Damon Hill has praised Lewis Hamilton for his remarkable turnaround at Ferrari. The seven-time world champion had a difficult first season with the Italian team in 2025, but has made a clear step forward this year. According to Hill, Hamilton also knows how to use his influence within Ferrari in the right way to steer the team back towards success.
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Hamilton finished his first season at Ferrari sixth in the championship, 96 points behind teammate Charles Leclerc. A victory eluded him and a podium finish was also out of reach. However, in 2026 he has made a strong comeback. The 41-year-old Briton won convincingly in Barcelona and added four more podiums. At the time of the summer break, he is second in the championship, fifty points behind Kimi Antonelli.
According to Damon Hill, this confirms that Hamilton is still a formidable opponent in Formula 1. “The best always end up on top, don’t they?”, the former champion responded in an interview with F1.com. “He will always win, in everything he does. I don’t think he finds it easy to take his foot off the gas. He clearly worked hard in the winter and made sure Ferrari works for him as well.”
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Lewis Hamilton takes Ferrari into his own hands
“They contracted him, they paid a lot of money for him, so he says: ‘Okay, I’m not just going to sit here and adapt to you’,” Hill said. “‘I’m going to tell you what works for me and you will adjust accordingly.’ The power he has, partly thanks to his reputation, he uses to put himself in the best possible position. And that is his right.”
Although Hamilton seems much more comfortable on the circuit, he had a series of disappointing results in the last races before the summer break. During the past three Grands Prix, the Ferrari driver received four penalties, two of which were during the race weekend in Hungary. Earlier, he received a five-second penalty at Silverstone for a false start. In Spa, he received another five-second penalty, this time for a collision with George Russell.
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