Lewis Hamilton’s long-awaited arrival at Ferrari created a wave of pleasure throughout Maranello earlier than the 2025 Components 1 season, however that preliminary euphoria shortly remodeled into disappointment and frustration. In January, 1000’s of passionate Tifosi gathered round Fiorano to witness the Briton full his first laps in crimson, celebrating what many believed was the proper mixture: essentially the most profitable driver in Components 1 historical past becoming a member of the game’s most iconic and emotionally charged staff.
Expectations have been understandably sky-high. Ferrari had closed the 2024 marketing campaign simply 14 factors behind McLaren within the constructors’ championship, and hope unfold by means of the fanbase that the Scuderia may lastly be positioned to combat for his or her first world title since 2008. Nevertheless, Ferrari’s winter overhaul of the SF-25 finally proved counterproductive, because the automobile emerged as solely the fourth-fastest package deal on the grid.
The season outcomes mirrored the staff’s struggles. Charles Leclerc and Hamilton completed solely fifth and sixth within the 2025 drivers’ standings, gathering 242 and 156 factors respectively. In the meantime, McLaren surged ahead, with Lando Norris successful the championship on 423 factors and the staff securing a second straight constructors’ crown with 833 factors. Ferrari may handle no higher than fourth total, marking an abrupt finish to any early optimism surrounding Hamilton’s transfer.
Hamilton’s first yr at Ferrari evokes comparisons to Michael Schumacher’s comeback
Hamilton’s difficulties have now sparked discussions about whether or not he may think about ending his Ferrari contract early, probably stepping away from Components 1 earlier than the brand new 2026 laws arrive. In keeping with experiences from the F1 paddock cited by BBC Sport, many insiders imagine that age could also be taking part in a major position in Hamilton’s battle to adapt to the Ferrari undertaking.
Hamilton will flip 41 on January 7, and though Fernando Alonso continues to carry out competitively at 44, the distinction between the 2 veterans is critical. Alonso did not progress from Q1 solely twice in 2025, whereas Hamilton endured 4 Q1 eliminations throughout the season—an uncommon signal of decline for a seven-time champion.
Some observers have already begun drawing parallels between Hamilton’s present scenario and the unconvincing performances Michael Schumacher delivered throughout his Components 1 comeback with Mercedes in 2010. After retiring from Ferrari on the finish of 2006 as runner-up to Alonso, Schumacher was introduced again by Mercedes to information their new manufacturing facility staff. Regardless of the staff’s hopes, Schumacher persistently fell wanting teammate Nico Rosberg’s tempo all through their three seasons collectively.
Though Schumacher achieved a memorable pole place on the 2012 Monaco Grand Prix and secured a podium in Valencia the identical yr, his comeback ended on a troublesome notice. One of the vital notable moments of that interval got here when he misjudged his braking and bumped into Jean-Éric Vergne’s Toro Rosso through the 2012 Singapore Grand Prix, a mistake that appeared symbolic of a driver previous his aggressive peak.
Hamilton admits to overwhelming frustration as Ferrari nightmare unfolds
Lewis Hamilton’s early-season Dash victory from pole place in China appeared poised to launch his Ferrari profession in the correct route. As a substitute, it grew to become the lone brilliant spot in an in any other case painful yr. For the primary time in his 19-season Components 1 profession, Hamilton did not safe a single Grand Prix podium, a statistic that underscored simply how troublesome his transition to Ferrari had change into.
Following his retirement from the São Paulo Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton revealed that he seen his time at Ferrari as one thing of a private nightmare, unable to discover a means out of the efficiency stoop. His struggles reached one other low level when he certified final on advantage for the primary time in his profession through the Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend—a second that led him to label 2025 because the worst yr he had ever skilled in Components 1, notably after wrestling with excessive climate situations and a automobile that by no means behaved predictably.
The difficulties continued to pile up when Hamilton recorded a 3rd consecutive Q1 elimination for the primary time ever on the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The 104-time polesitter may solely place sixteenth in Q1 at Yas Marina and had additionally began 18th in each the Dash and the Grand Prix in Qatar. Hamilton later defined that the mix of poor qualifying kind and ongoing struggles with the SF-25 left him with what he described as an amazing quantity of inner anger and frustration.
With such a difficult debut season accomplished, Lewis Hamilton now faces intense scrutiny from followers, media, and figures contained in the paddock as hypothesis grows about whether or not he can—or will—proceed with Ferrari into the subsequent regulatory period.
Dec 12, 2025
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