When asked by Autosport after the Las Vegas Grand Prix if he managed to take any satisfaction from a comeback race as he charged from last to the points, his reply was “zero”.
The rest of his offerings were hard to discern in the noisy Vegas paddock, as the longer his maiden Ferrari season goes on and the more setbacks he faces, Hamilton’s replies seem to be getting quieter and quieter. After hitting a new low on Friday night in qualifying in Vegas, he was all but muttering under his breath both that night and a day later post-race.
A cynic would say Hamilton just headed Ferrari chairman John Elkann’s calls for drivers who speak less, but it’s clear that for a man who won 105 grands prix and claimed 202 podiums, his first podium-less campaign ever, and his first for childhood favourite Ferrari, has been no fun. It has been a total disaster.
There was a sentiment that after struggling to get on with Mercedes’ current era machinery, Ferrari’s handling would suit him better, but somewhere along the 2025 campaign that proved a mirage. The sooner this ground-effect era is over, the better. That applies to the majority of the drivers but especially to Hamilton, as he said in Qatar: “We’re excited to see the back end of these ones, for sure.”
The allure of a great reset in 2026 is why Hamilton joined all along, a chance to re-find his mojo with all-new cars and power units, which is why it made little sense to take his post-Vegas comments about not looking forward to 2026 at face value.
Ask anyone in the paddock – mechanics, drivers, journalists – if they are looking forward to 2026 right now. The answer will be an unequivocal no. If there’s one thing to look forward to after the current season-ending triple-header, it’s a reminder of what homes, partners, friends and pets look like. The thought of pre-season testing starting in just over eight weeks, and the launch season well before that, is one that most paddock dwellers greet with a deep sigh.
Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
Photo by: Dom Gibbons / LAT Images via Getty Images
“I’d be surprised if the other drivers are excited about next year at the end of a season because you usually don’t have a lot of energy at the end of a season,” Hamilton said. “Looking forward to time with family and stuff.
“Look, that’s just in the heat of frustration [over his 2026 comments]. Often there’s a lot of frustration at the end of races, but particularly when they haven’t gone well. So no, I’m excited to see what the team build next year and to continue to build on with them.”
That doesn’t take anything away from the fact 2025 has been a disillusion for Hamilton, and while he was not the only driver struggling to adapt to a new team and environment, it has taken him much longer than anticipated.
The man he replaced – Carlos Sainz – also took some time to get up to speed, but the Spaniard then went and matched his team-mate on pace and claimed a podium for Williams, something which Hamilton hasn’t really looked like doing, even if he has gotten closer to qualifying phenom Charles Leclerc over the second half of the campaign.
But Hamilton insists he has no concerns over just how hard it has been to match Leclerc, who has been embedded in Maranello since 2019.
“I’m not concerned about it, no. I’ve just been focusing on my side during this period,” Hamilton said. “Obviously, Charles has done a great job. He’s been here for seven years, he’s got a team around him that he’s worked with for many years, so it’s a well-oiled machine.
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
Photo by: Zak Mauger / LAT Images via Getty Images
“On my side, it’s a new group of people. For me, it’s a new environment that I’m still getting used to working with. Then I had another new [team] member halfway through the year, so we’re working as hard as we can, but getting that to work as well as someone that’s had it for several years, you don’t just do it like that. It takes a bit of time.
“We have a lot of work to do over the winter, we’ll analyse the season and there’s lots of improvements we need to make collectively. No one’s under any illusion in the team that we will have to play our part and I believe that we can. So, I’m hoping we implement and make those changes along with hopefully a better package next year.”
Hamilton said the support of the passionate tifosi has kept him going this year, even though not being able to reward Ferrari’s fanbase with the results their fervour merits has been tough to accept.
“The passion is the most special thing about the brand and the people that work for it – the tifosi, as we travel around the world, the amazing support that we get,” Hamilton pondered on 2025’s main source of brightness.
“I think that probably makes it even harder when we have more difficult weekends because you could see how passionate, how dedicated and how hard every single person is working back at the factory and the results are not reflecting or rewarding them.”
Hamilton is now starting to face increasingly louder calls from certain corners to retire. But when asked if there’s any regret over penning the Ferrari deal, which is said to run for three years, Hamilton flatly denied that suggestion. Giving up is not an option: “I don’t regret the decision I made joining the team. I know it takes time to build and grow within an organisation, and I expected that.”
But as for 2025, the end can’t come quickly enough. If ever Hamilton has needed to recharge his batteries, it will be right now, after what he agrees is his worst season ever.
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– The Autosport.com Team
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