Ferrari grapples with strategic dilemma about Lewis Hamilton’s role beyond 2025

Lewis Hamilton believed Ferrari had all the right components required to compete for a Formula 1 World Championship when he made the high-profile switch to Maranello, but his first year in red has so far failed to deliver the success he had envisioned.

The seven-time World Champion, now 40 years old, left behind over a decade of racing in silver with Mercedes to fulfil a long-standing personal ambition of becoming a Scuderia Ferrari driver. While the move stirred emotions and brought a sense of wonder for Hamilton, who admitted privately he found it hard to believe he was finally racing for Ferrari, the 2025 season has been far from dreamlike on track.

With the championship now at its halfway point, Hamilton finds himself only sixth in the Drivers’ standings, having collected 103 points. This marks his lowest total after 12 rounds in any Formula 1 campaign since the introduction of the current points format in 2010. Even with an additional 14 points earned from two Sprint events, the British driver is still searching for his first Grand Prix podium in Ferrari colours.

Interestingly, Hamilton’s most notable results with Ferrari so far have come in the Sprint format. He clinched victory at the Sprint in China and secured third place in the Miami Sprint, but regular Sunday races have yet to yield the same success. This weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix includes the third of six Sprints scheduled for the 2025 calendar, offering Hamilton another opportunity to add to his tally.

Ferrari’s leadership seeking clarity on 2026 team hierarchy between Hamilton and Leclerc
Hamilton is not the only one under pressure. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari’s long-time lead driver, has had a mixed season as well. Despite achieving four Grand Prix podiums — with a second-place finish in Monaco and third-place results in Saudi Arabia, Spain, and Austria — Leclerc is only fifth in the standings, holding 119 points.

This situation places Ferrari second in the Constructors’ Championship heading into Spa, but they are trailing defending champions McLaren by a substantial margin of 238 points. That gap is particularly stark considering Ferrari narrowly lost the 2024 title by just 14 points. To complicate matters, Mercedes sits only 12 points behind Ferrari as the teams head to Belgium.

With both drivers underwhelming relative to expectations, Ferrari are already shifting their focus toward the 2026 season and the new regulations it will bring. According to Motorsport.com, a key internal discussion in Maranello now revolves around which of the two drivers — Hamilton or Leclerc — should be designated as the team’s leader for the upcoming regulation era. The Scuderia reportedly hopes to resolve this leadership question before the conclusion of the 2025 campaign.

So far, Charles Leclerc has maintained the upper hand in their intra-team battle, suggesting that he is currently considered the more natural leader. The Monegasque driver has outscored Hamilton, achieved more podiums, and leads their head-to-head battles in both Grand Prix qualifying sessions (8–4) and race results (9–2) after the first 12 rounds.

Lewis Hamilton’s difficulties adapting to Ferrari’s operational methods and the unique characteristics of the SF25 have been a key storyline this year. One particularly persistent issue has been the car’s inconsistent rear end, a problem that technical director Loïc Serra was recently tasked with addressing. Serra was pulled away from his primary responsibility of developing Ferrari’s 2026 challenger to assist in resolving this year’s setup troubles. However, following the debut of a major rear suspension upgrade at the Belgian Grand Prix — which is expected to be Ferrari’s final substantial development for the current car — Serra will return full-time to next season’s project.

Team principal Frédéric Vasseur had previously stated his confidence that Ferrari would be a title contender in 2025, but the team’s current form has fallen far short of those expectations. With ambitions already shifting toward the future, Ferrari are eager to establish a clear number-one driver to lead their next campaign.

For Hamilton, the challenge is now clear. He must deliver consistent, high-level performances across the remaining 12 Grands Prix and four Sprint races to convince Ferrari’s leadership that he, not Leclerc, should be the driver to lead the team into the next era of Formula 1. Given Leclerc’s long-standing ties to the Scuderia since 2019 and his current dominance in performance metrics, such a shift would be a significant change — and a hard pill to swallow for the Monegasque, who has long been seen as the face of Ferrari’s future.