Hamilton reminds his doubters after moving to P2 in the championship

Lewis Hamilton came to a realization after sharing the podium at the Monaco Grand Prix with Kimi Antonelli and Isack Hadjar: “Both their ages combined, I’m older than both of them two together.”

At 19, Antonelli has been setting records for the youngest pole-sitter, youngest championship leader, and has taken early control of a season that could see him become the youngest world champion in Formula 1 history. With Hadjar picking up the second podium of his career at just 21, their combined age of 40 leaves them a year short of 41-year-old Hamilton.

And while Antonelli sets the “youngest” benchmark, Hamilton was just one place away from becoming the sixth-oldest race winner in F1 history in each of the last two races.

Back-to-back second places in Montreal and Monaco have seen Hamilton move ahead of George Russell into second overall in the drivers’ championship, albeit 66 points adrift of Antonelli.

Those two podiums come as part of a run of three in the first six races of this season, and mark Hamilton’s first three for Ferrari. Given the lack of a podium for the first time in his career last season, the seven-time world champion believes he has started answering back to any doubters regarding what he is still capable of.

“It feels amazing to be up here and such a privilege to still be here, to be driving for Ferrari, to still be one of the 22 drivers in this sport and in front of all these people,” Hamilton said. “It’s such an incredible experience and something that I genuinely love, so I’m grateful to have moved forwards because we started third, and to get to second is awesome.

“To have two seconds, especially I think with a good race in Montreal and everyone was kind of like, ‘Yeah, but he’s quick there.’ I feel like I’m in a period where I’m having to remind people of who I am, and I think my fans last year were telling me to remind me of who I am, and now I’m having to show up each weekend and try to do that.

“I think it’s great to see that it’s like a rejuvenated love in the team, and I think their belief also in me and the decision in hiring me and everything. So, I’m very happy.”

Looking for the source of Antonelli's Monaco magic. Mark Sutton/Formula 1 via Getty Images

Not that Hamilton is satisfied with second place. After seeing Antonelli command the Monaco Grand Prix, a late red flag period meant a standing start within the final 10 laps, and – unlike the original race start from third place – Hamilton would be on the front row alongside his Mercedes replacement.

Ferrari’s launch advantage has appeared reduced in recent races, but Hamilton still sensed an opportunity to break through with the Scuderia and stand on the top step.

“I was thinking about winning. I was thinking about getting him at the beginning," he said. "That was an opportunity, but unfortunately, we both basically got pretty much the same starts. I think I gained on him just a little bit and I was almost to his rear wheel, but not enough to pop me in the lead, unfortunately.

“And then as we got going, I just got to see him pull away. The performance they have is next level. It was a good experience because it gives me a much better idea of where I need to have the team lean and improve, not only from what I’m feeling but what I’m seeing as well. And there’s lots of things that we need to be adding to this car.”

It does appear that Hamilton and Ferrari needs more performance to be able to fight with Mercedes for wins, even on a semi-regular basis. The experience that Hamilton now operates with – a greater amount than all but Fernando Alonso has in F1 – is allowing him to accumulate points with consistency, but he believes he can also still hit the highs that will allow him to return to the top step.

“[The first win] couldn’t be closer, but it’s still 66 points. I can’t believe that I’m second in the championship and I’m really happy and thankful for that. I couldn’t have done that without this team, without the reliability that we have, and also with Fred [Vasseur]. Fred has been awesome in supporting me.

“I think last year was really tough for both of us and [I’ve been] begging him for certain changes, and he pulled through and he did those, and now I’m seeing the fruits of that and I’m able to finally deliver for them.

“I think it’s still very early days in the season, so we just have to keep chasing. It’s actually easier to chase than it is to defend, I would say, in life. And so, whilst [Mercedes] are very quick and they’re an amazing team, we’re going to keep pushing, keep chasing, and I have no doubt at some stage we’re going to get there.”

While Antonelli’s current performance level and results are remarkable, Hamilton is still in the frame to set records at the other end of the age spectrum. And he’s certainly still on his own upward trend with Ferrari, that also has an as-yet-unknown ceiling.