Lewis Hamilton says it is a “pivotal moment” for Ferrari in its F1 2027 development cycle, revealing his role in hoping to “steer the car in the right direction.”

Ferrari was widely seen as having the best-performing chassis at the start of 2026, with much of its deficit to the front coming from a lack of power.

Lewis Hamilton: Ferrari in ‘pivotal moment’ as F1 2027 decisions being made

Hamilton has spoken openly of his role in trying to push as hard as possible for developments at Maranello, with his overall goal undimmed in wanting to win a record-breaking eighth Drivers’ title.

The Briton is only just mathematically still able to win this year’s championship, though Kimi Antonelli is highly likely to wrap up proceedings in Mexico City this weekend, if all goes to plan for the Mercedes driver.

Teams often look ahead at this time of year, and Hamilton explained how he has been seeking to provide the best feedback he can to Ferrari’s engineers at what is a crucial time.

From his side though, Hamilton is wanting to extract as much lap time as possible from the next Ferrari, though the SF-26 has provided a solid foundation.

“I feel like the team have been doing a really, really good job,” he said in Austin.

“I think also, I’m like in the background, I’m working on this pivotal moment in terms of steering the car in the right direction for next year, so I’m really working on areas that we need to improve for next year’s car.

“That’s been part of the discussion this weekend, the next couple of weekends, the feedback back to the guys who are designing the parts for next year, just pointing out to them where we can improve on the actual chassis side and an aero package.

Analysis from the United States Grand Prix

“Of course, they’re working hard to improve our engine for next year. I think if we are able to somehow get closer to these guys with the engine, we’re obviously going to be fighting for wins in these races.

“It started probably a month or so ago, but this is the time where you actually start need to be making the decisions and actually calling ‘okay, these are the areas we’re losing.

“These are the areas that, if you fix these for next year, it’s half a tenth in every corner. These are the areas that we’re struggling with. This is where I want the aero balance to be for next year,’ but there’s not a huge amount of things.

“I think we’ve got a really good package, so it’s keeping on the good things of the car and rectifying a couple of these small, small subtle differences, and then obviously the straight-line speed.”

Hamilton sits third in the standings ahead of the Mexico City Grand Prix, eight points clear of his Ferrari teammate, Charles Leclerc.