Italian media: Hamilton contract clause – Racer and sone of Martin Brundle suggested on the F1 podcast this week, that the legend Verstappen’s reputation has been “slightly dented” this season with just two wins to his name. Yet if the world champion’s reputation has taken a hit, the seven times F1 world champion’s legacy is crashing down in flames.

Lewis Hamilton was beaten in two of his three seasons together with George Russell as team mate and his first year at Ferrari os heading in the same direction. Hamilton left Mercedes to join Ferrari once he realised the end of the road was nigh and Toto Wolff refused to give him more than a single season’s guaranteed contract extension.

The ‘multi-year’ deal which the pair announced late in 2023 in fact was a ‘one plus one’ stake contract, where Hamilton was guaranteed 2024 with the silver arrows, but with a break clause before the second period, either party could walk away from the deal.

 

 

 

Hamilton clings on for 2026 changes

With huge car and power unit design regulation changes on the horizon for 2026, Hamilton wanted to extend his stay at the top in F1 given he has failed to adapt to the ground effect car designs which came into force the year following his epic duel for the championship with Max Verstappen.

Ferrari gave the former champion that opportunity with a true multi-year deal, although much of the reasoning for this was commercial given the enormous global fanbase Hamilton has accrued. Yet the Ferrari driver has now won just two races in four seasons and one of those was a gift given that Russell had taken the chequered flag before discovering he wold be disqualified for a technical infringement committed by Mercedes.

Once again Lewis is being pounded by his team mate in 2025. The qualifying head to head is now 10-4 in Leclerc’s favour as is comparison in positions finished in the Grand Prix – 12-2 to the Monegasque. Hamilton’s has contributed 42% of Ferrari’s points this year, although remove his win in the Chinese Sprint and this falls to jut over 38%.

Charles Leclerc has claimed five Grand Prix podiums this season whilst Hamilton is yet to feature in a presentation on Sunday. Should that run continue to eighteen Sunday’s without a top three finish, Lewis will equal the record of the longest run of absences from the podium by any Ferrari F1 driver since joining the team.

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“90 of [Ferrari] engineers, didn’t want Hamilton”

Rather then head onto the summer break, buoyed by some measure of success, Hamilton endured his worst race weekend of the season to date in Hungary. He failed to make it out of Q2 in both Sprint and Grand Prix qualifying, and for the first time this year since his technical disqualification at round two in China, failed to score points.

The former champion’s mood was as low as could be in Budapest, as he described his performance as “utterly useless” adding that Ferrari should consider ‘changing the driver.’ However, Lewis again referred to ‘things going on in the background’ in Maranello, which were ‘not great.’ Without specifying the difficulty, the Ferrari driver left the impression there was significant trouble back at Ferrari HQ.

Ferrari grandee Arturo Merzario has since revealed that his close contacts within the team have stated that “90% of engineers” at the Scuderia, didn’t want the team to sign Hamilton. If this is translating into open resistance in Maranello, then Fred Vasseur has been facing an ongoing rebellion within his team this season.

There has further been talk in the Italian media that Hamilton may now just quit the once glorious F1 team, although the temptation of the new regulations is now just ten more race weekends away. As is their want, Italy’s sport press have been digging around only for La Gazzetta dello Sport to discover, that Lewis Hamilton’s arrangement  in for longer than expected.

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Hamilton controls his deal with Ferrari

Unlike in his Mercedes days where he was offered a “one plus one” year arrangement, Hamilton was b believed to have a nailed on two year commitment from the Scuderia. In fact La Gazzetta reveals there is a third year in the 40 year old’s contract, something which he alone can elect to instigate. Such was Ferrari president John Elkann’s faith in the powers of Hamilton, he was happy to sign away any performance related clauses which would allow the Scuderia to dismiss Lewis before the end of the 2027 season.

Ferrari is now locked into this driver pairing regardless for the foreseeable rumour, given last year Charles Leclerc was believed to have committed himself until 2029. Given the team’s notable lack of success over the past two decades, Leclerc will no doubt have performance clauses which would facilitate extracting himself from the grasp of Maranello.

The reason for Ferrari committing to Hamilton for three years is reportedly due to the commercial benefits the seven times champion brings to the organisation. La Gazzetta concludes its report stating: “Ferrari will go with him no matter what.”

A number of paddock analysts are beginning to address ‘the elephant in the room,’ as Sky F1’s Anthony Davison described it in Budapest. “Age is a factor,” said the former F1 and Le Mans driver. “As an athlete ages, whatever anyone says, even himself or those involved with Lewis, they won’t understand where I’m coming from. But I’ve lived it and breathed it as an athlete. You start asking yourself questions. It’s only natural.”

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Russell wrestles with Wolff style deal

Yet whilst Ferrari are bound for two more years together with the ageing champion, the deal does offer Lewis the opportunity to declare his retirement at a time of his choosing. This is quite different from the “one plus one” Wolff backed style contract, where Hamilton would have always been looking over his shoulder with concern about the rising star that was reportedly Kimi Antonelli.

Whilst Hamilton is secure in his Ferrari future, George Russell is being frustrated again by negotiations with Toto Wolff. The British driver was asked in Budapest whether the sticking point was the Wolff “one plus one” style of contract and lack of security. To which Russell made plain this was indeed the case, but by the evasive nature of his answer. “I mean, it’s something we need to think about, what is in the interest of both parties really — what do I want from this as much as what do Mercedes want?”

With Verstappen now committing to Red Bull for 2026, Russell is assured of another year of racing with the silver arrows. Yet should Mercedes ace the new car and power unit design regulations, Wolff has made it plain he will once again talk with Max Verstappen about a seat in 2027. At least now Russell has another year to outperform his reported “superstar” young driver and cement his place as the lead driver at Mercedes.

 

 

 

MORE F1 NEWS – Ferrari team boss thought Hamilton would be faster

The marriage between Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari was always going to be one of the most talked-about moves in recent Formula 1 history. After all, the seven-time world champion arrived in Maranello carrying not just his trophy cabinet but also the kind of expectations that could bend the walls of the Gestione Sportiva. The reality, however, has been far more grounded. Aside from a sprint victory in China, the first half of the season has been more a series of awkward dinner conversations than champagne-soaked celebrations.

Hamilton currently finds himself in sixth place in the drivers’ standings, trailing teammate Charles Leclerc by 42 points after fourteen races. The Briton’s frustration has occasionally spilled into public view, particularly after a difficult qualifying in Hungary, followed by a race that did little to lift the mood. For a man who has spent the better part of two decades at the sharp end of the sport, such middling results are not the sort of statistics to frame on the wall.

Ferrari team principal Frédéric Vasseur, who has known Hamilton since their successful Formula 3 days together at ASM back in 2005, has been quick to defend his new recruit. In an unusually candid admission to Formula 1’s official website, Vasseur suggested that both he and Hamilton might have misjudged the scale of the adjustment required…. READ MORE