At the start of the season, considering the difficulties Lewis Hamilton endured throughout 2025, very few people would have predicted this scenario. Yet after roughly one-third of the 2026 Formula 1 campaign, the seven-time world champion finds himself second in the Drivers’ Championship, just 41 points behind leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
The turnaround has been remarkable. To put Ferrari’s progress into perspective, Lewis Hamilton currently has 62 more points than he did after the seventh Grand Prix of last season. It is a dramatic shift in competitiveness that has become especially evident over the last three race weekends.
Back among the frontrunners
Across the Grands Prix in Montreal, Monaco and Barcelona, no driver on the Formula 1 grid has scored more points than Lewis Hamilton. Not even championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli has matched the Ferrari driver’s recent tally.
Following a disappointing sixth-place finish in Miami, Lewis Hamilton responded in impressive fashion with two second-place finishes and a victory, collecting a total of 64 points over the last three events.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, whose momentum was interrupted by a retirement in Barcelona, scored 56 points during the same period. The difference becomes even more striking when compared to some of Lewis Hamilton’s closest rivals.
Over those three Grands Prix, Charles Leclerc managed just 16 points, while George Russell collected 26. The contrast highlights the exceptional form Lewis Hamilton has found as Ferrari’s development programme begins to deliver increasingly competitive performances.
His strongest championship position since 2021
Perhaps the most significant statistic is Lewis Hamilton’s current position in the championship standings. Sitting second overall and only 41 points behind the leader represents the strongest title position he has enjoyed since the conclusion of the dramatic 2021 Formula 1 season. That year ended with the controversial Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, where the Briton narrowly lost the world championship to Max Verstappen by eight points in one of the most debated finales in Formula 1 history.
At the beginning of the following season in 2022, Lewis Hamilton was 11 points behind the championship lead after the opening race in Bahrain. However, he was only third in the standings at that stage, trailing the two Ferrari drivers who secured a memorable one-two finish that weekend.
Now, four years later, Lewis Hamilton finds himself much closer to the summit of Formula 1 once again. The combination of Ferrari’s improved competitiveness and his own return to top form has transformed what once seemed like an unlikely season into a genuine championship campaign.
If Lewis Hamilton manages to take over the championship lead at any point this year, he would become the fifth-oldest driver ever to lead the Formula 1 World Championship. For Ferrari supporters, that possibility is becoming increasingly realistic, and the dream of a historic title challenge is beginning to feel more tangible with every passing race weekend.
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