F1 2026: Lewis Hamilton given ‘return to top' timeline as champion heads for lengthy Ferrari struggle

Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton given ‘return to top' timeline as champion heads for lengthy Ferrari struggle

The 41-year-old's patience might be wearing thing

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Saturday 7 February 2026 21:10

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Lewis Hamilton has been given a timeline to return to the top with Ferrari and it's bad news for the F1 champion. It's going to take a while.

If someone had told you five years ago that Lewis Hamilton would still be racing at 41, there would be a response of disbelief. Not because Hamilton isn't good enough to compete into his 40s, but because it's a long time for anyone to compete at the top level of sport.

Hamilton isn't ruled by racing and F1, his interests in fashion, music and the movies will keep him well occupied in retirement, but while that eighth world title continues to elude him the hunger to race in F1 remains.

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While Hamilton's own motivation cannot be questioned, his speed can, with a disastrous 2025 season exposing his inadequacies to younger team-mate Charles Leclerc.

Still, the 2026 campaign marks the first year Hamilton will have been involved in developing the Ferrari with the brand new regulations. At the Barcelona shakedown, he set the unofficial fastest time and stated the new cars were 'more fun to drive', giving us hope for 2026. Perhaps we were too impatient all along?

Usain Bolt gives Lewis Hamilton return to the top advice

One sportsperson who believes in patience for an athlete to return to the top is eight-time Olympic gold medallist Usain Bolt.

The Jamaican sprinting legend still holds the world record for the 100m (9.58 seconds), 200m (19.19 seconds) and the 4 x 100m relay (36.84 seconds), and recently he imparted advice to Hamilton, telling him that a return to the top could take as long as two years.

But, at the age of 41, will Hamilton be patient enough for such a lengthy process?

Bolt told RacingNews365: "For me, it's always going to be tough. But as a person who knows what it takes to get to the top, it's never going to be perfect.

"It's much easier to get back to the top, because you know the work, and you know what you need to do to get back on top.

"So for me, I know it's going to be tough on Lewis. It's going to take him at least two years to really get comfortable, settle in, and get used to Ferrari.

"So I look forward to the upcoming years; he's going to really show up again."

F1 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari