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Before the first race of the season in Australia the weekend, Hamilton said he has “rediscovered” himself after a difficult first season at Ferrari last year.<\/p>\n
Amid a series of poor performances in 2025, Hamilton made a series of negative comments about his own performances, including that he was “useless” and was “not looking forward” .<\/p>\n
He said he spent the winter cultivating a “positive mental attitude”.<\/p>\n
“The break was really positive,” he said. “It was my surroundings. It was the people that I was with. It’s not my first rodeo. So it’s understanding how to flip things. And it’s not that easy to do each time.<\/p>\n
“But I always talk about cultivating a positive mental attitude. And that’s what I focus on the winter doing.<\/p>\n
“A lot of it came from training. Training hard on Christmas Day. Also knowing that I find it hard.<\/p>\n
“I believe in myself that I’ve put more work in than anyone around me. And I believe in myself. Rediscovering myself was really a big part of it as well.<\/p>\n
“As I said in one of my [Instagram] posts, I kind of lost sight for a second of who I was. And that person’s gone. You won’t see that person again.”<\/p>\n
Hamilton said he felt more settled with Ferrari after a season’s experience of the “very different culture” at the team from what he knew at Mercedes and McLaren.<\/p>\n
“It’s massively different to the first year,” he said. “And it’s a much nicer feeling coming, having spent a year with the team, understanding the culture, understanding ways, finding ways of working together.<\/p>\n
“We’re in a good place now together as a team. And I feel very gelled with the team today. I’m much happier.”<\/p>\n
Ferrari failed to win a race in 2025 but are optimistic they start this season in a more competitive position as F1 introduces its biggest regulation change in history.<\/p>\n
Hamilton said: “We’re leaving behind the bad and taking the head, moving forward with the good. We’re sharp, prepared and we know what we need to do.<\/p>\n
“But we also know there are massive challenges for all of us with the new rules and regulations.”<\/p>\n
Team-mate Charles Leclerc said: “I prefer to be in a position where we have to calm the expectations down rather than having to manage a lot of negativity around the team. That’s always a bit of a better situation to be in.<\/p>\n
“But in both ways I don’t think that this is something that needs to change our own mood inside the team.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n