Hamilton’s rebuilt – Lewis Hamilton’s first win with Ferrari since 2024—coming after a rebuilding process built on mental health, a social media detox, and fresh work with his new team—sent him second in the standings and cut Kimi Antonelli’s lead to 41 points.
Lewis Hamilton walked away from Sunday’s race with a kind of calm that didn’t come from fireworks or brute force. It came from control—over what reaches him, what lingers, and what he chooses to carry into the next lap.
The seven-time champion’s first breakthrough win with Ferrari, his first since 2024, moved him into second place and trimmed the overall lead of Kimi Antonelli, the 19-year-old driver who replaced Hamilton when he left Mercedes.
For Hamilton, getting back to the front has been “a long and painful process.” It was an injury-plagued stretch through 2025 that left him questioning himself—until the work became as much about the mind as it was about the car.
“I’ve rebuilt my mind to this point, to get myself back to where I was,” Hamilton said Sunday. He added that he’d leaned into a message of “never second-guess yourself, never doubt yourself.”
That rebuild came with training described as harder than ever ahead of this season to keep up with younger rivals such as Antonelli, but Hamilton’s recovery strategy also put mental well-being at the center. It included stepping away from social media.
“I’m only human. So. you know. there’s moments where I see the stuff (on social media) and for sure there’s moments where I allowed it to get to me and penetrate deeply. ” Hamilton said. He described a “sequence of unplugging from that matrix. ” and said he spent “lots of time with family. lots of time with friends. real people that know me. that have never doubted me. have stuck to and by me my whole life.”.
At the track, support has also followed him in unusual forms. Hamilton’s comeback has included backing from Kim Kardashian. And inside Ferrari’s operation. Hamilton has found warmth after last year’s tense radio moments—he and his new race engineer Carlo Santi have been exchanging supportive words over the radio. following often-awkward exchanges with Riccardo Adami.
Ferrari, meanwhile, has leaned into the kind of risk Hamilton believes is needed to break away from the pack. Signing Hamilton in 2024 was described as a risk for the team. given that his most recent win before Sunday had been more than two years earlier. Under team principal Fred Vasseur, Ferrari’s search for speed has looked less like steadiness and more like urgency.
Hamilton pointed to meetings with senior Ferrari staff last year as part of planning for 2026, and he said the team’s approach this year is built around innovation.
“This year is all about innovation,” Hamilton said, singling out the “Macarena” rear wing, which turns upside-down for better straight-line speed. “This is what I was asking for last year. This team has to be the leaders in that, and they’ve shown that they can and they will.”
Even the sport’s emotional pressure showed up elsewhere on the grid. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff used an old F1 cliché after Antonelli broke down on track—only his second Mercedes non-finish in three races.
“To finish first, first you have to finish,” Wolff told Sky Sports.
Hamilton’s form has been remarkably consistent. He is the only driver to finish in the top 10 of every race this season. Still, the weekend brought a reminder that this comeback can be fragile. Charles Leclerc had to retire Sunday with an issue affecting his brakes and steering.
Despite the shift, the title picture remains stubbornly led by Antonelli, whose advantage stands at 41 points. Hamilton said an historic eighth title hasn’t been on his mind, and with the standings as they are, the gap won’t close by sentiment alone.
But there is momentum—and geography—on his side. F1 is heading into a run of European tracks which Hamilton knows well, including his home race in Britain next month. Those venues also matter because Antonelli largely underperformed there last year.
There’s also uncertainty around whether Mercedes can match Ferrari’s pace. Wolff has suggested spending limits could restrict the team’s response to the package of new parts Ferrari used so effectively in Barcelona.
Hamilton’s breakthrough win didn’t just change the scoreboard. It offered a sharper picture of the way he’s rebuilding his week-to-week life in Formula 1—mind first, then speed—at the exact moment the championship begins to feel like it could open.
Lewis Hamilton Ferrari Kimi Antonelli Formula 1 Macarena rear wing Toto Wolff Fred Vasseur Carlo Santi Riccardo Adami Charles Leclerc Mercedes F1 standings
So he won bc he detoxed? lol ok
I just read the headline but didn’t realize it was since 2024. Cutting a 41 point lead?? Also mental health stuff is good I guess. But isn’t racing already like all mental
Wait so Hamilton’s “rebuilding his mind” and that fixes the car? I mean I get the social media thing, but teams usually win with engineering not feelings. Still, stepping away from the internet makes sense. Also Antonelli lead is like 41 now? That sounds big for one race change.
Good for him honestly. People forget these guys are human and not robots. But I swear every time someone says “never second-guess yourself” it’s also like… you already second-guessed yourself for years and then finally it worked. Idk. Social media detox is probably the real performance upgrade though. Ferrari looks different now, like they got their groove back or something.