Lewis Hamilton prediction made amid Ferrari F1 2026 verdict

Will Buxton believes Ferrari may very well be again in rivalry in the course of the upcoming 2026 Components 1 season.

Ferrari loved a powerful pre-season and set the tempo in each the Barcelona shakedown and Bahrain check. The Italian crew’s reliability and efficiency impressed its rivals, whereas Ferrari additionally turned heads with some eye-catching improvements on its SF-26 automobile.

Regardless of noting the same old caveats that apply to pre-season testing, F1 TV presenter Buxton was filled with reward for Ferrari and reckons the Scuderia will bounce again strongly from a depressing and winless 2025.

„I will begin with Ferrari as a result of they’re the testing Components 1 world champions, which we all know means completely nothing in any respect. However let’s begin with outright tempo. They topped the check,” Buxton advised the Up To Pace podcast.

„The rules have modified this yr. Now, each time the drivers hit a straight, they’re capable of open the rear wing and the entrance wing, scale back the drag, scale back the downforce, enhance topline velocity. Each crew, that rear wing opens. Ferrari’s does not simply open. It flips 180° and goes the other way up.

„Now, what does that do, proper? The fundamentals of aerodynamics in Components 1 are the other of wings on aeroplanes. Wings on aeroplanes are designed to offer raise and launch them up into the sky. Wings on Components 1 vehicles are the other way up and designed to push the vehicles down onto the observe and enhance grip.

„So, this wing flipping 180° basically turns it into an aeroplane wing and induces raise, and that tiny little winglet on the backside simply helps to maintain these tyres down on the bottom so the rear tyres aren’t lifted up into the air. It is extremely good. It means the Ferrari is lightning in a straight line.”

Along with Charles Leclerc setting the quickest time of testing, Ferrari’s rocket apply begins on the Bahrain Worldwide Circuit grabbed consideration.

“And as we noticed from their apply begins, the Ferrari off the road… You’ve got obtained all the opposite vehicles lined up row one, row two, row three. Lewis is again on like row 10. He wasn’t even in Bahrain anymore. And by the point they obtained to show one, Lewis was P1,” Buxton continued.

„The way in which it seems in the mean time, Ferrari may qualify on the again row of the grid and be main the grand prix by Flip 1. That is how good that automobile seems.”

Will Lewis Hamilton get again to his greatest?

Lewis Hamilton endured a massively disappointing debut season with Ferrari however Buxton is assured the 2026 regulation overhaul may assist the seven-time world champion get again to his prime.

The 41-year-old Briton failed to say a grand prix podium final season for the primary time in his illustrious F1 profession and gained simply two races within the ground-effect period between 2022-2025.

“I’m hoping this performs again into the arms of a number of the, ought to we are saying old-school drivers, who didn’t benefit from the final era of vehicles,” Buxton stated.

“Persons are saying ‘Lewis is washed, he’s by no means going to win one other race, he’s by no means going to win one other world championship’. I don’t assume you lose the talents and talents which have turned him right into a seven-time world champion in a single day.

“As a result of what we noticed from 2021 to 2022 was Lewis went from the most effective in his discipline, to questionable, in a single day. You don’t simply lose your capacity in a single day. That’s the automobile, for me.”

Talking on the Chris Moyles Present on Radio X, Buxton added: “I believe Lewis Hamilton goes to be profitable races once more.”