Twelve months ago, Lewis Hamilton entered his first Monaco Grand Prix weekend as a Ferrari driver full of hope and excitement.Since his first visit to Monaco as a 13-year-old, Hamilton has been captivated by the Principality, which would later become his home. The chance to drive for the sport’s most famed team on its most famous street circuit was a dream combination.Yet, last year’s grand prix in his first season in red was anything but that. While teammate Charles Leclerc qualified and finished second, Hamilton was a step behind Leclerc for pace all weekend. Matters weren’t helped by a grid penalty for impeding Max Verstappen in qualifying, which contributed to Hamilton finishing in what he described as “no man’s land” in fifth place, far away from the lead battle.This time around, there’s a very different vibe around the 41-year-old as he prepares for a grand prix he has won three times.With the disappointment of his first Ferrari season now banished, Hamilton will return to Monaco this weekend buoyed by his best result yet with Ferrari: a second-placed finish in Canada last time out for his second podium of the season, having crossed the line third in China.“I can’t even begin to explain how deep I’ve had to dig to be able to get to this point,” Hamilton said in the post-race Canada news conference, “and the work and moving mountains in the background to enable this sort of performance.”It was always going to take time for Hamilton to adjust at Ferrari. The growing pains of 2025, a year he described as a “nightmare,” are now starting to wear off. Hamilton referred to Canada as a sign of how much he’s enjoying working with his new engineering group this season — he parted ways with race engineer Riccardo Adami in January — as well as the support of team principal Fred Vasseur.“It’s finally starting to show in my performance,” the seven-time world champion said. “So thank you to the team.”Lewis Hamilton after a crash during final practice ahead of last year’s Monaco Grand Prix. (Mark Thompson / Getty Images)Hamilton heads to Monaco just three points behind third-placed Leclerc in the world championship standings. And both Ferrari drivers will know this could be the weekend where Mercedes might, at last, be beatable.The first five races of this season have offered precious few opportunities. The overhaul of the car and engine designs for 2026 gave Mercedes the chance to steal a march on the field, perfectly executed by drivers Kimi Antonelli and George Russell. Antonelli’s four straight wins have given the 19-year-old a healthy 43-point lead over Russell, who won the season opener in Australia but retired last time out in Montreal due to an engine issue, while Mercedes is 72 points clear of nearest challenger Ferrari in the constructors’ standings.Unlike the previous cycle of regulations, in which there seemed to be parity across the field in engine performance, the new rules have allowed Mercedes to gain a step on its rivals.“I’m able to hold on or keep up with them through the corners, and I can’t push the pedal any further,” Hamilton said in Canada. “You see them just eking out (on) the straight, and you catch them back in the brakes; they eke it out in the straight. It’s really hard.“Even when you get the overtake (boost), you get within a second, they still pull away. So that’s how much grunt they have, and we’re massively down.”The GPS data support this theory. Comparing Hamilton’s best qualifying lap in Montreal with Russell’s pole time, the Ferrari was stronger exiting all of the slow-speed corners, pointing to the strength of the chassis. But Russell would then pull clear on all the straights, crossing the line 5mph faster than Hamilton.Mercedes’ engine advantage has also stoked the fire surrounding ‘ADUO,’ which is short for Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities, the FIA’s governing body’s system to try and balance performance between the engine manufacturers.The Canadian Grand Prix was the final race of the opening cycle of the season, at which point the FIA judges how much extra development time to grant to those chasing Mercedes by assessing performance deficits.Lewis Hamilton has finished on the podium twice this season. (Peter Fox / Getty Images)Mercedes F1 chief Toto Wolff has already said the system should not interfere with the title fight and risk allowing a rival to leapfrog his team rather than catch up. As far back as the Chinese Grand Prix in March, Vasseur said ADUO would give Ferrari the chance to make up ground on Mercedes.The impact of any ADUO allowances will become clear through the upcoming run of European races. But Monaco is not a track where engine power really makes a difference, given the very short straights and tight confines of the circuit. Cornering speed is everything, a fact that should play into Ferrari’s hands.“Our car could be really strong there,” said Hamilton. “I’m really going to focus on making sure I arrive with the same energy as I had this weekend (in Canada), really study hard with the engineers to make sure we position the car in the right place from (first practice).“If you take away the power deficit, we’re in the fight with these guys.”Monaco is a race where confidence is everything. The closer you can get to the barriers, the more you dare risk enough of a touch without breaking the car, a judgment of tenths of millimeters, the more lap time gets unlocked. With qualifying on Saturday being so crucial given the difficulty of overtaking — even with the smaller, lighter cars for 2026 — being able to put it all on the line for that one lap will make or break a race weekend.It’s why Hamilton’s growing confidence is arriving at an opportune time. Even putting the result aside, Canada arguably stood as his best weekend yet with Ferrari, capped off by defeating Verstappen in a wheel-to-wheel fight in the closing stages.He won’t be alone in sensing the chance to topple Mercedes for the first time in 2026. Leclerc has been majestic around his home circuit in the last couple of years, famously winning in 2024 to banish his previous heartbreak before finishing second last year.Lando Norris will want to defend his Monaco win from last year and make up for his Montreal DNF. McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri will be hunting a first Monaco victory on a weekend the team will celebrate its 1,000th grand prix.Although this is a track where driver skill can make a big difference, Verstappen and Red Bull seem a longer shot to feature in the fight for the win, given the car’s continued balance struggles despite his third-place finish in Canada.Hamilton celebrates on the podium after winning the Monaco Grand Prix in 2019. (Michael Regan / Getty Images)Mercedes has shown in the early part of 2026 that it has lost none of the edge that once made it nearly impossible to beat, going on a record streak of eight straight constructors’ titles from 2014 to 2021, with Hamilton leading much of its efforts through that time.One of his most emotional victories came in Monaco in 2019, days after the death of three-time world champion Niki Lauda, a non-executive director at Mercedes and a key figure in Hamilton’s career. Hamilton wore a red helmet that weekend in tribute to Lauda.That was the last time Hamilton stood on the podium in Monaco. Seven years on, he appears to have a real chance to get back there — now with red as his permanent color — and with growing hope his Ferrari tenure could yet yield everything he wanted.