Lewis Hamilton is enjoying a remarkable 2026, with his fortunes rising both on and off the Formula 1 track in dramatic fashion.
The 41-year-old seven-time world champion has staged an impressive comeback after a difficult debut season with Ferrari, now sitting second in the drivers’ championship standings.
Hamilton trails Italian prodigy Kimi Antonelli by 50 points as the season enters its second half, but remains very much in contention for an eighth world title.
Away from racing, Hamilton has also received highly positive news regarding a significant financial investment that has been performing exceptionally well.
Cadillac F1 team co-owner Mark Walter has sold the NBA’s LA Lakers basketball franchise for a staggering $12.5bn, equivalent to around £9.3bn.
The sale is remarkable given that Walter, who owns the Cadillac F1 team alongside TWG, purchased the Lakers from the Buss family for $10bn just ten months ago in October 2025.
That transaction represented a then-record deal for an NBA franchise, and the latest sale has now smashed that benchmark entirely.
Walter has netted an extraordinary 25 per cent profit on his investment in under a year, with Josh Kushner and former Disney chief Bob Iger now taking a controlling interest in the team.
Kushner is the brother of Jared Kushner, son-in-law of US president Donald Trump, making the new ownership group a particularly high-profile collection of figures.
Elsewhere in F1 news, the iconic Cars character Lightning McQueen is set to make an appearance at the Italian Grand Prix following a confirmed extension of the “Fuel the Magic” partnership between F1 and Disney through 2028.
The collaboration was originally launched in 2025 with the aim of providing immersive fan experiences through Disney storytelling, and now incorporates the Cars franchise directly into its scope.
Red Bull, meanwhile, continue their search for trusted support for four-time champion Max Verstappen following the upcoming departure of long-serving race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase.
The Milton Keynes outfit are in a significant rebuilding phase after losing Christian Horner, Adrian Newey, Helmut Marko, Rob Marshall, and Jonathan Wheatley from their operation.
In a fascinating historical story, 1996 world champion Damon Hill has spoken about how Michael Schumacher’s growing influence and Formula 1’s pivot towards Germany contributed to him losing his seat at Williams.
Schumacher had won back-to-back titles at Benetton in 1994 and 1995, beating Hill in both seasons, before earning his high-profile move to Ferrari heading into 1996.
NASCAR star Denny Hamlin also made headlines by revealing he once feared that former IndyCar and NASCAR competitor Danica Patrick, who later became an F1 pundit for Sky Sports, was going to punch him during their racing rivalry.