A “rebuilt” mind, family and friends, and an innovative part called the Macarena. These are just some of the building blocks in Lewis Hamilton’s resurgence at the front of the Formula 1 field.

The seven-time champion’s breakthrough first win with Ferrari on Sunday, his first since 2024, left him second in the standings and cut into the overall lead of Kimi Antonelli, the driver who replaced Hamilton when he left Mercedes.

Getting back to the front has been a long and painful process and Hamilton shed some light on his journey after the win in Spain.

Mental well-being takes priority

Hamilton said he’d trained harder than ever ahead of this season to keep up with younger rivals like the 19-year-old Antonelli, after an injury dogged him through 2025 and he started to doubt his abilities.

That paid off as Hamilton became, at 41 years, 5 months, the oldest F1 winner since 1970, but it wasn’t all about physical fitness. Mental well-being has been central to his recovery.

“I’ve rebuilt my mind to this point, to get myself back to where I was,” he said Sunday, adding he’d focused on a message of “never second-guess yourself, never doubt yourself.”

That meant a social media detox and valuable real-world time with family and friends.

“I’m only human. So, you know, there’s moments where I see the stuff (on social media) and for sure there’s moments where I allowed it to get to me and penetrate deeply,” he said.

“I went through a sequence of unplugging from that matrix. I spent lots of time with family, lots of time with friends, real people that know me, that have never doubted me, have stuck to and by me my whole life.”

At the track, Hamilton’s had support from Kim Kardashian, while he and his new race engineer Carlo Santi have been exchanging warm words of support over the radio after often-awkward exchanges with Riccardo Adami last year.

Ferrari’s newfound innovation

Signing Hamilton in 2024 was something of a risk for Ferrari, too, given that when the move was announced, his most recent win had been more than two years before.

With plenty of runner-up finishes but no constructors’ title since 2008, under team principal Fred Vasseur’s leadership, Ferrari seems keener to take risks in a push to speed clear of the field rather than just be among the leading pack.

Hamilton talked up his meetings with senior Ferrari staff last year to plan out 2026, and the collaborative approach seems to be working.

“These guys have really listened and really worked hard to add performance and be innovative. This year is all about innovation,” Hamilton said, singling out the “Macarena” rear wing, which turns upside-down for better straight-line speed.

“This is what I was asking for last year. This team has to be the leaders in that, and they’ve shown that they can and they will.”

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff brought out an old F1 cliche Sunday after watching Antonelli break down on track, the second Mercedes non-finish in three races.

“To finish first, first you have to finish,” he told Sky Sports.

Hamilton is the only driver to finish in the top 10 of every race this season while Mercedes seeks to sort out its issues. That streak of results might not last for Hamilton, though. Teammate Charles Leclerc had to retire Sunday with an issue affecting his brakes and steering.

Mercedes still has the edge

Hamilton says an historic eighth title hasn’t been on his mind, and Antonelli’s lead still stands at a formidable 41 points. Still, there are grounds for optimism for Hamilton.

F1 is heading into a run of European tracks which Hamilton knows well — including his home race in Britain next month — and where Antonelli largely underperformed last year.

In terms of car development, Wolff has suggested spending limits could restrict Mercedes’ response to the package of new parts Ferrari used so effectively in Barcelona.