By Finley Nelson
Life at Ferrari did not start the way many people had expected for Lewis Hamilton when he joined the team in 2025, with the seven-time world champion having statistically one of the worst seasons of his career so far.
In a season with limited highlights, Hamilton took victory at the first sprint race of 2025 in China. Although, achieving a best finish of P4 at the British Grand Prix plus finishing sixth in the drivers’ standings, meant that he ended his first season in red 86 points behind teammate Charles Leclerc and without a single podium for the first time during his ongoing 19-year stint in the sport. This left many fans and critics wondering whether he still had the ability to compete at the top level.
However, with a new generation of cars being introduced this season and a clean slate following the tough ground effect era for the Briton, Hamilton has been given a massive chance to show why he is one of Formula 1’s all-time greats. So far, he has not disappointed.
In the first six races of the 2026 season, the Ferrari driver finished on the podium three times, in China where he crossed the line in 3rd as well as back-to-back runner up finishes in Canada and Monaco. His second-place finish in the Principality saw Hamilton match his idol Ayrton Senna for the most podiums at the Monaco Grand Prix (8) and jump to second in the drivers’ championship.
Although, a week later in Barcelona, Hamilton’s lifelong dream was finally realized. Starting the race in second behind George Russell, he kept pace with the two Mercedes drivers and later committed to a three-stop strategy which the Silver Arrows failed to replicate.
The seven-time champion used his third stint to make up the difference to Russell and Antonelli who were on a two-stop strategy but took the lead once the two had pit by lap 38. Then, a virtual safety car for a stopped Fernando Alonso allowed Hamilton to take a cheap final pitstop and emerge in the lead of the race.
With a dominant performance out front on fresher tires for the remaining 24 laps, Lewis Hamilton crossed the line in first, taking one of his most historic victories and ending his year and a half wait for the first taste of glory in the Ferrari red suit.
Following the win and Antonelli not finishing the race, he remained second in the championship for the first time since the unfortunate events at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in 2021, now sitting only 41 points behind the 19-year-old with 15 races to go.
With 2026 seeing a return to form for Lewis and him now being in the conversations for a title fight, the question is, how did his form begin to turn around?
Since the ground effect era began in 2022, Hamilton struggled to settle in with the regulations which saw some tough championship finishes. He finished below his teammates Russell and Leclerc three times between 2022 and 2025, with the 2023 season being the only difference where he finished third, five places above Russell.
Mercedes’ Trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin also pointed out his struggles in 2024, saying on Autosport.com that “He’s struggled with this whole generation of car, really, not suiting his style.” The new era of cars for the 2026 season suits his traditional driving style better than the previous generation.
He also arrived at Ferrari to a car which he had limited input in the development of, meaning with the SF26 he has been able to work together with the team to create a car which would be more comfortable for him.
Hamilton also showed this during pre-season, with him even saying that “Compared to the previous one, which I found already designed and could change very little, this car has a bit of my DNA in it, and that excites me.” (PlanetF1)
Additionally, it seems that his overall relationship with the team has improved. Over the winter, it was confirmed that Carlo Santi would be replacing Riccardo Adami as Hamilton’s race engineer for the 2026 season following some conflicting moments between Adami and the Ferrari driver in 2025. Speaking to Sky Sports last weekend in Monaco, he said that “We’re working really well together. I’ve got the right engineers now that I need. They’re doing a great job.”
With the development war underway, the Scuderia brought a new upgrade package to Barcelona last weekend with eight new parts in total. These have built on the team’s improved components from Miami and also allowed them to take their first win since the Mexican GP in October 2024.
Despite setbacks during his first season at Ferrari in which Hamilton reached a low point in both his career and life, the seven-time champion has managed to rediscover the form that he is famously known for with help from his team in Maranello alongside his loyal fanbase who have constantly reminded him of who he is.
Therefore, with many positives to take from his 2026 campaign so far including his historic first win for Ferrari last weekend in Barcelona, Lewis Hamilton’s recent run of form along with further improvements from Ferrari have put the 41-year-old in a good position to chase down Kimi Antonelli and compete for a record breaking eighth championship.
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