Lewis Hamilton has fired back at those who criticised him during the ground effect era.
The seven-time champion has bounced back after a difficult few years in the championship. Hamilton struggled to adapt to the ground-effect era cars as he seemingly failed to bond with the change in driving behaviour. On top of this, he was also tasked with adjusting to his new surroundings at Ferrari after joining the Maranello outfit in 2025.
The 2026 Formula 1 season has so far seen a glimpse of Hamilton's old form. The Briton currently sits fourth in the drivers' standings and secured his first podium with Ferrari at the Chinese Grand Prix.
While Hamilton has seven championship titles and 105 grand prix wins under his belt, he has faced fierce criticism in recent years.
"When you have difficult years, there's lots of questions all over the place," he told F1.
"Ultimately, I saw certain individuals who hadn't had anywhere near the success that I'd had talking negatively, as they continue to do so today.
"And it felt great to be able to come back and come into this season and start off strong to be able to show that I still have what it takes to compete at the front and I'll continue to try and show up and deliver in that way."
Ferrari is currently the main threat to the dominant Mercedes, but there is still some work to do for Hamilton's team to catch up to the Brackley outfit.
"Already through the last couple of weeks, I've been messaging with the head of aero, for example, and I'm like, 'Hey have you seen this? Have you seen that on that car?' So the communication is really great," Hamilton added when asked what the team is doing to close the gap to Mercedes.
"Everyone's flat out pushing, and it's really inspiring to see whenever you work within a great organisation, and you go and see back at the factory, and you see in the office everyone heads down, just flat out pushing for every millisecond.
"Those are the bits that I love the most about this sport and that I wish people got to see. That's where you get inspired, and you come back, you're like, 'OK, the guys are really on it.' So, I'm excited for the next couple of months."
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Japanese GP - Friday, in photos
Japanese GP - Friday, in photos
Japanese GP - Friday, in photos
Japanese GP - Friday, in photos
Japanese GP - Friday, in photos
Japanese GP - Friday, in photos
Japanese GP - Friday, in photos
