Hamilton Reveals the Hidden Effort Behind Ferrari Breakthrough

Lewis Hamilton has revealed the extraordinary effort he has invested behind the scenes to reach a competitive level with Ferrari. Following his second-place finish at the 2026 Canadian Grand Prix, the seven-time world champion admitted he had been "moving mountains" to create the right environment to perform at his best.

The result in Montreal marked Hamilton's 204th Formula 1 podium and his first second-place finish since joining Ferrari. More importantly, it represented his most convincing weekend since arriving in Maranello. Across both the Sprint and grand prix, Hamilton comfortably outperformed team-mate Charles Leclerc, who endured what he later described as one of the most difficult weekends of his career.

Hamilton's 2025 season was filled with challenges. Adapting to Ferrari's car characteristics, working methods and communication processes became a major focus throughout the campaign. One of the most significant changes came when Ferrari reorganised his engineering team, replacing Riccardo Adami with Carlo Santi, the former race engineer of Formula 1 world champion Kimi Raikkonen.

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According to Hamilton, those adjustments formed part of a broader effort to build a stronger foundation within the team. The British driver stressed that the breakthrough performance in Canada was not the result of a single change but rather the culmination of months of intensive work with Ferrari.

"I had so much fun out there all weekend, every single lap. I felt like we started on the right foot, came with the right attitude and the car generally felt great," Hamilton told media, as quoted by RacingNews365.

Hamilton also highlighted the importance of Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, a venue he has traditionally enjoyed throughout his career. Strong confidence from the opening sessions allowed him to establish a rhythm that had often been missing during previous race weekends with Ferrari.

From a technical perspective, one of the most notable differences was Hamilton's ability to understand and exploit the behaviour of the SF-26 across changing track conditions. While Leclerc struggled with tyre feel and balance issues throughout the weekend, Hamilton consistently extracted performance from the package. The contrast suggested that his adaptation process is finally beginning to deliver measurable gains.

"This is my first second place with the team. It's something I've been working so hard for. I can't even begin to explain how deep I've had to dig and how much work has gone on in the background to enable this kind of performance," Hamilton said.

The 41-year-old also paid tribute to Ferrari's personnel for their continued support during the difficult periods. Hamilton explained that seeing the satisfaction and happiness within the team after the result in Montreal was one of the most rewarding aspects of the achievement.

The podium arrived at an important moment for Ferrari. While Mercedes continues to set the pace through Andrea Kimi Antonelli and George Russell, and McLaren endured a difficult weekend, Hamilton's result provided evidence that Ferrari may be beginning to unlock a more competitive development direction. If that momentum can be maintained over the coming rounds, Ferrari could become a more consistent contender for victories during the remainder of the 2026 season.