Hamilton at Ferrari: "The Goal Is to Win" — Title Ambitions for His 20th F1 Season

Lewis Hamilton enters the 2026 Australian Grand Prix targeting the world championship in his second season at Ferrari. Speaking ahead of the season opener, Hamilton was unequivocal about his ambitions for the year ahead.

"The Goal Is to Win"

"The goal is to win. That's what of course everyone's working towards, every team is, but that's our goal — to maximise on every opportunity, to be hopefully fighting in the top group, hopefully in the first races," Hamilton told Formula1.com ahead of the Australian Grand Prix.

Now in his 20th Formula 1 season, Hamilton described a different mindset compared to his first year at Ferrari. "It's different to the first year, and it's a much nicer feeling having spent a year with the team, understanding the culture, finding ways of working together," he told Sky Sports F1. "I think we're in a good place now as a team, and I feel very gelled with team, so much happier."

Winter Preparation

Hamilton credited his off-season mental preparation as a key factor heading into 2026. "I always talk about cultivating a positive mental attitude, and that's what I focus on my winter doing, and a lot of it came from training," he told Formula1.com. He entered the season saying there would be "no holding back," per Sky Sports F1 reporting.

Ferrari's Pre-Season Form

Hamilton's optimism is backed by Ferrari's testing performance. Team-mate Charles Leclerc set the fastest time of all pre-season running — a 1:31.992 in the second Bahrain test, 0.879 seconds clear of the next-fastest driver. The SF-26 appeared competitive across both short and long runs, and Ferrari's reliability was strong throughout the six days of Bahrain testing.

The question that will only be answered on track at Albert Park is whether Ferrari's testing pace translates to genuine race weekend competitiveness — or whether the low-fuel glory runs that dominated headlines mask a car that is less convincing in race-trim conditions.