Ferrari – Hamilton hanging by a thread: From England comes a warning for a 2026 that is “already decisive”
The partnership between Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton did not deliver the expected results in 2025. Now it has become essential to turn the situation around in 2026. The first year of the “marriage” between Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari has been particularly complicated. On one side were the limitations of the SF-25, and on the other a driver who never managed to make that decisive step forward throughout the 2025 season. Now, however, attention shifts to a 2026 campaign that could already be crucial for the British driver.
Lewis Hamilton ended his debut season in red without a single podium — the first time in his career that he has finished a year with zero podiums, and the first time this has ever happened to a driver in their debut season with Ferrari. The team’s only successes came from Charles Leclerc, who reached the podium seven times this year.
The #44 driver finished the season in sixth place in the standings, far behind the Monegasque and only just ahead of his rookie successor at Mercedes, Kimi Antonelli. In particular, Lewis Hamilton wrapped up the year with three consecutive Q1 eliminations and a long list of concerns heading into next season.
Karun Chandhok, speaking on The F1 Show podcast, summarised the situation with a sentence that hits like a hammer: “The dream would very quickly become a nightmare, right? We had China, the Sprint, and we thought ‘this could be magic, this could happen’, but from that Sunday in China everything just fell apart.”
Karun Chandhok continued by highlighting the clear difference in performance between the two Ferrari drivers. “Leclerc has had seven podiums, Lewis has had none this year. There was a phase after the summer break when the pace was coming back and he was on par with Charles Leclerc, and then it disappeared again. From the Belgian sprint qualifying onwards, Leclerc has outqualified Lewis 14-2. That’s a big result at the end of the season.”
Premonitions about Lewis Hamilton’s future
He then made a prediction regarding 2026: “I hope he recovers and comes back. I think this is a make-or-break season for their relationship (between Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari).”
Karun Chandhok’s comment was followed by an equally critical one from Ted Kravitz. “The only thing he has to sort out is the qualifying performance, because the rest is about seeing whether Ferrari will listen to him on the changes he wants.”
“As Carlos Sainz once said, Ferrari has everything it needs to be a winning team. What Sainz never finished saying is that they’re simply not winning. So the question returns: do they really have what it takes to win? Will they follow Lewis Hamilton’s advice? Will they fix his qualifying deficit?”
He then concluded with a sentence that raises real concerns for the future. “If it continues like this into 2026, then I think he’ll look to break his contract for the following year.”
With a brand-new car arriving under the revolutionary 2026 regulations, Lewis Hamilton’s multi-year Ferrari deal suddenly feels far less certain. The clock is already ticking on the most high-profile move in modern Formula 1 history.
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