Lewis Hamilton arrived at Ferrari in 2025 with one mission: to rewrite history. After 12 glittering years at Mercedes and 105 career wins, the seven-time world champion wanted to claim an eighth F1 crown in red. To surpass Michael Schumacher in Schumacher’s whilst inside his own house would have immortalised Lewis forever.

Instead, it has been a nightmare. Hamilton, once F1’s unstoppable force, has become the grid’s most high-profile struggler. His Ferrari debut season has been littered with disappointment, self-doubt, and brutal self-criticism. The swagger is gone. The laughter of winter testing has given way to a bowed head and an almost broken tone in interviews.

The hype was enormous. Ferrari staged his unveiling like a royal coronation. Early flashes of brilliance — sprint pole and a sprint win in Shanghai — suggested the storybook comeback was on. But it was an illusion.

 

 

 

Vasseur defends Hamilton

At Silverstone, Hamilton had the pace for pole but fumbled when it mattered. At Spa, he publicly criticised Ferrari before a dismal weekend. Then came Budapest, where he hit rock bottom. Dumped out in Q2, he faced the cameras and delivered the most shocking soundbite of the season:

‘I’m useless. The team is great. Maybe they need to change the driver.’ It was Hamilton’s lowest ebb — and proof of just how deep his Ferrari malaise runs.

Ferrari team boss Frédéric Vasseur refuses to pin the blame on Hamilton. He argues the Briton is simply too harsh on himself: “Lewis is very self-critical. Sometimes he goes too far. He wants the maximum from himself and the car. He pushes harder than anyone,” Vasseur told Auto Motor und Sport.

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Ferrari under fire

But Juan Pablo Montoya sees it differently. The Colombian points out that Hamilton’s driving style — clean entries, late braking, and rear-end stability — has worked for two decades. Ferrari’s SF-25, with its twitchy rear, punishes that style. Charles Leclerc, who thrives on an unstable rear like Verstappen, has adapted better and sits 42 points clear with five podiums.

Hamilton, by contrast, is winless and podium-less in red. If he continues his run of failing to make the top three on Sunday, come the USGP he will claim a most unwanted Ferrari record. Didier Pironi went eighteen races since joining the Scuderia, without making the podium, come Austin, Texas if Hamilton has failed to spray the champagne at least once this season, he will become that unwanted man.

Former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone has no time for patience. At 94, his view is blunt: “Lewis is tired. He’s been doing the same thing forever. He needs a break, a restart, to do something else. If he continues, he’s deceiving himself. He should stop now,” the former F1 supremo told the Daily Mail.

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New regulations may suit Lewis better

It’s a damning verdict that echoes a growing chorus of voices questioning whether Hamilton’s Ferrari gamble was a mistake. Hamilton’s hope rests on the next rules revolution. Ground-effect cars — introduced in 2022 — have never suited him. The 2026 regulations, which strip away underfloor downforce and bring active aerodynamics, could play back into his strengths.

Theoretically, these cars should be closer to the style he mastered. But there are still ten races left in 2025. Hamilton cannot afford to wait a year to justify Ferrari’s faith. He insists he still loves racing, but the clock is ticking.

Vasseur admits Ferrari underestimated the adaptation required: “When Lewis arrived, we naively thought he would have everything under control. It took him four or five races to get there,” he said.

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“The elephant in the room”

The Frenchman insists Ferrari will stand by him. But patience is finite. Hamilton must deliver something in the back half of the season — even flashes of the old brilliance — to silence doubters.

Hamilton is in his 19th season. He is not getting younger. He is not getting faster. Leclerc is beating him regularly. And yet, Hamilton remains defiant. He wants to prove Budapest was not the beginning of the end. He wants to fight off the critics — Ecclestone included — and remind the world why he is a seven-time champion.

Yet his old team mate and reliable simulator driver who delivered many of Hamilton’s winning pre-race weekend car setups is not so sure. Anthony Davidson addressed “the elephant in the room” following Lewis descriptive self analysis – “I’m useless.” Age comes to us all and unlike fine wine, doesn’t improve us over time.

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The stats don’t lie

“I’ve been there myself as a driver, age is a factor as well,” Davidson said following Hamilton’s on struggles in Budapest. “I feel like this time of reflection for him, as an athlete ages, it does [affect performance]. Whatever anyone says, even himself, others that are very involved with Lewis, fans, they won’t understand where I’m coming from, but I’ve lived and breathed it as an athlete. I’m now retired at 46. You start asking yourself questions. It’s only natural.”

There must be hope of a turn of fortune for Hamilton, all though his downward slide since 2022 is visible in the stats. Hamilton claimed none podiums the year the ground force cars came into effect, this dropped to six the following season and just five – but with two Grad prix wins – in 2024. The number this year is zero so far, however with team mate Charles Leclerc already with five top three finishes, clearly the SF-25 is capable on occasions in the right hands.

If Lewis can claw back even a glimpse of his old magic, the mischievous grin may yet return. If not, his Ferrari chapter could end as one of F1’s saddest farewells — written in instalments, one painful weekend at a time.

 

 

 

Coffee coasters, not carbon discs – Brembo lifts the lid on F1 2026 brake shock

With the Formula One summer shutdown and the teams and drivers taking a break from their media duties, much of the focus of the F1 news cycle has been focused on the huge upcoming regulation changes for 2026. Most teams have completed the design cycle for any final upgrades which are to be added to this year’s racing machines, although some which are focused around mechanical grip and can be carried over to next year are yet to be complete.

Ferrari who have taken a step backwards from the performance their 2024 car had in the final quarter of the season have decided to plough on with further upgrades to the car in an effort to fix the suspension issues which have plagued Hamilton and Leclerc for most of the season. Having closed a gap of some 79 points to McLaren to just 14 over the final six race weekends, the Scuderia decided to build a completely new car design for 2026, despite it being the last year of the current set of car design regulations.

Adrian Newey observed that 2026 is a unique moment in F1 history given the design rules are changing not just for the power unit or the chassis, but for the first time both will be revolutionised at the same time. This has meant the teams have been forced to wait before designing significant elements of the new racing prototypes, with the rear axle and associated components playing a huge part in the harmonisation of power unit and chassis….. READ MORE