Lewis Hamilton is losing Ferrari control and it could prove terminal to his F1 career

Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton is losing Ferrari control and it could prove terminal to his F1 career

Is Lewis still Ferrari top dog?

Dan Ripley Global Editor

Professional F1 journalist and analyst

Monday 20 July 2026 19:57

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Lewis Hamilton has enjoyed a good second season at Ferrari, which admittedly isn't hard if you compare it with his first.

While 2025 didn't even give Hamilton a podium, 2026 has given him five already including a maiden win for the Italian team at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.

After the Belgian Grand Prix, he is once again the chief challenger to Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli in the title battle. This all sounds nice in isolation but the seven-time world champion certainly won't be leaving Spa with a smile.

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Because of course the only reason he is back in second place is because he punted the previous second place driver George Russell off the track on the first lap in Belgium after the long Kemmel Straight.

F1 Silly Season 2026: Verstappen, Mercedes and every driver move

Pos	Driver	Team	Points
1	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team	204
2	Lewis Hamilton	Scuderia Ferrari HP	159
3	George Russell	Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team	154
4	Charles Leclerc	Scuderia Ferrari HP	126

Lewis Hamilton's messy Spa

After correcting oversteer heading into turn five, he slid into Russell, sending the Mercedes driver a into a gravel trap. Hamilton was hit by a five-second penalty by the race stewards.

Nonetheless, shortly before the pit-stops, he was on the tail of Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc who was holding third spot.

Following a timely virtual safety car call in favour of Ferrari, both cars pitted, leaving Leclerc coming out in the race lead. Hamilton emerged sixth.

Part of this was of course down to the five-seconds from the penalty, but Hamilton also hit his mechanic trying to fix his front wing - causing him further time loss.

Now, Hamilton did manage to drive well to climb up into fourth but when Leclerc finishes second and just misses out on victory, it's not good news for Hamilton.

Charles Leclerc is starting to get the upper hand on Lewis Hamilton again

Leclerc is Ferrari's fastest again

That's because this is the second straight grand prix where he has been soundly beaten by the Monegasque driver and it should be of serious cause of concern for him.

For much of this season, Hamilton has dominated Leclerc prompting discussion outside of Ferrari that the team should prioritise Hamilton over his team-mate to try and defeat Antonelli in the title battle.

Even now, Hamilton has a 33-point advantage over Leclerc, but given the last two races where Leclerc has been the superior driver, this No.1 stance in favour of the 41-year-old is growing weaker race-by-race.

This is especially true when Leclerc has now recorded 1st and 2nd places in Britain and Belgium respectively, taking the Ferrari to its limits in a battle with Antonelli.

Leclerc is back on form after solving handling issues with his Ferrari. Who would be surprised if he maintained an advantage over Hamilton now having also done so at a far greater extent in 2025?

Hungary now crucial for Hamilton

There's a lot to think about now for Hamilton as he heads to the Hungarian Grand Prix and a track he absolutely loves in the Hungaroring having won eight races there.

He blamed the Belgian GP result on his FP3 crash on Saturday, triggering a wave of unfortunate events. While this is a fair argument, he has to ask how these errors are creeping into his performances in the first place.

It's no good being fast if you mistakes elsewhere keep you out of contention. Even with a 33-point lead over Leclerc, the momentum is with the Monegasque driver.

If Hamilton doesn't use one of his favourite tracks in Hungary to reassert his Ferrari dominance, his advancing age means he is fast running out of time to take it back.

LEWIS HAMILTON: Career record with every pole, win and title

Written by

Dan Ripley - Global Editor

I've been a massive F1 fan since the mid 1990s and continue to study the history of the sport long before that. As an experienced motor sport reporter covering F1, MotoGP and the LeMans 24 Hour race, being part of GPFans has allowed me to work with a diverse team with all sorts of different backgrounds in watching the sport and given me a greater appreciation of F1.

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F1 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari Charles Leclerc