Has Stevenage’s prodigal son returned?
Seventh in qualifying, almost a second from pole and a tenth and a half behind Leclerc (fourth). Author of a slingshot start, like Leclerc, but still fourth under the checkered flag, arriving in the slipstream of his teammate after having recovered approximately seven seconds from him in the final phase of the race.
This, in a very short summary, is the result of Lewis Hamilton at the Australian Grand Prix. A decidedly more convincing and toned performance than those to which Lewis had unfortunately accustomed us during his difficult 2025 season. It is evident, today more than ever, that the previous generation of ground effect cars represented an ugly beast for Lewis to train, but is his good performance in Melbourne enough to kill the fatted calf and sing about the return of the prodigal Hamilton?
The answer depends on the points of view and expectations towards the seven-time world champion who, it is worth remembering, boasts 105 GPs won, 202 podiums and 104 pole positions. Hamilton drove a Ferrari which it clearly was the second force in the race and who had a good margin over his rivals in terms of race pace and sprint at the start. He finished fourth, which in hindsight was the lowest that could be achieved with the SF-26 Sunday in Melbourne. Lewis never appeared capable of attacking Leclerc even though he came very close to him towards the end and, the #44 declared, that with two more laps of the race he would have passed him. It may be but it didn’t happen. The long-awaited first podium in Ferrari, let’s not talk about victory for that we will have to wait for the Chinese Sprint aside, it hasn’t arrived yet. Third place this time too was taken by his teammate who, to be clear, is still one of the three or four strongest and fastest riders on the starting grid and a more than potential world champion, but who Lewis certainly wants to beat, if only for the palmares he has.
The political integration with the team does not seem to have improved
In terms of integration with the team, it doesn’t seem, from his statements, that he has made big steps forward, still remaining in the guise of a sort of “external consultant” to the team. He started on Saturday by commenting on the gap to Mercedes to say “If it was a question of compression ratio, then I would be disappointed that the FIA allowed this to happen. It wasn’t in the rules and I will pressure my team to do the same, so we can become more powerful“. Beyond the naivety of the request, his words seem to imply that Ferrari doesn’t have much desire to act on this matter and needs to be encouraged. Really implausible to put it mildly. Furthermore, both during the race and at the end of the race he reiterated his thoughts on the fact that changing the tires under the first VSC could have led to a better outcome. “Our tires were certainly still good at the end of the GP and we could have stopped earlier. It would have been a free pit stop. I think with the first VSC we should have made the pit stop“. These are his words. However, a position not shared by Ferrari.
Why can we celebrate Hamilton’s return to the top of the rankings and a driver who is finally integrated into the team? Compared to last year the situation, as mentioned, appears to have improved but for those who have in mind the Lewis Hamilton of the “hammertime” times, the integration with Mercedes and the repeated records it is reasonable to expect results and behaviors even superior before singing about the return of the rediscovered seven-time champion.
