Seven-time Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton says he will not miss the current ground-effect era and admits he is unsure fans will enjoy the radically different 2026 regulation
Lewis Hamilton has given his verdict on Formula 1’s current generation of cars, with the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix being the last race before the regulations change substantially from the 2026 season. Unsurprisingly, the seven-time champion’s opinions are damning following a challenging four years fighting against the ground-effect cars.
Speaking ahead of the Abu Dhabi race, the Ferrari driver made it clear that he had taken little pleasure from these last few years of driving.
“There’s not a single thing I’ll miss about these cars,” he told the media. “It is as simple as that. I have not enjoyed it.”
Asked to compare these ground-effect era cars to previous regulations, the 105-time race winner ran through the more rewarding eras.
“2017 was cool because it was a bigger, wider car. It just looked beefier and had 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.”
From 2026, F1 moves to a new regulations package with reduced downforce, a vastly different powertrain, and active aerodynamics. Hamilton has started simulator work with Ferrari, and while he didn’t criticise the changes, he admitted his hesitancy.
“I think it’s really, really hard to predict what it’s going to be like. I don’t want to say too many negative things. It feels so much different and I’m not sure you’re going to like it.
“But maybe I’ll be surprised and maybe it’ll be amazing. Maybe overtaking will be incredible. Maybe it’ll be easier to overtake. I don’t know.”
He continued, “We have less downforce, more torque. Driving in the rain, I can imagine it’s going to be very, very, very tough. Much harder than it is already with what we have today.”
He also admitted how different he expects the racing to look as the drivers manage energy and hybrid deployment in more visible ways.
“Whether you’ll like the fact that we’re downshifting on the straight and different boost parameters. But it is a massive challenge for us all and I think that’s really what the sport is about. It’s about continuously challenging ourselves. If we just did the same thing all the time, it would be easy.”
