Lewis Hamilton is a racing driver competing in the 2026 FIA Formula 1 World Championship for Ferrari, car number 44. Eleven rounds into 2026 he is the closest challenger to championship leader Kimi Antonelli: second in the standings on 169 points, with five podiums and a landmark win in Barcelona — his first victory as a Ferrari driver.
The Record, and the Renaissance
Hamilton's is the most decorated career the sport has known. Seven world titles — one with McLaren in 2008, six across his Mercedes years — stand alongside 106 grand prix wins and 118 pole positions, both all-time records. He announced himself instantly in 2007 with four wins as a rookie and lost that year's title by a single point; a decade and a half of records followed, including eleven-win seasons in 2014, 2018, 2019 and 2020.
The final chapter was always going to be Ferrari, and it started quietly: his first season in red in 2025 produced no podiums and a best finish of fourth. 2026 has been the turnaround. The Barcelona win — a historic first Ferrari victory — broke a drought stretching back to 2024, five podiums in eleven rounds have followed, and at 41 years old he is the closest challenger to his own former team's teenage sensation. Even the setbacks have been front-page news, like his three-place grid penalty at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
2026 Season Log
| Rd | Race | Result | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Melbourne | P4 | 12 |
| 2 | Shanghai | P3 | 15 |
| 3 | Suzuka | P6 | 8 |
| 4 | Miami | P6 | 8 |
| 5 | Montreal | P2 | 18 |
| 6 | Monte Carlo | P2 | 18 |
| 7 | Barcelona | P1 | 25 |
| 8 | Spielberg | P5 | 10 |
| 9 | Silverstone | P3 | 15 |
| 10 | Spa | P4 | 12 |
| 11 | Budapest | P5 | 10 |
Career by the Numbers
| Season | Team | Starts | Wins | Podiums | Best |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Ferrari | 11 | 1 | 5 | P1 |
| 2025 | Ferrari | 24 | 0 | 0 | P4 |
| 2024 | Mercedes | 24 | 2 | 5 | P1 |
| 2023 | Mercedes | 22 | 0 | 6 | P2 |
| 2022 | Mercedes | 22 | 0 | 9 | P2 |
| 2021 | Mercedes | 22 | 8 | 17 | P1 |
Career stats via the Jolpica/Ergast API, updated after Round 11 (Budapest). Pole totals include sprint-shootout poles, per site methodology. Starts count race entries from 2007.
The 2026 Season So Far
Hamilton has been the model of consistency: he has finished all eleven races and never placed lower than sixth, with seconds in Montreal and Monte Carlo, the Barcelona win, and thirds in Shanghai and Silverstone. That relentlessness is what keeps him second in the championship, 50 points behind Antonelli and nine clear of George Russell — and ahead of team-mate Charles Leclerc, who has matched his win count but lost more ground to retirements. Whether Ferrari can sustain this pace is the question of the run-in; track every scenario in our championship calculator or catch up with the mid-season review.
The margins Hamilton works to were on display in Hungary: Norris beat him to pole by twelve thousandths of a second, the stewards then handed him a three-place grid penalty for impeding Piastri, and he still came home fifth. Ferrari, for their part, are second in the constructors' championship on 307 points — 72 behind Mercedes — with Hamilton and Leclerc both race winners, the healthiest internal fight at Maranello in years.