In the dying embers of the 2025 Formula One season there was a period when Lewis Hamilton, one of the greatest drivers of all time, seemed cut from an almost unrecognisable cloth. The confidence, humour and calm assurance in his own abilities had been stripped away, replaced by an almost despairing bewilderment.
It was so alien to his usual character that many considered it a wonder that he was managing to drag himself on to see the year out. In the buildup to this weekend’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, Hamilton was typically forthright in acknowledging it had been something of a psychological break.
“I lost sight for a second of who I was,” he said. “That person’s gone, you won’t see that person again. It was just something that built up over a period of time. And I think it’s normal. Lots of people have that at some point through their lives. It’s important you pick yourself back up and you evaluate where you’ve been and come back with that positive mental frame of mind.”
The contrast between that negativity and the optimism of the buildup to his debut season with Ferrari was so marked as to be almost theatrical. The fervour and anticipation of the seven-time champion donning the rosso corsa to try to end Ferrari’s interminable title drought had come to nought.
Hamilton endured the worst season of his career, finishing sixth in the drivers’ championship, behind his teammate Charles Leclerc, who also comprehensively out-qualified him during the campaign. He failed to take even a podium place for the first time, but, far worse than the cold statistics, he appeared simply adrift.
Ferrari’s recalcitrant car, not great to open with and on which development had ceased within almost a month of the season starting, looked beyond him. His attempts to adapt to his new team ground slowly, and by the close, jaded and disconsolate, he was describing it as a “nightmare” season and expressing his “anger and rage” at himself.
These outbursts were indicative of what makes Hamilton so fascinating, wearing his heart on his sleeve, even when it made him vulnerable.
By the close, the 41-year-old glumly proclaimed he just wanted a break, a chance to “completely unplug from the matrix”. There was some debate about whether he would return at all, but Hamilton has proved he is nothing if not a fighter. He spent the winter unplugging, putting his effort into personal, family and social life instead, including a burgeoning relationship with Kim Kardashian.
“The break was really positive,” he said. “It was my surroundings. It was the people I was with. It’s not my first rodeo, so it’s understanding how to flip things. It’s not that easy to do each time, but I always talk about cultivating a positive mental attitude.
“A lot of it came from training, that I’ve put more work in than anyone around me. I believe in myself and rediscovering myself was really a big part of it as well.”
When he did come back, the drained ghost that had haunted the close of 2025 was gone. The re-energised driver of old was ready again and crucially he feels far more comfortable with the first Ferrari he has helped to design.
Certainly he is happier with these smaller, nimbler cars, which will suit his driving style more than those of the ground-effect era. Better still, early indications are that Ferrari have delivered a car that, whisper it, may have a shout at the title or, at very least, race victories. Even the latter would be manna to Hamilton who has been crying out for a chance to prove he is as sharp as ever.
If the Scuderia do have a championship-contending car, or even one that can mix it for wins, the pressure on him will be of an altogether different kind.
Hamilton is without doubt nearing the end of his career and there are those who argue that in a competitive car, a dominant Leclerc, now 28, could be the one who forces him to call time. Certainly the younger man could be expected to have the edge in qualifying. Yet in the race Hamilton has the pace, judgment and critical execution born of experience that has surely not yet left him. It is impossible to imagine his touch, or his feel for the car beneath him, has gone.
Even over these fallow years when his ride came to him – his win at Silverstone in 2024 not least – he was once more all but untouchable, as astute and controlled as he was when toe-to-toe with Max Verstappen in 2021. If Ferrari have the goods it would be bold to write all that off simply because he has had no opportunity to demonstrate it of late.
The Scuderia will have to play their part and it is not ideal that Hamilton is still awaiting assignment of his permanent race engineer. Kimi Räikkönen’s former engineer Carlo Santi is occupying the role made vacant when last year’s difficult relationship with Riccardo Adami was brought to an end in the close season. It will be a vital role if Hamilton is once more at the sharp end. The team as a whole must step up operationally, as well as matching their rivals in a fierce development war.
At the final race of last season in Abu Dhabi it was extraordinary to witness Hamilton’s car, at the rear of the grid without anyone gathered around the ride of one of F1’s true greats. There were just the Ferrari mechanics, appearing almost as mourners around a casket, waiting to bring a close to an unedifying season. The scene was simply unimaginable at any point previously in Hamilton’s career.
There will doubtless be a throng around him again in Melbourne. Hamilton is riding happily into the fray once more and F1 is all the better for it.
