Lewis Hamilton’s debut season with Ferrari has been far more challenging than the team or the seven-time world champion could have anticipated. Throughout the 2025 campaign, the team failed to secure a single race victory, highlighting the significant gap between Ferrari’s current performance and its championship ambitions.
Hamilton joined the team amid great fanfare and expectation, but the hoped-for leap in competitiveness simply did not materialise. Instead, Ferrari spent much of the season on the defensive, grappling with inconsistency, strategic missteps and a car that was unable to consistently compete with Red Bull or McLaren.
Consequently, questions are being asked not only about Ferrari’s technical direction, but also its driver line-up. While Hamilton is still under contract, the disappointing season has led some observers to consider who might lead the team into the next phase.
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Ollie Bearman emerges as a future option
One name increasingly mentioned is Ollie Bearman. The 20-year-old British driver, who is currently racing for Haas, has been part of Ferrari’s Driver Academy for some time and is widely regarded as a potential future Scuderia driver. His performances in the latter stages of the season have strengthened that belief. Mature and composed, with a rapid rate of improvement, Bearman has demonstrated an ability to handle pressure and achieve strong results with machinery that is far from the best in the field.
This combination of youth, talent, and developmental momentum makes him an intriguing prospect for Ferrari. While no official discussions have been confirmed, the idea of Bearman one day replacing Hamilton no longer seems unrealistic. In fact, for some, the transition could happen sooner than expected if Ferrari opts for a bold reset after a difficult year.
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Bearman’s respect for Verstappen
Alongside the growing speculation surrounding his future, Bearman has candidly discussed the drivers who inspire him, most notably Max Verstappen. Speaking to Next-Gen Auto, the young Briton did not hesitate when asked which driver he considers to be the most talented in Formula 1.
“Of course, everyone knows that, at least in my opinion, Max is the most talented driver,” he said.
He went on to explain that he sees Verstappen as a model for what a champion driver should be: consistent, relentless and ultra-competitive. Having grown up watching Verstappen’s rise through the ranks, the Dutchman now represents the benchmark that Bearman strives to reach.
This admiration stems not only from Verstappen’s record, but also from their direct on-track encounters. Bearman recently had the chance to race wheel-to-wheel with Verstappen, an encounter that left a lasting impression.
“For me, this battle confirmed that Max is the benchmark,” he said. “When I’m in a top car and Max is in one too, he’s the guy; he’s the fastest and the best to beat.”
A Benchmark for the Future
Bearman’s comments underline his competitive ambition. He sees Verstappen not just as a champion to admire from afar, but as a driver against whom he intends to measure himself as his own career progresses.
“He’s the benchmark I admire, showing me what I need to do in F1 if I ever want to win a championship,” he added. Being able to race closely with someone he considers to be the sport’s leading figure was, in his words, “really cool”.
Whether Bearman will eventually replace Hamilton remains to be seen, but Ferrari will be watching his development closely. The team faces major decisions about its long-term driver strategy, particularly if its struggles continue. For now, Hamilton remains central to Ferrari’s project, but Bearman’s emergence, and his hunger to challenge the very best, ensures that he will remain in the conversation for years to come.
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Lewis Hamilton finds himself in good company having been lambasted by Ferrari group chairman, John Elkann. When Fernando Alonso was driving for the team in 2013, he was asked what he would like after as a birthday present after finishing a lowly fifth in Singapore. The Spaniard quipped: “someone else’s car.”
This sparked a furore in Maranello with the PR department releasing an unusual statement about a conversation between the then chairman, Luca de Montezemolo and his Spanish driver. “All the great champions who have driven for Ferrari have always been asked to put the interests of the team above their own,” it opened.
According to the statement, Di Montezemolo also insisted that “this is the moment to stay calm, avoid polemics and show humility and determination in making one’s own contribution, standing alongside the team and its people both at the track and outside it”.
Alonso’s ear “tweaked”
It also remarkably revealed that Di Montezemolo had said in the team meeting on Monday that, “there is a need to close ranks, without giving in to rash outbursts that, while understandable in the immediate aftermath of a bad result, are no use to anyone”.
It was also reported that there Ferrari boss had called Alonso to wish him a happy birthday, but during that call Montezemolo had “tweaked his ear” for his latest comments. A year later and after another Ferrari failure as the 2014 new V6 turbo hybrid era was ushered in, Fernando left the Scuderia reportedly saying he believed they could not win another championship. He blamed the dysfunctional nature of how the team operated for this damning conclusion.
Lewis Hamilton along with team mate Charles Leclerc this week also received an “ear tweak” from the current Ferrari chairman. John Elkann praised the engineers and the mechanics of the Scuderia for doing an excellent job.However, he lambasted his drivers stating, “We have drivers who need to focus on driving, talk less, and we have important races ahead of us, and it is not impossible to finish second.”
In his post race interview in Brazil, Lewis described his first season at Ferrari as a “nightmare” yet it was not this which drew the ire of the Ferrari boss. Prior to the summer break, Hamilton revealed he had “called” a number of meetings with department heads in Maranello and that, “I’ve sent documents. I’ve done [that] through the year.” …READ MORE
Thiago Treze is a Brazilian motorsport writer at TJ13 with a background in sports journalism and broadcast media, alongside an academic foundation in engineering with a focus on Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). This combination of technical knowledge and editorial experience allows Thiago to approach Formula 1 from both a performance and narrative perspective.
At TJ13, Treze covers driver performance, career developments, and key storylines across the Formula 1 grid, while also analysing the technical factors that influence competitiveness. This includes aerodynamic development trends, simulation-driven design approaches, and the engineering decisions that shape race weekend outcomes.
His reporting bridges the gap between human performance and machine development, helping readers understand how driver execution and technical innovation interact in modern Formula 1. Coverage often connects on-track events with the underlying engineering philosophies that define each team’s approach.
With a global perspective shaped by both journalism and technical study, Thiago also focuses on Formula 1’s international reach and the different ways the sport is experienced across regions.
Treze has a particular interest in how Computational Fluid Dynamics and aerodynamic modelling contribute to car performance, offering accessible explanations of complex technical concepts within Formula 1.
