Inside Lewis Hamilton’s crisis: a champion Ferrari must rediscover. Lewis Hamilton’s first season after leaving Mercedes for Ferrari turned into one of the toughest of his career.

That the move from Brackley to Maranello after more than ten years with Mercedes would not be easy had been taken into account from the very beginning, but a season as negative as this one for Lewis Hamilton was far beyond what anyone had imagined. The numbers themselves confirm a clearly insufficient year: zero podium finishes – something that had never happened before in his career – compared to the seven achieved by Charles Leclerc, along with an overall gap that was simply too large to ignore between the Briton and the Monegasque.

There were no real flashes of brilliance – the Sprint format in China aside – and a worrying regression, especially in the second half of the year. This came despite a return from the summer break that initially seemed to show a different attitude, later culminating in third place in qualifying in Mexico City. As the weeks went by, however, that result proved not only to be an isolated case, but also the beginning of a genuine free fall. In the final part of the season, the Stevenage-born driver suffered four consecutive Q1 eliminations between Las Vegas and Abu Dhabi, including the Sprint Qualifying session in Qatar.

Even the difference in approach – whether right or wrong – from Mercedes management first and Ferrari’s leadership later never truly triggered a change of direction, not even from a mental point of view. Whether it was Toto Wolff’s infamous “sorry Lewis, the car is s***” comment in Baku in 2022, or John Elkann’s message urging him to “focus on driving and talk less”, it is impossible not to notice that a Lewis Hamilton so closed in on himself and seemingly unable to react had never been seen before.

Lewis Hamilton and ground effect: a feeling that never developed

If Formula 1 were not on the eve of a major regulatory change, Hamilton would probably not rule out the option of retirement altogether. This alone gives a clear idea of how crucial 2026 truly represents a crossroads for everyone, with the first four or five races set to be decisive in defining the ambitions of both drivers and teams.

Overall, it can be stated quite clearly that Lewis Hamilton has never really found a strong feeling with ground-effect cars, something he effectively admitted himself in the post-race interviews in Qatar: “I’m ready for the new generation of cars. This has been the worst one I can remember in my career. Between porpoising, stiffness and everything else, it hasn’t been a pleasant period.”