head contest.
“Charles was on top of Lewis last year, as was George [Russell] at Mercedes the year before on top of Lewis, but not to the same extent,” Brundle told SPORTbible. So, we will see if Lewis has got anything left in the tank.
“Hamilton did not gel particularly with the car [last year]. He looks a lot happier now, I must say, but Lewis is now 41 years old. There are so many races these days, the younger drivers have done 150, 200 Grand Prix. Leclerc is a super experienced driver, and it’s tough for him.
“It’s not going to be a question of Lewis just being quite close to Charles or top few or whatever, he’s got to be right on Leclerc’s pace or ahead of him.
“It doesn’t matter how many championships or races you’ve won in the past, it’s all about the future. It’s all about the stopwatch, and getting the car to the finish line before everybody else does.”
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Hamilton struggled to adjust to Ferrari’s car in the final season of F1’s ground-effect era last season. The Stevenage-born icon ultimately only out-qualified Leclerc for the Grands Prix in China (P5>P6), Spain (P5>P7), Canada (P5>P8), Britain (P5>P6) and Singapore (P6>P7).
Qualifying had been one of Hamilton’s specialities until the ground-effect era began in 2022, as the cars went away from his preferred driving style of braking late and carrying speed into corners. But Hamilton should be able to use his favoured style with the 2026 F1 regulations.
Hamilton did not seem as comfortable as Leclerc in Ferrari’s 2026 F1 car during pre-season testing in Bahrain. But the Briton was looking more and more comfortable in the car as the test progressed, which could see him give Leclerc more of a fight in qualifying this season.
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