Alpine F1 chief Flavio Briatore has looked ahead to what the 2026 season might hold for Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari

Flavio Briatore has assessed Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari future (Image: Getty Images)

Flavio Briatore has backed Lewis Hamilton to “solve the problems” that have plagued his Ferrari career up to now. The seven-time Formula 1 champion arrived at the famous Italian team to huge fanfare, but has struggled to make an impact in what is turning into another forgettable season.

Ferrari are the only team in the top four yet to win a Grand Prix this year, though Hamilton did taste victory in the Sprint race at the Chinese Grand Prix back in March. That was just his second start in red and raised expectations for what he might be able to achieve, but he has yet to even make it to the podium in 2025 after 17 Grands Prix held.

Like many other teams, Ferrari have put their eggs in the 2026 basket in the hope that they can capitalise on the opportunity presented by radical changes to the technical regulations, including brand new engines and different car design rules, and challenge for a first championship success since 2008.

Hamilton turns 41 in January and is running out of time to achieve his dream of becoming the sport’s first and only eight-time champion. If Ferrari are still off the pace in 2026, he may never get the chance again to win with the team he dreamt about representing as a young boy.

But many remain confident that Hamilton still has it in him to be successful in F1, including Alpine boss Briatore who has predicted the Brit will be challenging at the sharp end of the grid again next year. “Sooner or later, he will solve the problems,” the 75-year-old said in an interview on Italian radio.

“He is a very good person, but F1 is very complicated today, with seven cars within two tenths of a second. This year, the only truly competitive team is McLaren. Next year, everything will change, and we will be fighting for the podium too. You will see, with the new cars, Hamilton will be back in the fight for victory – he is always great.”

Briatore is unusual in the sense that he is a prominent Italian figure in F1 who has never been directly associated with Ferrari. In the same interview, he was asked about the prospect of working for the Scuderia in the future, but he was quick to rule out any prospect of that happening.

He said: “I already have my own problems, I have only been close to Ferrari in the garage. No one ever asked me to go to Ferrari, but I know that when I was at Benetton, Ferrari had to take 12 or 13 people away from me to win, starting with Michael Schumacher. Luca di Montezemolo was and is a great manager with extraordinary leadership, but even he had to wait five years to win – it was never easy.”