The factors which could take 'rebuilt' Lewis Hamilton to the F1 title after long-awaited win

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.

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 wellbeing 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.

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.

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.

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Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain steers his car during the Spain F1 Grand Prix race at the Barcelona Catalunya racetrack in Montmelo, near Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, June 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain gestures at the podium after winning the Spain F1 Grand Prix race at the Barcelona Catalunya racetrack in Montmelo, near Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, June 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

A business jet with six people on board crashed on a highway in Laredo, Texas, and caught fire Tuesday night, authorities said, killing one person and causing chaos as people left their vehicles to frantically try to smash the cockpit window and free those inside.

Drivers who came upon the burning plane, which was nearly sheared in half and tipped on its side, captured dramatic rescue scenes on video or rushed toward the aircraft on foot to help. Two people came running with a sledgehammer and shovel, which they used to strike the cockpit glass and try propping open the plane's door.

The plane crashed on the Loop 20 highway near the Texas-Mexico border shortly after 10 p.m., said Jose Baeza, an investigator with the Laredo Police Department. He said one person on the plane died in the crash. A person in a car struck by the plane was taken to a hospital in stable condition.

Dashcam footage posted on social media showed the aircraft careening down the highway, taking out a light post before coming to a stop. It came to a rest not far from the Laredo International Airport.

“It looked like part of a movie. I was in shock,” said Zayra Garza, an esthetician who was driving her co-workers home when she came upon the crash.

No injuries on the ground were immediately reported, though five officers were taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation.

The plane, a Cessna Citation Latitude twin jet, departed Tuesday evening from San José del Cabo in Mexico and was bound for Austin, Texas, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.

It's not clear what caused the crash as it reached Laredo, about 140 miles (225 kilometers) southwest of San Antonio. Laredo International Airport Director Gilberto Sanchez told KGNS TV in Laredo that the plane experienced a mechanical failure. He provided no details.

Video posted to social media showed the plane on its side, smashed into a highway barrier. The tail was ripped from the fuselage and laying mostly intact on a lower-level road beneath where the rescue was taking place.

Garza began shooting video as she approached the scene and then stopped her vehicle across from the crippled jet, which was on fire.

She saw someone inside the plane trying to break the cockpit window to escape. Soon, people got out of their vehicles to try to smash the window from the outside as the fire on the fuselage continues to burn.

Garza’s husband jumped out of their vehicle to help and Garza then saw the door of the plane open. She said three people who looked to be teenagers rushed out, followed by someone who appeared to be a pilot. Another member of the crew tried to pull out a person who seemed to be unconscious.

As smoke billowed from the plane, a firefighter used a small ladder to climb into the aircraft to rescue the remaining passenger, while others shot water out of a hose at the wreckage. Rescuers can be heard calling for a rope as others use rods to hold up the plane door.

Several times, officers helping prop open the door dart away from the plane and double over in coughing fits because of the intense smoke.

“What was worrying me was the fire,” she said. “I was concerned that it could have just exploded at any time.”

This was the third significant aviation accident in as many days. A B-52 crashed Monday during a test flight at Edwards Air Force Base in California and killed all eight people aboard, while on Sunday, 12 people were killed when a plane on a skydiving outing in Missouri crashed.

NetJets said in a statement that the crash involved one of its aircraft and it is working with authorities. NetJets is owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway and allows people to buy part ownership in private jets.

People attempt to pull passengers out of a plane after it crashed on a highway Tuesday, June 16, 2026, in Laredo, Texas. (Zayra Garza via AP)

People attempt to pull passengers out of a plane after it crashed on a highway Tuesday, June 16, 2026, in Laredo, Texas. (Zayra Garza via AP)

A passenger, top, jumps out of a plane after it crashed on a highway as other people help Tuesday, June 16, 2026, in Laredo, Texas. (Zayra Garza via AP)