A bold strategy call and a great third place for Lewis Hamilton and Scuderia Ferrari in Saturday’s Miami sprint was a welcome boost after their recent struggles.
It was also a sign that any wild suggestions of a premature end to their relationship are wide of the mark – Hamilton is not the kind of guy to give up on a challenge.
Speaking after the sprint chequered flag he admitted that there is still a long way to go.
“The fact is so far we’re not extracting everything,” he said. “I don’t think we’re extracting everything from the car, and that’s what we need to work on to extract the full potential of the car. I think we have good downforce.
“I don’t think we’re on the same pace as as in McLarens, but I think we we should be fighting a little bit closer, perhaps, to to the Bulls and to McLaren.
“So I think there’s a lot of elements that we need to elevate, and hopefully we’ll try and see if we can do that into into qualifying today. Definitely lots learned already so far.”
It’s not been an easy start to 2026 for Hamilton, and his regular assertion that he’s simply taking time to get used to a new car and team has been met with some scepticism.
However others who are going through the same process this year know exactly what he’s facing as he moves along the learning curve.
Carlos Sainz has noted since the start of the year that he’s been in the same situation, having done the opposite swap from Ferrari to Mercedes power units.
“I’m not surprised at all,” said the Spaniard when I asked him about Hamilton’s struggles.
“I think for me, I expected it to myself, and I expected it with him, because in this sport, there are no secrets. And when you are up against two team mates like we are, like Alex and Charles, that they know the team inside out, and they are already performing at the maximum that that car can perform.
“So you can only do just a little bit better or the same as them. You cannot suddenly arrive and be two three tenths quicker, because it’s not possible. They are already at the limit of the car.
“So when you jump to any team and you’re expected by yourself and by everyone around you to be at that level, you know it’s going to take time if there’s no secrets. They know a lot more than you, and it’s going to take a bit of time. And the sooner you make that process, and the sooner you are at that level, the better.
“But for some drivers, it might take longer or shorter. Lewis had an amazing weekend in China. Then he seemed to have a bit more trouble now. But it’s going to take time for both.”
So how long is it acceptable for a driver to take to make that transition?
“It’s a tricky question, because it depends,” said Sainz. “It depends how natural the car comes to you, depends how natural the relationship with engineers and that blend comes.
“I’ve always said that to know a car well, you need at least half a year to a year to experience everything with that car. That doesn’t mean that you cannot perform during that year. This is a different topic. You can perform at 100% or at 99, and your 99 might still be pretty good, but the 100% for sure, there’s things that you need for sure, half a year, I would say, to experience.
“And I’m not using it as an excuse. I want to perform like I did in Jeddah from race one, even if I am at 97 instead of 99. But it’s I just know it takes time, and I’m going to be demanding with myself.”
You could look at history and point out examples of drivers making a smooth transition and even winning their first races with new teams.
The fact is that the current ground effect cars are much trickier to drive at the limit than those of the past, and range of controls available to drivers far more complicated.
“These cars nowadays, I feel like you need to drive them in a very specific way to be quick,” said Sainz.
“I feel like the cars of ’21 you could come in with two or three different driving styles and more or less get the same lap time, because the car would allow you to get to that limit in different ways.
“I feel the more I get to drive this generation of cars, the more I dig into the data, the more I realise you need to be closed loop to one driving style. And if you don’t drive in that way, you’re never going to be quick.
“And it’s just how the car interacts with you, which allows you to drive in that specific way that you need to make sure you understand. I think these cars are particularly difficult.”
Esteban Ocon’s move from Alpine to Haas has been less high profile than those of Hamilton and Sainz, and he’s had some decent races and scored points. However he’s not had it easy either.
“It’s very difficult,” said the Frenchman when I asked him. “And especially when you change a car’s philosophy, because the Haas car and the Ferrari car have a lot of similarities, so I can relate a little bit to Lewis on that side, having driven the Merc as well in the past, it’s a very different way of driving the car – or extracting the potential of it. And the car feels very different.
“So it’s not easy, for sure, to adapt to that. I’m sure he will find a way very quickly. And in the meantime, I also have to improve quite a lot of things as well, still that I’m in a way of doing. It’s been five races, so things are getting more to normal. There’s more routine now going on, and how we prepare weekends, and how I feel I drive the car.
“I know straight away when something is not quite right, or where it should be compared to before, where I thought it was normality. So the more you drive, the more you learn. But there is at some point, you know, there is no adapting to it. You just have to deal with it.”
Ocon agrees with Sainz that the current ground effect cars are particularly difficult.
“For sure. I don’t think they are forgiving these cars at all, the way they are stiff, how they bounce. You know, how the tyres react. They are better these tyres, but they always tend to understeer quite a lot mid-corner.
“I don’t think there are two ways of driving it. You need to go with one way. There is no other direction that you can drive the car. You need to choose the quickest way, and that’s it.”
Ocon’s boss Ayao Komatsu has suggested that it’s easier for young drivers to adjust to the current cars than those with more knowledge. It’s a curious situation that life is harder for more experienced drivers.
“I think if you come from junior formulas and you go straight into that car you put everything that you’ve learned you know away and you just go into it,” said Ocon. “And you learn the new thing again.
“Now, with our experience, I mean, Lewis has much more experience than me, he’s driven a lot of different cars, but a lot of the same one as well for a long time. So I can understand why it’s not easy. And I know it’s also not easy for me, or for Carlos. But we’ll get there.”
Adam Cooper F1 