3 times F1 drivers made a late comeback to win the championship, ft. Lewis Hamilton

Seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton made a late comeback for his driver's title. Max Verstappen, who seemed to be out of the title contention in the 2025 season, won back-to-back races in Monza and Baku and is back in contention for the title.

With seven races to go, the Dutchman outscored Oscar Piastri by an average of 10 points in the remaining seven race weekends to take the title home. As Max Verstappen makes a charge towards his fifth F1 title, let's have a look at the 3 times when an F1 driver made a late comeback to win the championship.

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#3 James Hunt - 1976

James Hunt and Niki Lauda fought hard for the 1976 F1 title, with the Briton coming out on top. Hunt and Lauda had been rivals since their junior Formula series days, and the rivalry continued into F1. Lauda was the first between the two to become an F1 champion as he won the 1975 title after moving to Scuderia.

Going into the 1976 season, James Hunt signed with McLaren and became a championship contender, alongside Niki Lauda. The two traded wins in the early part of the season, before James Hunt’s McLaren was disqualified at the Spanish GP for the car being wider than what was allowed by the regulations. However, the ruling was later overturned, reinstating Hunt’s win.

Formula One - James Hunt - Source: Getty

Niki Lauda was in the lead of the championship when he suffered a fireball crash at the Nurburgring, and he needed to sit out races to recover. The then Ferrari driver was 23 points into the lead before the crash.

Lauda was able to recover in a couple of months and returned with four races remaining. However, James Hunt had made up ground, and with the Spanish GP win being reinstated, the Briton was only 3 points behind going into the season finale. With the torrential rain in Fiji, Lauda decided to withdraw from the race, while Hunt finished P3 and won his first and only title.

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#2 Kimi Raikkonen - 2007

The Iceman took his first and only F1 title in 2007, which continues to be the last driver's title win by a Ferrari driver. However, Kimi Raikkonen didn't have it easy, going up against the McLaren duo of Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso.

Lewis Hamilton, in his rookie season, was fiery, while Fernando Alonso was chasing his third consecutive F1 title after winning the 2005 and 2006 titles with Renault. With five rounds remaining in the championship, Raikkonen was 16 points behind the championship leader, Hamilton, fourth in the standings.

Formula One - Grand Prix of Canada - Source: Getty

Raikkonen won at the Belgian GP, but was still trailing Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton going into the penultimate race of the season at China. The Briton had an unfortunate incident on the pit entry at China, beached in the gravel, and retired while Raikkonen went on to win the race.

The Iceman went on to win the season finale at Interlagos, with Alonso finishing P3 and Hamilton P7, handing Raikkonen his first and only title. The Finnish driver won the title by just 1 point, with Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso tied on points.

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#1 Lewis Hamilton - 2014

Lewis Hamilton left McLaren after the 2012 season and joined Mercedes, in what was believed to be a risky move at the time. With the new regulations in place for the 2014 season with the Turbo Hybrid engines, Mercedes came out as the dominant force, and it was the Silver Arrow drivers, Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton, battling for the title.

F1 Grand Prix of Brazil - Qualifying - Source: Getty

Hamilton led the championship race in the first quarter of the season, but was then overtaken by Nico Rosberg, who went into the summer break with an 11-point lead. Lewis Hamilton made an impressive comeback, winning 6 of the 7 races after the summer break.

Rosberg was still in contention for the title at the final race in Abu Dhabi with double points on offer, but a mechanical issue saw him drop positions and finish out of the points while Hamilton won the race and took his second title.