Lewis Hamilton’s anger is refreshing for F1 and shows he cares again

Luke SlaterMon, August 24, 2026 at 10:05 AM UTC

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After the nadir of Lewis Hamilton’s debut season at Ferrari it is clear he is not only hungry again but genuinely thinks he is in title contention - Bryn Lennon /F1 via Getty images

To hear Lewis Hamilton admonish his Ferrari team so sharply during the Dutch Grand Prix was astonishing. Hamilton was faster than Charles Leclerc and had just closed up on the gearbox of his team-mate.

“We’re just losing time,” Hamilton barked on the radio, requesting a team order to let him through into second place. It was a level of frustration that we have rarely heard from him. After Ferrari brought Leclerc into the pits, allowing Hamilton to pass, he was no less caustic. “Great way of wasting time, guys, good job,” came the response.

It might look petty, and it is easy to criticise drivers being abrasive and occasionally insulting to their race engineers in the heat of battle. It is usually an unbecoming listen. Yet after years of Hamilton looking unmotivated (and at times broken) it is refreshing and welcome to see him in this mood.

Above all, it shows that he is still bothered and maybe that he knows he has a quick car underneath him that has just a sniff of an eighth world championship. It went with the head-down relentlessness that we saw as he took a memorable win in Barcelona in June, his first for Ferrari. Such an upturn in form would have been a distant dream 12 months ago.

His first season at Ferrari was his F1 nadir. At the Hungarian Grand Prix last July he was so dispirited by his own performance that he called himself “useless” and claimed that Ferrari should replace him. The remainder of a bruising debut season at Maranello barely improved, much like the seven-time champion’s mood. It was reminiscent of Sebastian Vettel’s final years at the Scuderia.

That all came after three years in a Mercedes that delivered him only two victories – both in 2024 – as he sought to avenge his controversial defeat by Max Verstappen at the end of the 2021 season. In his final season at the Silver Arrows he was beaten by team-mate George Russell.

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Hamilton’s victory at his home grand prix in 2024 was his first finish at the top of the podium since 2021 - PETER POWELL/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Hamilton may say that he knew, deep down, that he would reverse the trend of the past few years, but his statements and body language at various points told a different tale. It is not a stretch to claim that the most successful driver in F1 history had some reputational rebuilding to do in 2026.

He has managed that so far, though the season has not been without its blips. He has been penalised a handful of times, most have been his own fault and have cost him a chance of being closer to Kimi Antonelli, the championship leader. Some of those were small but significant mistakes, but even Verstappen makes those from time to time, as we saw on Sunday.

It is understandable that Hamilton has found the motivation driving a car that he is more at home with than the previous generation of ground-effect machinery. He has backed that up on the track – his win in Barcelona was a ruthless performance – and a relatively lofty position in the standings. This in turn may be motivating him further, leading to the raspy outburst at Zandvoort on Sunday. He feels something significant is finally at stake. Nobody at Maranello, not even Leclerc, should complain about having a fired-up Hamilton in the team.

In comments after the race he explained his frustration at the situation, which he believed cost him a podium. “I think what’s clear is I’m looking ahead and seeing Mercedes execute like that,” he said. “They’ve got the car, they’re fighting for the championship, in the lead and they did it [swapped cars] straight away.

“I’m here to win and I really believe that this team can win. We couldn’t win this race but to win championships you have to pick up every point and the last few races have been difficult with penalties and stuff and then, today, I lost several seconds behind Charles which I think ultimately would have made the difference at the end,” he added.

“My goal is to try and lead this team to the championship and we’ve got some work to do for sure.”

That last line feels like a strong statement and recognition of his season so far, if not a little pointed. Is Hamilton Ferrari’s de facto team leader? Not yet, but he looks more like one than he has since 2021. He is ahead of Leclerc in the standings by 28 points and has the better qualifying record. He might not be driving like a clear team leader just yet, but he is starting to behave like one.

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Source: “AOL Sports”