FIORANO MODENESE, Italy: Lewis Hamilton is braced for the &quot;massive challenge&quot; of adapting to the seismic change in technical regulations facing the 2026&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/williams-to-miss-opening-f1-test-due-to-car-delays" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Formula One</a>&nbsp;grid as Ferrari unveiled their new car on Friday.&nbsp;The seven-time world champion and his teammate Charles Leclerc put the SF-26 through its paces at the Scuderia&#39;s Fiorano private test track near their Maranello headquarters.&nbsp;&quot;It&#39;s the biggest regulation shift I think our sport has seen, at least in my time,&quot; the 41-year-old Briton said.&nbsp;&quot;But every single time that it has been a shift into a new regulation, it&#39;s been a massive challenge.&nbsp;&quot;Everyone starts from scratch, so it really levels the playing field. Then it&rsquo;s really all about development, who can develop faster, who comes up with the best ideas, and then a unified team growing at the same pace.&quot;&nbsp;Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur reflected on &quot;an emotional day&quot; seeing their new creation emerge out of the garage and onto the track.&nbsp;&quot;It went pretty well, huge amount of work but we are all more than happy, it&#39;s not the end of the story but the beginning of the season,&quot; he said.&nbsp;&quot;Let&#39;s be positive and enjoy the story.&quot;&nbsp;The Frenchman added: &quot;It was good to see the car leave the garage but it&#39;s the start of a new journey.&quot;&nbsp;&#39;Too early for expectations&#39;Given all 11 teams are in the same boat, starting from scratch, Vasseur was keen to play down expectations for the season-opener in Australia in early March.&nbsp;&quot;We&#39;ll see the situation in Melbourne, today was a first step,&quot; said Vasseur.&nbsp;&quot;The rate of development will be much higher than years before.&nbsp;&quot;We will see about performance in Melbourne, it&#39;s too early for expectations.&quot;&nbsp;For the first time in his illustrious career Hamilton failed to even muster a podium finish last term as Ferrari slumped to fourth in the constructors&#39; standings.&nbsp;They were last crowned constructors&#39; champions in 2008, with Kimi Raikkonen supplying the last of their 15 drivers&#39; titles the year before.&nbsp;Hamilton has admitted that the last time cars were radically changed in 2022 they did not suit his driving style.&nbsp;He will be desperately hoping the 2026 reiteration will be more to his taste in the twilight years of his decorated career.&nbsp;He moved from Mercedes to Ferrari in the hope of securing a record eighth world title - but given his woeful debut year now he will be relieved just to win another race.&nbsp;There has been a significant change out of the car too, with Hamilton&#39;s race engineer Riccardo Adami moving aside to assume another role in the team.&nbsp;Hamilton, who had forged such a close rapport with his engineer at Mercedes, Pete &#39;Bobo&#39; Bonnington, and Adami appeared to have a spiky relationship at times during races over the team radio.&nbsp;The watching Tifosi haven&#39;t had much to shout about recently, and Leclerc paid tribute to their fortitude and faith.&nbsp;&quot;I can only thank them for the huge amount of support we have every single year,&rdquo; said the man from Monaco.&nbsp;&quot;That definitely pushes us, that motivates us, and that is what makes Ferrari so special. It&#39;s thanks to the Tifosi and the support that we have all over the world.&quot;&nbsp;Coming up is next week&#39;s Barcelona shakedown when the new cars will test away from the media, followed by back-to-back tests in Bahrain in February.&nbsp;The 24-race season gets underway in Australia on March 8.

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Lewis Hamilton calls Formula One’s 2026 regulation overhaul a massive challenge as Ferrari unveils the SF-26 at Fiorano, stressing development speed, teamwork and patience, with expectations tempered ahead of testing and the Australian Grand Prix.

Ferrari unveil 2026 car with Hamilton ready for 'massive challenge'

LONDON: Williams&#39; preparations for the 2026 Formula One season have been dealt a significant blow after conceding defeat in having their car ready for next week&#39;s first testing session in Barcelona.&nbsp;A major upheaval of the sport&#39;s technical rulebook has meant a race against time for teams to be ready for the new season.&nbsp;The opening five days of testing takes place behind closed doors at the Circuit de Cataluya circuit from Monday.&nbsp;There are a further two sets of three-day tests in Bahrain next month ahead of the first race in Australia on March 8.&nbsp;&quot;Williams F1 Team has taken the decision not to participate in next week&#39;s shakedown test in Barcelona following delays in the FW48 programme as we continue to push for maximum car performance,&quot; the British team said in a statement on Friday.&nbsp;&quot;The team will instead conduct a series of tests including a VTT (Virtual Test Track) programme next week with the 2026 car to prepare for the first official test in Bahrain and the first race of the season in Melbourne.&nbsp;&quot;We are looking forward to getting on track in the coming weeks and want to thank all our fans for your continued support - there is a lot to look forward to together in 2026.&quot;&nbsp;Williams finished an impressive fifth in last year&#39;s constructors&#39; championship.&nbsp;Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz finished eighth and ninth respectively in the drivers&#39; standings last season, with the latter landing two podium finishes to ensure Williams&#39; best season in a decade.

Williams will miss upcoming Barcelona shakedown due to FW48 delays, focusing on virtual testing instead. The team aims to debut in Bahrain, building on last year’s strong fifth-place constructors’ finish and driver successes.

Articles tagged with "2026 Formula One"

Ferrari unveil 2026 car with Hamilton ready for 'massive challenge'

Williams to miss opening F1 test due to car delays