Lewis Hamilton has proved his doubters wrong once again and sits second in the drivers’ championship ahead of the second half of the season.
The seven-time Formula 1 world champion went a painful 40 Grands Prix without victory until a teary return to the top step of the podium in Barcelona.
The new 2026 regulation changes are clearly suiting the Brit, who’s produced some of his best racing at 41-years-old, defying age and the odds.
Yet despite all the good news, he’s had the annoyance of former team Mercedes looking even sharper than his Ferrari.
The man who replaced him at the British-German squad, Kimi Antonelli, sits 50 points ahead in the drivers’ championship and is the overwhelming favourite heading into the second half of the season.
However, there’s absolutely no reason for Hamilton to give up, and there are, in fact, five reasons why he can still take his record-breaking eighth title this year…
The Kardashian bounce
Whatever you think of Hamilton’s new, very public relationship, history suggests a happy Hamilton off the track is a deadly one on it.
The 41-year-old hasn’t had such a public partner since his early days with Nicole Scherzinger, when he won his first title with McLaren.
In fact, his mechanic at the time, Marc Priestley, explained just how crucial she was, and perhaps how crucial Kardashian could be this season.
Kardashian's presence is more important than we realise(Photo: Race Pictures)
“When he first came into this sport, we used to joke amongst the team that Lewis’s performance was so intrinsically linked to the state of their relationship,” the former McLaren mechanic said on his Pitlane Life Lessons podcast.
“As in, on a good day, he performed well. When their relationship was in the doldrums and they were so off and on, it was a bit like an emotional roller coaster – when he was in these low points in the relationship, you could clearly track the performance in the car to the way their relationship status seemed to be.
“We joked that there seemed to be more lap time in keeping those two together than there ever could be with anything we could do with the car.”
Hamilton appears to be in utter bliss right now, and that can only be a good thing.
Hamilton can eliminate costly Ferrari mistakes
Hamilton’s 50-point gap to Antonelli could well be far smaller if it weren't for a number of errors.
The seven-time champion has uncharacteristically slipped up in recent events, including a false start at Silverstone and speeding in the pit lane in Hungary, where he also copped a penalty for blocking Oscar Piastri in qualifying.
Hamilton is determined to end that run, telling GPblog and others: "The last two races have been pretty bad from my side.
"I'll work hard to try and come back. There's still a lot of positives to take. I'm going to try and make sure I don't give them any reason to penalise me."
The (form) table doesn’t lie
While Antonelli is ahead overall, recent form isn’t in the young Italian’s favour.
The Mercedes prodigy famously won five Grands Prix in a row from Round 2 through to Round 6, but since then things have dropped off considerably.
Antonelli has just one victory in his last five and two disasters in Barcelona and Silverstone.
His W17 packed up in Spain and in Britain it almost did the same, only for Antonelli to keep going for a single point in 15th.
During that five-race period he recorded 63 points, the joint-fourth-highest total, while Hamilton tops the form charts with 79.
DNF's for Antonelli have opened the door for Hamilton (Photo: Race Pictures)
Hamilton has overturned F1 title deficits before
Hamilton has traditionally been a slow starter during his F1 career, not getting in the groove until the European season.
That means he’s more than used to a comeback after the summer break, something he’s already done twice in his career.
In 2014, Hamilton came back from an 11-point summer break deficit to beat Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg, and he repeated the feat from 14-points back against Sebastian Vettel in 2017.
Neither gap was quite as daunting as his 50-point gap against Antonelli, but they were against far more experienced opponents.
Could Monza transform Hamilton's championship challenge?
At home in front of their fans, Ferrari are expected to roll out the next phase of their power unit upgrades, which could be another huge boost for Hamilton.
On top of that, Kimi Antonelli is approaching a power unit penalty, with Monza a circuit where teams often intentionally take the hit of a grid penalty due to the overtaking opportunities available on Sunday.
Neither eventuality is yet to be confirmed, but should they come to fruition, a momentum shift could well take place at the most emotionally charged race of the season.