Lewis Hamilton has given a less-than-fond farewell to the ground effect era of Formula 1, saying that there isn’t “a single thing I’ll miss about these cars”.
The seven-time World Champion has struggled in this current generation of F1 machinery, which began in 2022, whilst still driving for the Mercedes team.
Despite winning more Grands Prix than any other driver in history, Hamilton has struggled in the ground effect period, taking only two victories in that time.
The Brit’s mood has soured further this year amid his struggles at Ferrari, and he is just one race away from failing to score a podium in a single season for the first time.
Ahead of this weekend’s curtain-closer in Abu Dhabi, Hamilton was asked whether there is anything he will miss about the latest ground effect challengers.
“There’s not a single thing I’ll miss about these cars. Simple as that,” he responded to media including Motorsport Week.
Hamilton ‘praying’ 2026 F1 cars will be an improvement on current crop
2026 sees F1 enter its most electrified era yet – with 50-50 hybrids coming in, ensuring that battery conservation will be a lap-by-lap task, and initially at least, rendering slower lap times.
There have been many people, drivers or otherwise, up and down the paddock who have pushed for a return to V10s or V8s, with some showing little appetite for further electrification.
Drivers have already spoken of initial scepticism, with some more recently discussing the intrigue and challenge that is being provided by initial simulator testing.
Hamilton has consistently kept an open mind on the issue, and continued this in Abu Dhabi, voicing his hopes for an improvement on what he has been driving recently.
“It’s been really interesting,” he said of the progression of cars throughout his racing career. “2009 was also depending on what your team does with the interpretation of those rules.
“McLaren in 2009, I remember the first day back in the year, they said that the rules have 50 per cent less downforce. So, they built the car to have 50 per cent downforce.
“I remember arriving back in January, and they’re like, ‘We’ve already hit our targets’. And I’m like, ‘Wow, is that normal?’
“We get to the first test, and there’s no downforce at all, and we’re miles off. And so, I learned a lot through that experience.
“Then the 2014 [regulation change] was incredibly exciting. Also, just because I was in a new team and I could see the amazing work that was being done already a couple of years before, particularly on the engine. And 2017 was cool because it was a bigger, wider car. It just looked beefier and more downforce.
“It was mega. This generation was probably the worst one, I would say. And I’m praying that the next one is not worse than that.”
READ MORE – Carlos Sainz warns Oscar Piastri & Max Verstappen that F1 Abu Dhabi GP is a ‘Lando track’
Discussion about this post