Lewis Hamilton’s 2025 Formula 1 season at Ferrari turned out very differently from what was imagined at the time of his announcement. His arrival in Maranello was expected to mark the start of a new competitive phase, but instead it became a true nightmare from the very first races. The SF-25 never displayed the potential required to fight at the top, ultimately limiting the ambitions of the seven-time world champion.
The single-seater designed by Ferrari proved deficient in every fundamental aspect, from aerodynamic management to tire usage windows, making it extremely difficult for Lewis Hamilton to find consistent performance. The British driver repeatedly tried to direct the team’s work according to his needs, but the technical support fell short of expectations.
This created the impression of a team not yet ready to build a genuinely competitive project around him. The only real highlight of the season came in China, the second round of the championship, with a victory in the Sprint Race that had raised hopes for a change of direction. However, this was followed by a double disqualification affecting both cars over weight and floor irregularities.
As the season progressed, that result turned out to be an isolated episode. From then on, the Italian team’s championship became a real ordeal, plagued by recurring technical issues stemming from structural problems, and a development path—particularly the attempt to fix the rear suspension with a Ferrari update costing 2.5 million euros—that failed to close the gap to the main rivals.
Lewis Hamilton was accustomed to a very different environment during his years at Mercedes, where he found a structure tailored to him, capable of supporting and enhancing his technical input at every stage. This symbiosis between driver and team had led to a long series of victories and world championships. At Maranello, however, the British driver found a more fragile environment, marked by technical uncertainties and even human difficulties.
Villeneuve: “Lewis won world titles without rivals”
In this context, Jacques Villeneuve commented: “Many of his titles were won against his teammate, without a real battle. The only real challenge was with Nico Rosberg, and he lost that. Now at Ferrari he should return to fighting mode, but it seems he has gotten used to easier periods. Restarting a diesel engine is difficult if you slow down, because when you think you are untouchable, you end up losing something.”
Jacques Villeneuve also extended the discussion to the Mercedes era, emphasizing how favorable the technical environment was: “His world championships weren’t hard to win, because Mercedes was so far ahead that when things got complicated it was enough to increase engine power. In those conditions, everything was within reach, and only a Mercedes could have won, practically with any driver on the grid.”
This analysis simplifies Lewis Hamilton’s 2025 season, because judging the seven-time world champion solely based on results from such a negative year ignores the context. A fundamentally flawed car, a Ferrari team not yet ready to win, and a series of technical and managerial problems significantly affected his performance, preventing the Englishman from fully expressing his value and making 2025 a lost season that should have been a real test.
Jacques Villeneuve’s comments resemble bar-room talk, coming at a time when criticizing Lewis seems easy. Clearly, Lewis Hamilton was not able to match Charles Leclerc, who is accustomed to managing difficult cars. However, this is not always positive: overperforming and making it seem possible to fix clear structural problems through high-level performances risks creating false illusions and misdirecting the team’s development efforts.
In summary, Lewis Hamilton’s 2025 campaign at Ferrari was undermined by a flawed SF-25 and technical inconsistencies, making Jacques Villeneuve’s claims of an easy career feel like simplistic bar-talk. While Charles Leclerc’s ability to mask the car’s flaws provided some relief, Lewis Hamilton’s struggle highlights a team that is still fundamentally unready to provide a championship-winning platform for its drivers.
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