Should Lewis Hamilton now be considered an F1 title contender?

Lewis Hamilton’s second place finish at the Monaco Grand Prix moved him into his highest position in the Formula 1 world championship since 2021.

Hamilton endured a horrible Ferrari debut season in 2025, suffering the first podium-less campaign of his illustrious 18-year F1 career and finishing 86 points behind team-mate Charles Leclerc. 

But the 41-year-old Briton is currently enjoying something of a renaissance following F1’s major regulation shake-up in 2026. Hamilton has made his best start to a season since 2021, notching up three podiums across the opening six rounds. 

Hamilton secured his second consecutive second place on Sunday in Monaco, a result that moved him two points ahead of former Mercedes team-mate George Russell and up to second place in the drivers’ championship, 66 points behind Andrea Kimi Antonelli. 

The rejuvenated seven-time world champion believes a maiden victory for Ferrari “couldn’t be closer” and is riding a crest of renewed confidence and momentum not seen for several years. 

"I can't believe that I'm second in the championship, and I'm really happy and thankful for that, and I couldn't have done that without this team, without the reliability that we have," Hamilton said.

"It's still very early days in the season, so we just have to keep chasing. It's actually easier to change than it is to defend, I would say, in life. And so while these guys are very, very high, we're going to keep pushing, keep chasing. I have no doubt at some stage we're going to get there.”

Hamilton may not be getting carried away with thoughts he can challenge for an elusive and record-breaking eighth world title just yet, but he has served a timely reminder to those who doubted him - including himself. 

During a miserable 2025 campaign, Hamilton even appeared to lose faith in his abilities at his lowest moments. At one point he called for Ferrari to change its driver as self-doubts appeared to creep in.

Hamilton had a much-needed disconnect over the winter and ditched his despair for a positive Ferrari reboot. The contrast between the Hamilton of 2026 and 2025 couldn’t be further apart. 

"My fans last year were telling me to remind me of who I am, and now I'm having to show up each weekend and try to do that,” he said. 

"And I think it's great to see that it's that rejuvenated love in the team, and their belief also in me, and to see them hire me and everything, so I'm very happy.”

A move away from ground effect cars to more nimble machines has enabled Hamilton to reset. This, combined with a restructure of his engineering team, including a switch of race engineer, has helped lead to a breakthrough for Hamilton, who finally feels more at one with his Ferrari car, which is more suited to the driving style that comes naturally to him. 

As a result, his performances against Leclerc have improved greatly. Hamilton looked a shadow of his former self at times last season and was comprehensively beaten by Leclerc. Now, they are locked in a dead 3-3 stalemate in qualifying, while Hamilton leads 4-2 in the race day head-to-heads. 

Hamilton’s displays this season at 41, compared to a Leclerc many consider to be in the prime of his career and possibly the fastest driver over a single lap, underline Hamilton’s incredible longevity, and have gone someway in dispelling any notion that the Briton is ‘washed’. 

Hamilton has paid tribute to Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur, who was his boss during his title-winning GP2 campaign in 2006, and who was instrumental in signing him for Ferrari, for his turnaround. 

"Fred has been awesome in supporting me," he said. "Last year was a really, really tough year for us, and begging him for certain changes [in the team and car], and he pulled through, and he did those, and now I'm seeing the fruits of that, and I'm able to finally deliver for them.”

Despite Hamilton’s bounce back, a world championship this year feels like the stuff of dreams rather than reality. Mercedes is unbeaten so far in 2026 and holds a clear advantage over its rivals. 

Hamilton acknowledges this, and is fully aware Ferrari has a huge amount of work to do in order to reel in - let alone overtake - Mercedes. 

"The performance they [Mercedes] have is next level,” Hamilton admitted. “So it was a good experience because it gives me a much better idea of where I need to have the team lean and improve, not only from what I'm feeling, but what I'm seeing as well. And, yeah, there's lots of things that we need to react to. 

"Just general performance. Downforce-wise, clearly they're above us, and then, obviously, the power. For us here, power's not such an issue. It's just downforce.

"You can see just on traction, those guys were night and day different to us. Hopefully we've got some performance coming, and the guys are working pretty hard back in the factory, so I hope that they're happy with this result."

But Hamilton stressed: “It’s still very early days in the season, so we just have to keep chasing. It’s actually easier to chase than it is to defend, I would say. 

“So, whilst these guys are very quick and they’re an amazing team, we’re going to keep pushing, keep chasing, and I have no doubt at some stage we’re going to get there.”

One factor that was thought to work in Ferrari’s favour in its bid to reduce its deficit to Mercedes was F1’s new Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities (ADUO). 

Ferrari is set to benefit from two engine upgrades this year, and two next season. However, news that Red Bull has been judged to be the benchmark power unit has sent shockwaves through the F1 paddock. 

It means that as well as Ferrari, Mercedes will also be granted an upgrade this season. This is a huge blow to Ferrari because what is widely perceived to be the best engine on the grid has the potential to get even better. 

“Red Bull have the most powerful engine, Mercedes second, and then we [Ferrari] are behind,” Hamilton told Sky Sports F1. 

"We've got these tokens to try to develop and close the gap. But that's like an eight-to-10-month project, so it's not something we can just do next week. We'll be pushing as hard as we can to see how we can close it up.”

It may be too soon to suggest that Hamilton is in realistic title contention, however there is no doubt he is in a much happier place and operating closer to the level we have come to expect from statistically the greatest of all time.