Formula 1 stalwart and former Ferrari Technical Director Ross Brawn has backed Lewis Hamilton to produce his best “vintage” this year with the Scuderia.
The Brit endured a miserable first season at Maranello, failing to score a single Grand Prix podium for the first time in his glittering 19-season career.
Hamilton struggled to tame the beastly SF-25 machine, in a campaign that saw his Sprint Race success in Shanghai his only true moment of light.
The F1 regulation changes of 2026 render predictions almost pointless, and anticipation grows as to whether Ferrari will be one of the teams that has interpreted the new rulebook successfully.
But there may be a positive start for Hamilton already, as he braces for a new race engineer after the shock reshuffle of Riccardo Adami to Ferrari’s Academy and TPC programme.
Brawn is all too aware of how difficult it is to be part of a long-term process, having joined Ferrari in 1997, when the team was at one of its lowest ebbs and driest spells in terms of titles.
But eventually, the process yielded results, as, under Brawn’s guidance, Michael Schumacher took an unprecedented five consecutive titles, the team taking six back-to-back Constructors’ crowns.
Brawn is also very much aware of Hamilton, having initially been his Team Principal at Mercedes when he joined the German marque in 2013, and says that, provided Ferrari show glimmers of positivity, he will be able to succeed in the sport once again.
“I think we’d all love for him to be successful, and I’ve got a special place for Ferrari, but I know how tough it is,” he told Sky Sports F1
“It is always a fine line between a team gelling and not quite gelling, and it didn’t quite gel last year.
“But if he gets some incentives, if he sees an opportunity, I think we’ll see a vintage Lewis, so I’m hoping that happens.”
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