‘Despondent’ Lewis Hamilton looked like he lost his ‘mojo’ again after Ferrari struggles at Suzuka
Lewis Hamilton looked to be having a positive start to the 2026 Formula 1 season, but the Japanese Grand Prix saw him revert to his 2025 demeanour.
The seven-time champion looked much more confident and upbeat at the start of 2026, as the new regulations suits his driving style. Hamilton finally ended his podium drought with Ferrari in China, finishing P3 ahead of teammate Charles Leclerc.
However, at the Japanese Grand Prix, the 41-year-old struggled to fight with the frontrunners as he finished down in sixth. His body language after the race was suddenly not as positive.
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Jolyon Palmer felt Kimi Antonelli made Hamilton look like a ‘backmarker’ at Suzuka as the Italian controlled the field and won his second race in a row. Meanwhile, the Ferrari driver was not competitive in the SF-26, while his teammate finished in third.
Hamilton demanded answers from Ferrari as Leclerc looked to have more power down the straights. After the race, the Brit looked almost as ‘despodent’ as he did last year.
Lewis Hamilton was ‘despondent’ with Ferrari struggles in Japan
Speaking on Drive to Wynn, journalist Lawrence Barretto saw Hamilton close to the body language he showed in 2025 at Suzuka. He was not happy with his performance and he felt back behind his teammate, Mercedes and McLaren.
“If you’d asked me before Japan, I’d say that the body language was awesome, frankly. It felt like he’s got his mojo back. He’s smiling more, he’s got a sparkle in his eye. He’s just a bit more expressive in his chat really, when you get to chat to him…
“He was really in the best place that I feel that he’s been in for a very long time. And so we did this interview, and he talks about how he’s been more invested in this Ferrari.
“Because he had an opportunity to talk to the engineers, tell them what he would like from a car in a way that obviously he couldn’t have done last year, because it was his first year and a lot of the cars really developed.
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“But then we got to Saturday and Sunday. And I think it was clear that he was disappointed in what he was able to extract from the car in both qualifying and the race.
“Obviously, Charles Leclerc outperformed him, which was tough, and, that first podium for Ferrari in China, I think really made him feel like he’d turned a corner. And it just didn’t go his way in Japan.
“So I think his demeanour was a little bit closer to that despondent demeanour that he showed last year when things were so tough for Ferrari. But I think the one caveat I would say to all of that is that he struggled at Suzuka last year.
“And generally speaking, Ferrari struggled again, kind of getting the balance together. And it just so happens that Charles Leclerc can drive a car that is a bit snappier, is just a bit loose, whereas Lewis isn’t so comfortable with that framework to work with.”
Lewis Hamilton does not think he is good around Suzuka anymore
Barretto added that Suzuka was an ‘outlier’, as Hamilton does not believe that he is as strong as he once was at the circuit.
“And I think Japan is probably an outlier. I mean, I asked him, I was talking to him about when he used to dominate Suzuka. I think he had four wins in total there. And he was like, ‘Yeah, but that was a long time ago, man. I don’t know how good I am around here now.”