Former Ferrari engineer and F1 legend Ross Brawn has voiced his confidence in Lewis Hamilton. The Brit believes the seven-time world champion can deliver a turnaround this season at Ferrari. After an extremely difficult 2025 — in which Hamilton, for the first time in his career, failed to score any podiums — Brawn sees enough footholds for a recovery.
Lewis Hamilton endured a disappointing debut year at Ferrari in 2025. For the first time in his illustrious F1 career the British veteran failed to secure a single podium, bar a lone sprint win in Shanghai. The SF-25 proved hard to tame and offered little confidence, which saw Hamilton lose ground particularly in the second half of the season. In the final triple-header in Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi he was knocked out in Q1 on three occasions.
The regulation changes for 2026 offer some outlook. Both the chassis and the engines are being overhauled, making it unclear which teams have steered in the right direction. At the same time, speculation is growing over whether Ferrari will be one of the winners of the new era. According to the latest rumours, the Scuderia is opting for a radical new design with the SF-26. For Hamilton a fresh start appears on the horizon, not least because he is preparing to work with a new race engineer. Riccardo Adami was unexpectedly reassigned to the Ferrari Academy and the TPC programme.
Brawn hopes for a turnaround
Ross Brawn knows better than anyone how gruelling it can be to be part of a long rebuild at Ferrari. When he joined the team in 1997, the Scuderia was in a sporting trough. That path ultimately led to an unprecedented run of success with Michael Schumacher, delivering five consecutive world championships and six constructors’ titles. Brawn later worked closely with Hamilton as well; in 2013 he was team principal at Mercedes, when the driver made the move to the German outfit.
“I think we’d all like to see him succeed, and of course I have a soft spot for Ferrari,” Brawn told Sky Sports. “At the same time I also know how hard it is. There’s always a thin line between a team that’s perfectly dialled and one that isn’t. Last year it was the latter. But if he gets a little extra, if he senses an opportunity, I think we could see the Lewis of old again. I sincerely hope that happens.”
