INSIGHT: Hamilton’s remarkable Ferrari transformation – from ‘absolutely useless’ to Grand Prix winner again

Lewis Hamilton well and truly banished the demons of 2025 by charging to victory in Sunday’s Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, reminding the F1 world of the talent and determination that took him to a record-equalling seventh world title several years ago.

It is an incredible turnaround for a driver who just over six months ago suffered three Q1 exits in a row, and faced a battle just to score points – the thought of fighting for pole positions and race wins seemingly as far away as they had ever been in his F1 career.

Hamilton’s nightmare start at Ferrari

Hamilton’s blockbuster move to Ferrari was supposed to be a dream, but after the early promise of a Sprint victory at last year’s Chinese Grand Prix, it soon turned into a nightmare, amid struggles to adapt to his new surroundings both on and off the track.

The situation was so dire by the mid-season stage that Hamilton described himself as “absolutely useless”, while suggesting that Ferrari “probably need to change driver”, having fallen at the Q2 hurdle in Hungary before team mate Charles Leclerc grabbed pole.

An upturn in form when the penultimate phase of flyaway races got under way in the Americas offered hope, but proved to be a false dawn. A P4 finish in Austin and a top-three starting position in Mexico City were followed by a Q2 exit and painful retirement in Brazil, and successive Q1 eliminations in Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

Someone who wears his heart on his sleeve, Hamilton continued to show the pain he was feeling at every twist and turn – his defeated exchanges with the media prompting many in the paddock to ponder whether he would even remain with Ferrari into 2026.

When he entered the TV pen after Qualifying for the Qatar Grand Prix, as that long, painful campaign drew to a close, things appeared to be reaching crisis point once more. Asked during our conversation about his latest Q1 exit if he had a message for the fans who were loyally sticking by him, the then 105-time race winner was almost lost for words.

“I don’t really have a message right now,” sighed Hamilton, who dipped his head, paused for several seconds and took a moment to process what was happening. “I’m sorry,” he eventually added, holding back tears. “I’m incredibly grateful for the support that I’ve had all year. I wouldn’t have made it through this year without them.”

Race day was only marginally better, seeing him rise from P17 on the grid to P12, but Hamilton this time made a point of referencing 2026 – and F1’s all-new era of regulations – as the flicker of light at the end of the tunnel, and a potential escape from the heartache.

“It’s about getting through Abu Dhabi and then making all the changes that are necessary after that for next year,” he said.

A crucial winter reset

So, after crossing the finish line for the final time in 2025, and completing the annual post-season test at the Yas Marina Circuit, Hamilton headed into perhaps the most important winter period of his F1 career to date.

A few weeks into January, I was there to catch up with him when F1’s 2026 cars hit the track for the first time during the Barcelona Shakedown – and despite the freezing temperatures, the first shoots of a comeback were already showing.

“It’s been a really enjoyable week, honestly,” he said of the five-day gathering. “I think a huge amount of work over the winter, on my personal side, but what the team have done over the winter to make changes going into the test.

“To see the mileage that we’ve been able to get the last couple of days due to just so much great work from all the people back at the factory, which I’m really grateful for because having consistency, not having problems… Of course, there’s always small things, but we didn’t really have any downtime moments.

“We definitely have work to do to improve, like everybody does, but I think we’ve had great debriefs, everyone’s really on it – I really feel the winning mentality in every single person in the team more than ever, so it’s a positive.”

Not only was Hamilton enjoying F1’s new-spec cars, describing them as “more fun to drive” compared with the previous ground-effect generation, but he was starting to put the pieces of the puzzle that had been missing through 2025 into place.

Included on the list was a new race engineer, Carlo Santi, someone Hamilton has clearly gelled with, and has since described as his “Italian Bono”, in reference to former right-hand man at Mercedes, Peter Bonnington.

Q1 exits replaced with podium finishes

Fast forward to the start of the season and, with memories of those 2025 Q1 dramas still fresh, Hamilton was bang on the pace of team mate Leclerc – chasing him to the chequered flag in Australia, where they placed P3 and P4 respectively, and then beating him to the podium in China.

Solid weekends in Japan and Miami followed, before the next key decision to carve his own way behind the scenes yielded another tangible step forward in Canada and Monaco, where Hamilton bagged back-to-back P2 finishes – and his best results as a Ferrari driver so far.

“I chose a different set-up this weekend, just ciphering through the data, working really well with my engineer – he’s absolutely awesome and I’m really loving working with him,” said Hamilton after the Montreal race, while revealing that he was no longer using Ferrari’s simulator to prepare for Grands Prix.

“My number two did a fantastic job this weekend, helped me really pull more performance out of the car, getting into a much sweeter place, and I was able to attack all the corners finally.

“As I said, there’s a lot of changes that I’ve had to ask for, and Fred [Vasseur, Ferrari Team Principal] has been super supportive, and again, also moving mountains in order to make me comfortable. It’s finally starting to show in my performance.”

A statement Barcelona weekend

When F1 arrived in Barcelona, Hamilton doubled down on those comments.

“I knew we would get to this point at some point,” he said on media day. “I knew that last year was a building year and I knew that if we acted on the things that I’d asked for we would eventually get to where we’re going.

“We still have work to do, we’re still not there just yet, but the things that I was asking for last year… I’ve got a car that I’ve had input into, helped develop, adding things to new ways that we work together.”

He added: “Last year was not a good year at all in so many ways. [There’s] more harmony in the team. I’m fitter, healthier, I’m in a better place personally, and I arrived with a much better attitude even than I started last year.”

This served Hamilton well after a tricky start to the weekend, where he missed the first session to give Ferrari junior Dino Beganovic a rookie run-out, pushed to find a rhythm aboard the upgraded SF-26 in stifling heat, and finished seven-tenths off the pace in final practice.

Staying calm amid the questions that needed to be answered, Hamilton left the track between FP3 and Qualifying, locked himself in his motorhome, joined Ferrari’s engineering call remotely, and got his head down to make gains for Qualifying – something he delivered on with much more competitive Q1 and Q2 showings, and then a Q3 lap for the ages.

Splitting the Mercedes machines of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli with P2 on the grid, Hamilton had put himself in a brilliant position to make it three podiums on the bounce, while giving himself a golden opportunity to go one step further and claim a first Grand Prix win for the Scuderia.

Despite the long run down to Turn 1 passing without a vault to the lead, Hamilton kept himself in the mix before Ferrari surprised their rivals and opted for an aggressive, three-stop strategy – that call, and Hamilton’s perfect execution of the required lap times, working out handsomely.

Then, such is often the way in F1, a decisive moment came when Hamilton’s former team mate and title rival, Fernando Alonso, ground to a halt in his troubled Aston Martin, bringing out the Virtual Safety Car (VSC) and providing the cheap pit stop that solidified P1.

Only months on from those early Qualifying baths, race-day woes and difficulties finding words, Hamilton was leading a Grand Prix for Ferrari and had some 20 laps to navigate to score an elusive 106th Grand Prix victory.

When Antonelli’s Mercedes gave up in the closing stages, it provided even more breathing space, giving Hamilton a clear run to the chequered flag, and one of the most meaningful results in his illustrious, trophy-filled career.

The post-race scenes were magical as Hamilton jumped out of his car, ran to the crowd of waiting Ferrari mechanics, knelt down in amazement under the podium, and then shed some tears as the famous Italian national anthem played out over the pit lane.

A few minutes later, Hamilton made his way to the TV pen for a lengthy round of interviews with the world’s media, where the look on his face could not have been more different to the one he displayed in Qatar in late-November.

“It’s really, really hard to try to be present at the moment, and live in the moment,” he told me, smiling and shaking his head. “It’s hard to believe that we just did that whole, long race, and we came out on top. Wow, wow, wow…

“I’ve been hoping and praying for this moment, and working towards it really hard with the team. It’s been such great dedication from everybody. I can’t believe… To get my first Grand Prix win here in Barcelona, it’s such a privileged position to be in, and something that I’ll never forget.”

He added: “Of course, we were fortunate with the VSC, but I think we were quick enough [for the win]. You could see the pace at the end, I think we were quick enough to battle for position. Unfortunately, the VSC ultimately robbed us of a proper battle.

“After that, [there was] no looking back. The car felt great, the last two stints were really, really strong – I was closing the gap to those guys when they stopped. Just a phenomenal job from the team, so a huge thank you to everyone back in Maranello.”

So what about an eighth title?

Indeed, Hamilton’s old Mercedes team mate, Nico Rosberg, who conducted the Parc Ferme interviews, told F1.com in the paddock: “We’ve witnessed a legendary moment of F1. It’s historic for Lewis, and it’s a historic moment [in general]. I think the whole of the F1 world, everybody, appreciates this moment. There’s nobody who does not appreciate this moment.

“He went through such an extremely tough start to the time at Ferrari. It’s amazing how he’s really managed to turn it around and climb to his greatness once again. We all kind of want this to continue now, because we want him to take on the fight to the Mercedes guys. That would be awesome.”

It remains to be seen if Hamilton’s breakthrough win lays the foundation for a title challenge, but if the last few Grands Prix – and the start to the 2026 season overall – are anything to go by, the 41-year-old has rediscovered the kind of form that made him a seven-time champion of the world.

After his podium finishes in Canada and Monaco, Hamilton spoke of having to remind people who he still is, and in the wake of last weekend’s spectacular display in Barcelona, nobody should be left with any doubt.