Lewis Hamilton admits he isn’t giving up on his fading chances of winning the Formula 1 world title just yet as the seven-time world champion claims there is a long way to go heading into the Azerbaijan GP.
The weekend at the Baku City Circuit from September 24-26 marks Round 15 of the 2026 F1 season and as things stand, Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli is the clear champion-elect.
The 20-year-old leads the standings by 86 points to go and, assuming the Qatar GP and Abu Dhabi GP are not cancelled, can afford to lose 9.5 points to George Russell per weekend and still secure the title.
The 41-year-old Hamilton sits even further back at 101 points behind and needs to gain 11.2 points per weekend in order to catch the Italian, which would go down as the greatest charge in motorsport history.
Doing so would give him a record-breaking eighth championship to move him clear of the total he shares with Michael Schumacher and would ensure his career accomplishments would have no equal.
At the same time, he would also secure Ferrari’s first title since the 2008 season to end a barren run of success for the most famous team in F1 – who have found themselves eclipsed by Red Bull, Mercedes and McLaren since Schumacher retired.
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It seems impossible – but is it? Max Verstappen overturned a similar margin to Oscar Piastri in the 2025 campaign from the Dutch GP and finished ahead of the Australian by 13 points, although Lando Norris eventually took the glory.
Still, the 28-year-old embodied the “never say die” mentality and Hamilton is now channelling that same energy as he explains why isn’t giving up on the Formula 1 title just yet.
“We’re just hoping to have some cleaner weekends,” Hamilton told media, including Total-Motorsport.com. “And just focus on enjoying each race and trying to get the most out of it.
“I think there are positives to take out of the last few races, it’s just that they haven’t been the best in terms of execution and we’ve not had the best results. The positives we take forward and we try to learn from the areas where we weren’t as good.
“But I believe that we can make improvements and I think we have. I’m excited for this weekend. [Antonelli] is 101 points ahead of me. I think just in two races he gained something like 40-odd points on me.
“We’ve been working so hard just to gain a couple of points here and there, so there’s still a long way to go.”
Hamilton sets sights on constructors’ championship for Ferrari
The more realistic goal for the 106-time Grand Prix winner, perhaps, is the constructors’ championship, as Ferrari trail Mercedes by 145 points – but are capable of scoring 43 points per weekend.
With both Hamilton and Charles Leclerc more than capable of delivering 1-2 finishes whilst Russell struggles in comparison to Antonelli, Ferrari could find themselves gaining significant points if they can achieve consistency.
But that has been their curse in recent rounds. Since winning the Barcelona GP through Hamilton, the team has failed to maximise their weekends in all of the seven following races.
Vital points have slipped away from both drivers and their team and has allowed Mercedes to manage a low spell in which they claimed to wins from six, with Antonelli now looking back to his best having won two in a row.
“I think the focus for me is to try to make sure we can hold on to second,” Hamilton continued. “If not somehow catch Mercedes for the constructors’ – I think that would be remarkable.
I think we also just have to think about where we were last year and where we’ve come to this year. While it sometimes seems like doom and gloom, you have to look at the positives.
“We’ve been fighting. We’ve had wins and podiums. The team have done an incredible job in terms of bringing upgrades.
“So you really have to acknowledge the good things that we’ve done this year, and I know lots of people focus on the negatives.”
