The final weekend of the year
Throughout the season, Lewis Hamilton has repeatedly made it clear that he cannot wait to put his first year with Ferrari behind him and look ahead to a fresh technical cycle in 2026, hoping the next generation of cars will finally suit his driving style. Before that, however, there is still the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix — and the opening day did not get off to an encouraging start for the seven-time world champion.
Lewis Hamilton sat out FP1 as his SF-25 was handed to Arthur Leclerc, in line with FIA regulations requiring rookie participation. When he returned to the cockpit for FP2, Lewis Hamilton ended the session only 14th overall, finishing eight and a half tenths behind championship leader Lando Norris.
Lewis Hamilton’s analysis
“I think Arthur did a good job this morning, it’s always great to see young drivers come through. Anyone who misses the first session ends up slightly on the back foot,” Lewis Hamilton said in his post-session interviews. He then added: “I did my best to recover the lost time and I faced a difficult balance during the session, so we’ve got some work to do. I still have hope, there is potential in this car, but I asked the guys for help to solve a few things: ‘What can we do to improve the handling and the bouncing? And the understeer?’”.
Lewis Hamilton remains optimistic that Ferrari can turn things around ahead of Saturday. “If we can fix these issues before FP3, I think we can be in a slightly better position. In the first and second sectors I was there, and the pace wasn’t too bad, but in the third sector I’m losing around seven tenths. So if we can solve that problem tomorrow, we can do better.” – the British driver concluded at the end of the second free practice session for the 2025 Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
One thing is certain: the entire F1 paddock will be watching closely to see if the most successful driver in history can sign off his single season at Maranello with a flourish under the Abu Dhabi lights.
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