Red Mist: Lewis Hamilton is starting to pay off for Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton appears to be a very different animal in 2026 to what he was last year. And the biggest pointer to this new Lewis phenomenon is his form versus Charles Leclerc's.

Your teammate, they say, is the first rival you must beat. Something Charles has been pretty darned good at thus far. Leclerc thrashed his first teammate Marcus Ericsson, for instance, by 39 points to nine in his debut season at Sauber in 2018.

Promoted to Ferrari, Charles put 24 points on former four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel in 2019. Before Leclerc utterly demolished Seb with basically triple the points scored in 2020.

Carlos Sainz is the first and only teammate so far to beat Leclerc over a season. He snatched the advantage by just five points at the final round in ’21. But Charles struck back to beat Carlos by 62 points in 2022, by six again in ’23 and by 66 points in 2024.

Then Lewis arrived last year, and guess what? Leclerc beat him by guess how much? 66 points… So in eight seasons so far, Charles Leclerc has only once been beaten by a teammate. And two of those had already won eleven World Championships between them.

Hang on a second… it’s early days yet, but 2026 looks rather different. As of Monaco, Lewis leads Leclerc by fifteen points. With two seconds and a third versus Charles’ two third places. And for the first time ever, it seems, a teammate clearly seems to have the upper hand on Leclerc. The Monegasque even seems increasingly rattled by it.

It’s these statistics that appear to show a definite and significant Lewis Hamilton resurgence. And it’s something that’s clearly shone bright in a very different Lewis this year. Far from the moping mop he was last season, Hamilton seems a far more focused, far happier guy this year.

That much shone through after Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix: “A win couldn’t be closer,” Lewis beamed. “I can’t believe that I’m second in the championship, and I’m really happy and thankful for that. I couldn’t have done it without this team, without the reliability that we have, and also my team boss Fred Vasseur."

Hamilton recalled: "Last year was really tough for both of us. I begged him for certain changes, and he made those changes. Now I’m seeing the fruits, and I am finally able to deliver for Ferrari. It’s still very early days, but it’s actually easier to chase than it is to defend, so we’re going to keep pushing to get there.

“I need to reiterate how very, very thankful I am to my team because coming from such a really big slump and a horrendous year last year, I'm finally in a position to reignite the passion and belief that the team had in me when I first joined. It's great to see the fight in the guys too; they're doing a fantastic job. Now to close that gap!”

But is Lewis too old, you may well ask? Well, let me leave you with this: Juan-Manual Fangio was 46 when he took his final title. He was a different beast, JMF, a far less athletic fellow than our Lewis or his geriatric cohort Fernando. Which makes me wonder how long these old goats (pun intended) can continue in Formula 1.

The two observations of Lewis’s present form versus Leclerc's and the new swagger in his step added together certainly appear to demonstrate that Lewis is back at his incredible best. And ready to lead Ferrari back to great things. Forza!