Hamilton, a difficult first season with Ferrari: Villeneuve’s analysis and the issue linked to Mercedes victories
2025 was supposed to mark a fresh start for Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari after leaving Mercedes. Instead, his first season in red turned into a campaign filled with difficulties and unanswered questions. The seven-time Formula 1 world champion finished the year without a single podium finish, something that had not happened to him for eighteen consecutive seasons in Formula 1. As a result, Lewis Hamilton once again found himself under scrutiny, this time from Jacques Villeneuve.
The Ferrari SF-25 never truly adapted to the British driver’s driving style. Balance issues and handling problems followed Lewis Hamilton throughout the season, ultimately leading to a fourth-place finish in the championship standings, a result that raised more doubts than confidence. During the final triple-header of the year, the Ferrari driver was eliminated in Q1 on three consecutive occasions, a statistic that perfectly captures the difficult moment experienced by the forty-year-old Englishman.
Villeneuve identifies the causes of Hamilton’s problems in his Mercedes past
According to Jacques Villeneuve, Lewis Hamilton’s challenging adaptation to Ferrari has its roots in the years spent at Mercedes. The former world champion, speaking on the High Performance podcast, delivered a very clear and uncompromising assessment.
“His years at Mercedes had a huge impact. In many championships he was mainly racing against his team-mate, and there was never a real fight,” Jacques Villeneuve explained. The only real exception, in the Canadian’s view, was the battle with Nico Rosberg in 2016, when Hamilton lost the title fight.
Villeneuve believes that such a long period of dominance significantly altered Lewis Hamilton’s mental approach to racing. “Now he’s at Ferrari and he has to find his fighting spirit again. It seems like he got used to the easy years at Mercedes,” he added.
In developing his argument, Jacques Villeneuve also brought Max Verstappen into the discussion, highlighting a fundamental difference in mentality between the two champions. “It’s hard to restart the engine if for years you lift off the throttle and think everything is easy,” he explained.
According to the former Formula 1 driver, Max Verstappen represents the complete opposite mindset. “Even when he wins everything easily, Max drives as if he’s always behind in the championship. He never lowers his level.” This ability to maintain an extremely high level of competitive intensity at all times is, in Jacques Villeneuve’s view, the Dutch driver’s greatest strength.
As a result, 2025 ends as a bitter season for both Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari. However, the upcoming year, shaped by a new technical regulation cycle, will represent a crucial turning point. For the British driver, it will be an opportunity to prove that he can rediscover the hunger and determination that made him one of the greatest drivers in the history of Formula 1.
Ferrari, for its part, will be required to provide him with a car that is better suited to his driving style and genuinely competitive at the highest level. Only then will it be possible to understand whether this difficult first year was merely a temporary setback or the sign of a new and more complex phase in Lewis Hamilton’s illustrious career.
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