Whilst Formula One in 2025 has revealed some real talent amongst the rookie drivers, Lewis Hamilton’s decline is again seeing him have the worst start to a season. Fourteen Grand Prix gone and no pole, wins or podiums for the new Ferrari driver which is made all the worse by the fact his team mate has 5 podiums and one pole position.
Lewis headed into the summer break after the worst weekend of his year to date. He failed to make the top ten shootout in both Sprint and Grand Prix qualifying and for the first time in 2025 he crossed the line outside the points.
Much has been written how much Lewis was down on himself, yet the real takeaway from the weekend is the tensions behind the scenes in Maranello. Ferrari group president John Elkann implied the team work at Ferrari F1 was lacking when he eulogised about the key factor which made Ferrari successful in the Schumacher days.
Trouble back in Maranello
A grandee of the Scuderia revealed that “90% of the engineers” did not want Hamilton to join the team and Jean Alesi was also critical of Hamilton’s public self flagellation claiming this was something Michael Schumacher would never have done.
All in all a weekend and season to forget for Hamilton, yet he has to survive ten more race weekends before F1’s big regulation reset for 2026. Hamilton has not faired well in the F1 car design ground effect era. He has won just two races in four seasons and one of those he inherited after his team mate was disqualified.
With the underfloor of the new 2026 cars now being partially flat, the shift in air pressure under the floor of the car will be less dramatic, something which should benefit Lewis given he prefers a more stable rear end. Yet he has to plot his way through the rest of this year before enjoying the potential benefits of Ferrari’s challenger for next year.
Since his arrival at Ferrari, Hamilton has struggled with setting up his SF-25. His head to head with his team mate sees the seven times champion 12-2 down in finishing ahead during the Grand Prix and in qualifying he is marginally better off at 4-10.
Hamilton closes in on unwanted Ferrari record
But its in deciding how to set up his car where Hamilton has been wasting time. By round four in Bahrain he said he was going to alter his approach and start the weekend with a similar setup to his team mate. Leclerc starts a weekend with a pre-simulated set up and tinkers with it until qualifying. By contrast Lewis had been experimenting with a significant number of bigger setup changes in practice.
But it was three rounds later when Hamilton finally found success in Imola, coming home in fourth place, two ahead of Leclerc. Yet Lewis reverted to the habits he acquired at Mercedes since they be uncompetitive in 2022, trying a wide range of setups before settling on one before parc ferme on Saturday.
Now Italian publication, Formula Passion, is reporting that as part of the Hungarian Grand Prix Ferrari debrief, Lewis will stop wasting time trying to find a setup closer to his “preferences” after finally accepting his team mates efforts are the ones which are only “capable” of getting the best out of the SF-25.
Hamilton is fast approaching a Ferrari driver record he probably doesn’t want to claim. Now fourteen Grand Prix in without a podium for the team, he is rapidly catching Didier Peroni’s record eighteen. Hamilton’s small victory since joining Ferrari was his Sprint pole and win at round two in China after which he hit out as his “yapping” critics.
Two F1 teams talking to Russell
Lewis now his own biggest critic
“I see certain individuals – and again, I don’t read the news, but I see bits here and there – see people that I’ve admired for years just talking out of turn,” he said. “Clearly some of them really just making uneducated guesses of what’s going on, just a real lack of appreciation. The amount of critics and people I’ve heard yapping along the way just clearly not understanding.”
Now twelve race weekends on and it’s Lewis who is his own biggest critic, even suggesting in Hinagry his performances are so bad Ferrari should “change the driver.” On hearing these words, Sky Germany’s Ralf Schumacher wondered whether we would see Hamilton again after the summer break.
This is all a far cry from the high hopes of Hamilton ‘doing a Michael Schumacher’ at Ferrari and returning them to the glory days. The difference in demeanour is well described by Jean Todt on a ‘Beyond the Grid’ podcast. There he details how the German who with two year’s of title schuss at Benetton decided a Ferrari revival was his next challenge.
Hamilton no Schumacher
“This kind of motivation was what I was looking for. I was not looking for an easy job where I sit in the car and I’ll win every race, or where people at least expect me to win every race – this is not the challenge I’m looking for.” Todt explained how Schumacher galvanised the entire Ferrari team in a way no other driver had ever done.
“Discipline. Because we knew that he was a great driver, very efficient, very organised, very pragmatic. And we knew that he would not tolerate being in a team with amateurs. So we had to demonstrate immediately that Ferrari was a very professional, organised and structured team,” added Todt.
These characteristics are a far cry from the Lewis Hamilton we saw in Hungary. Schumacher moved to Italy for the 1996 season, but it would be in his fifth year with the team when he finally claimed his third world championship.
Hamilton has a contract for 2026 wit the Scuderia and his focus should be on the all new car designs coming next year. And for now he must find a way to make it to the end of the year, to enjoy hopefully jam tomorrow, but more pain today.
Ferrari “illegal” Budapest car confirmed
Ferrari presently look like a tinderbox about to ignite with internal divisions becoming apparent at the Hungarian Grand Prix. The resident of there group appeared to call for unity within the team, when in the run up to cars on track he waxed lyrical about how the team’s former glories were brought about were brought about by team work.
Lewis Hamilton was a shadow of his former self, exiting qualifying in Q2 and his race was little better as he came home in twelfth place, where he started the Grand Prix.
Hamilton blamed himself for his poor performance, stating he was “utterly useless”and suggesting that Ferrari should “change the driver.” He further implied there was trouble behind the scenes in Maranello when pressed on why the team should recruit e replacement driver…. READ MORE
With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
