The Lewis Hamilton–Ferrari partnership was supposed to be one of the defining storylines of a generation. The most decorated driver in Formula 1 history, in the sport's most storied team — the combination carried the weight of decades of mythology and the promise of one final act of greatness.

Instead, 2025 was a season best forgotten: Hamilton spent the majority of the year fighting in the upper midfield, never truly comfortable in the SF-25, and visibly worn down by a car with too little to offer. Things got serious enough that conversations about retirement — genuine retirement, not media speculation — reportedly took place.

The body language said it all. Hamilton, a competitor who has always raced with a fierce and relentless sense of purpose, appeared at times resigned, as though he had made peace with the fact that the car had a ceiling, and no amount of simulator hours or setup work could raise it.

The arrival of the 2026 regulatory era was supposed to change everything. Ferrari ended their previous development cycle early to redirect every available resource toward the new car. Hamilton committed fully to the preparation process.

Early results showed improvement over where they had finished 2025 — but Mercedes burst to the front from the opening race and have not looked back, leaving the Scuderia in second place and clearly short of the raw pace required to challenge the Silver Arrows for either championship.

After Kimi Antonelli's dominant victory at the Miami Grand Prix, Hamilton spoke to the media with unusual candor about one specific aspect of his preparation process he is changing ahead of Canada — and the frustration behind his words was unmistakable.

"I'm going to take a different approach for the next race because the way we're currently preparing isn't helping," Hamilton said directly. The core of his complaint is the simulator. He has never hidden his skepticism of virtual preparation, but he committed to the process this season, spending time each week at the factory working on setup correlation, track prep, and trying to bridge the gap between the simulated model and the real car.

The problem, he explained to ESPN, is that the correlation simply isn't working. You build a setup in the simulator, arrive at the circuit confident in your baseline, and then discover that what worked in the virtual world doesn't translate to the physical one. "I'm not going to the simulator between now and the next race," he confirmed.

The reasoning? His weekend in China — the one he went into without any simulator preparation — was one of his strongest of the season. The evidence, at least in his mind, is compelling. Canada is where he tests the theory for real.

Roundtable Sports is Free to join! You can post your own thoughts, comment on articles, and start conversations with our Roundtable Writers. Scroll up to the top of the page and click 'Join'.