Lewis Hamilton has once again been pointed out as a real contender for the Formula 1 title in 2026. After five seasons without a consistent championship fight, the Briton enters the second half of the season in second place in the drivers’ standings.
Read more F1: Hamilton avoids talking about title chances in 2026: «I think about one race at a time»
After eleven rounds held this year, Hamilton has 169 points and is 50 behind leader Kimi Antonelli. There are still between eleven and twelve race weekends left, while the Ferrari driver has scored points in all GPs contested so far, and has never finished below sixth place.
The 2026 season also brought Hamilton a long-awaited victory in Barcelona, as well as four other podiums. The performance is supported by the competitiveness of the SF-26 under the new regulations, putting the seven-time champion back in a position he hadn’t occupied for five years.
Since the controversial title decision in 2021, when he lost the chance to win his eighth championship in Abu Dhabi, Hamilton had not found conditions for a consistent campaign. First, he faced Mercedes’ difficulties with the ground effect regulations, and then had a complicated adaptation at Ferrari in 2025.
Read more F1: Leclerc shares holiday moments with wife and dog
With the season’s return scheduled for August 23 in Zandvoort, RacingNews365 conducted a survey among its readers about Hamilton’s chances of winning the 2026 title. The overwhelming majority considered the Briton a legitimate championship contender and assessed that he is still in the fight for the eighth title, with 82.67% of the votes.
Antonelli, however, remains in the lead and arrives at the decisive moment after a standout campaign. The Italian has won six of the eleven rounds held so far, but only a small portion of the readers surveyed, 17.33%, believe the championship is already decided in his favor.
Read more F1: Mekies sees factors that can help Red Bull improve performance
