Lewis Hamilton’s return to winning ways confirms one key theory, according to Anthony Davidson. Anthony Davidson believes Lewis Hamilton has proved his doubters wrong with Ferrari comeback.

Anthony Davidson explains why Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari resurgence proves the 2025 struggles were not down to the seven-time champion

Lewis Hamilton’s remarkable turnaround at Ferrari during the 2026 Formula 1 season has reignited the debate surrounding his difficult debut campaign with the Scuderia. After enduring a disappointing first year in Maranello, the seven-time World Champion has rediscovered his pace under Formula 1’s new technical regulations, prompting former F1 driver Anthony Davidson to argue that Hamilton’s previous struggles were caused by the characteristics of the cars rather than any decline in driving ability.

Hamilton’s blockbuster move from Mercedes to Ferrari ahead of the 2025 season was one of the biggest driver transfers in Formula 1 history. Expectations were enormous, with many predicting that the sport’s most successful driver would help restore Ferrari to championship-winning form.

Instead, the partnership got off to a frustrating start. Lewis Hamilton found it difficult to adapt to the SF-25, while Ferrari itself struggled to unlock the full potential of its package throughout the season. By the end of the campaign, Charles Leclerc had comfortably finished ahead of his new team-mate in the Drivers’ Championship, ending the year with an 86-point advantage over the Briton.

Fast forward to 2026, however, and the picture has changed dramatically. Ferrari has produced a much more competitive package under the latest regulations, while Lewis Hamilton has looked increasingly comfortable behind the wheel. His breakthrough victory for the Scuderia at the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona marked a turning point in his Ferrari career, and after nine rounds he now holds a 39-point advantage over Charles Leclerc in the championship standings.

Anthony Davidson believes Formula 1’s new regulations have transformed Lewis Hamilton’s fortunes

Speaking on the Sky Sports F1 Show, Anthony Davidson argued that Lewis Hamilton’s impressive performances this season provide compelling evidence that the difficulties experienced between 2022 and 2025 were primarily linked to the previous generation of Formula 1 cars rather than the driver’s ability.

The former Formula 1 racer, who competed for Minardi, BAR and Super Aguri during his Grand Prix career, believes the ground-effect regulations simply did not suit Lewis Hamilton’s natural driving style. According to Davidson, the new technical package introduced for 2026 has allowed the Ferrari driver to return to the level that made him one of the most successful competitors in Formula 1 history.

Davidson explained that the previous cars consistently prevented Lewis Hamilton from extracting his maximum performance, regardless of the team he drove for. He pointed out that the same pattern continued after Hamilton’s move from Mercedes to Ferrari, suggesting that the common denominator was always the technical regulations rather than the driver himself.

He also highlighted that Lewis Hamilton has traditionally preferred a car that is more responsive on corner entry, with a rear end that rotates naturally and allows a more aggressive driving style. Davidson noted that Andrea Kimi Antonelli appears to favour a very similar approach behind the wheel, which helps explain why both drivers have looked considerably more competitive under the current regulations.

In Davidson’s view, it is no coincidence that drivers who struggled to consistently match their team-mates under the previous rules are now finding themselves back at the front following the introduction of a fundamentally different generation of Formula 1 cars.

Davidson: Formula 1’s greatest driver never lost his talent

Anthony Davidson went even further by insisting that Lewis Hamilton’s return to winning form reinforces his belief that the Ferrari driver remains Formula 1’s greatest of all time.

He argued that when a driver with Lewis Hamilton’s extraordinary record suddenly experiences a prolonged loss of competitiveness, the logical explanation is not a sudden decline in talent but rather external factors preventing that driver from performing at his best.

According to Davidson, the extensive analysis carried out by both Lewis Hamilton and the engineers over recent seasons was aimed at understanding exactly why the seven-time World Champion could no longer drive the previous generation of ground-effect cars as naturally as he had mastered earlier Formula 1 machinery.

Now that the regulations have changed once again, Davidson believes the evidence clearly shows that Lewis Hamilton’s ability never disappeared. Instead, the new technical rules have simply unlocked the performance that many believed had been hidden rather than lost.

Lewis Hamilton emerging as an unexpected championship contender

After nine Grands Prix, Lewis Hamilton is steadily establishing himself as a genuine contender in the 2026 Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship. While Andrea Kimi Antonelli continues to lead the standings, the Ferrari driver remains only 32 points behind the Mercedes rookie, keeping himself firmly within striking distance heading into the second half of the season.

Mercedes still boasts the strongest overall package on the grid, having claimed victory in seven of the opening nine races. Nevertheless, reliability has increasingly become the team’s biggest weakness. Both Andrea Kimi Antonelli and George Russell have lost valuable championship points due to mechanical failures and race-ending reliability issues during recent Grands Prix.

Ferrari, by contrast, has established itself as the benchmark for reliability among the leading teams. The Scuderia has combined consistent mechanical dependability with a steadily improving performance package, allowing both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc to capitalize whenever Mercedes encounters problems.

If the current trend continues, Lewis Hamilton could find himself perfectly positioned to take advantage of any further setbacks suffered by Mercedes. With Ferrari continuing to close the performance gap through upgrades and the team’s reliability remaining one of its greatest strengths, the battle for the 2026 Formula 1 World Championship may be far from over.