Aged 41, Lewis Hamilton is enjoying a more competitive season at Ferrari this year. He won his first Grand Prix for the Italian team in Barcelona, indeed his first since Belgium in 2024 – a victory he inherited when his teammate was disqualified.
During his dominant years with Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton had regular run-ins with rivals Red Bull and their driver Max Verstappen. In fact the 2021 F1 season was one of the most fiercely contested and poisonous since the time Hamilton and Rosberg were teammates.
The Bitter 2021 Title Fight
Max Verstappen should have had the championship in the bag, but a run of late form from Hamilton saw him win the three penultimate races before the season finale in Abu Dhabi. The rest is history. Mercedes chose track position for what was to be a one-lap shootout for the title.
Red Bull had the easier decision to make given Verstappen was behind Hamilton at the time. But at the safety car restart it was soon clear there would be just one winner as Hamilton floundered wide on his ageing rubber.
Christian Horner’s Memoir and Near-Miss Talks
This race weekend was the first following the publication of ex-Red Bull boss, Christian Horner’s memoir, most inventively named “Drive.” In it Horner claims to have held secret meetings with Lewis Hamilton when he was looking to leave McLaren after his relationship with team owner and boss Ron Dennis had soured.
Horner reveals his guru designer Adrian Newey was visibly excited by the prospect of having Vettel and Hamilton as teammates. It was eventually the staggering sums demanded by Hamilton’s management, together with the fact that Dr.Helmut Marko was not keen on the idea which saw the talks collapse.
From Skeptic to Believer
Yet Lewis has not always been impressed with Red Bull Racing and admitted to assembled media in COTA, that he had belittled the idea of an “energy drinks company” being able to rival top-flight race engineering teams like McLaren,Ferrari and Mercedes with their decades of racing pedigree. But now he admits he was wrong.
“Ultimately, they’ve done an amazing job. Red Bull have done an amazing job for many, many years. They continuously surprise me, and I put my hand up many, many years ago when I was younger. I was like, there’s no way they’re going to be able to do what these other teams like McLaren with all that heritage, Ferrari with all that heritage, but they have, and they proved me wrong, and they’ve continued to have amazing success over the years.”
The High-Risk Power Unit Gamble
Red Bull went on an “impossible” mission back in 2021 when Christian Horner persuaded owner Dietrich Mateschitz to back him establishing an F1 power unit programme.
His arch rival Toto Wolff mocked the idea both in private and in public. With Red Bull presenting simulations in 2023 that demonstrated the new hybrid cars had too much electrical power and would run out of battery halfway along the straights, the Mercedes boss pounced.
“I think what frightens him more maybe is that his engine programme is not coming along, and then maybe he wants to kill it [the rules] that way. So you always have to question what’s the real motivation to say something like that,” said Wolff laughing.
Engine Dominance and Ferrari’s Austin Upgrades
Yet despite their early poor form this season, it is Red Bull who are confirmed by the FIA to have built the most powerful internal combustion engine on the grid. It’s taken some time for the engineers to understand how best to deploy their power, but wins for Verstappen in Malaysia and Singapore show Red Bull is back at the front once again.
Of course, Hamilton believed it was Ferrari who were Mercedes’ main challengers this season and yet once again as the in-season development race heats up, it is Red Bull making giant strides over their rivals.
Ferrari have brought four important upgrades to Austin this week, and first impressions were that Charles Leclerc was on top of them quickly as he topped the timesheets in both Friday practice sessions.
Hamilton concluded his comments saying: “But this one is where the engine, I was like, there’s no way that anyone’s going to be able to build a better engine than what Mercedes, for example, or Ferrari are capable of doing with the resources they have and the experience they have and the IP. And yet again, they proved us wrong, everybody wrong again, and they built the best engine.”
Closing the Gap in the Title Race
Since his podium finish at the British Grand Prix, Lewis has had a string of poor results including a best of just one P3 in Malaysia, which was hosting the 2026 Bahrain GP. Red Bull and Max Verstappen are closing him down, which is disheartening for Hamilton given he believed in the summer he could challenge Antonelli for this year’s title.
Verstappen is now just eight points behind Hamilton and another win and a third place or lower will see the Dutch champion overtake Lewis for third place this weekend at COTA.
Hamilton refused to bite to a morsel left dangling for him by Verstappen’s teammate who claimed had Max been driving a Ferrari in Singapore he’d have disappeared over the hill and out of sight.
“In Malaysia, it (the Red Bull) was dominant, but I don’t think in Singapore it was the fastest car. That’s what I believe. I think if you put Max in the Ferrari, he would have won the race with more margin. So that’s my opinion. In Singapore, I think it (the Ferrari) was the fastest car,” mused Isack Hadjar.
Assessing the Ferrari Pace in Austin
Ferrari do look good here in the US, but they have a habit of flattering to deceive on Friday and failing when the chips are down come qualifying later this afternoon. Ferrari boss Frédéric Vasseur appeared to offer some insight that Ferrari have more pace to find from their upgrades yet.
“It’s a very early stage. For sure the impact [of the upgrades] is a bit less than at the beginning of the season. It means that we have to fine-tune everything and try to get the best for tomorrow [in qualifying].”
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A.J. Hunt is Senior Editor at TJ13, where Andrew oversees editorial standards and contributes to the site’s Formula 1 coverage. A career journalist with experience in both print and digital sports media, Andrew trained in investigative journalism and has written for a range of European sports outlets.
At TJ13, Andrew plays a central role in shaping the site’s output, working across breaking news, analysis, and long-form features. Andrew’s responsibilities include fact-checking, refining editorial structure, and ensuring consistency in reporting across a fast-moving news cycle.
Andrew’s work focuses particularly on the intersection of Formula 1 politics, regulation, and team strategy. Andrew closely follows developments involving the FIA, team leadership, and driver market dynamics, helping to provide context behind the sport’s biggest stories.
With experience covering multiple seasons of Formula 1’s modern hybrid era, Andrew has developed a detailed understanding of how regulatory changes and competitive shifts influence the grid. Andrew’s editorial approach prioritises clarity and context, aiming to help readers navigate complex developments within the sport.
In addition to editorial duties, Andrew is particularly interested in how media narratives shape fan perception of Formula 1, and how reporting can balance speed with accuracy in an increasingly digital news environment.
