Lewis Hamilton: “Perhaps only a football team can match the emotions Ferrari inspires”

Lewis Hamilton: “Perhaps only a football team can match the emotions Ferrari inspires”. Lewis Hamilton reflects on the unique emotional appeal of Ferrari.

“Once you are a Ferrari driver, you will always be a Ferrari driver.” Carlos Sainz described the sense of achievement felt by any Formula 1 driver who has driven for the Scuderia. The Spanish driver raced for Ferrari from 2021 to 2024, achieving a total of four victories, before moving to another team when Ferrari’s management finalized the agreement with Lewis Hamilton, who now drives the Maranello team’s car this season.

So far, the union of two F1 icons—Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari—has not delivered the expected results, largely due to the SF-25, which has underperformed relative to pre-season expectations. Hamilton secured a Sprint pole and a Sprint race victory in Shanghai, China, during the second weekend of the season. However, both Ferrari cars were later disqualified: Lewis Hamilton’s car consumed its floor excessively, while Charles Leclerc’s car was underweight.

Currently, Lewis Hamilton has yet to achieve a podium in a Grand Prix, equaling Didier Pironi as the Ferrari driver who took the most races to reach their first podium with the Scuderia (18 races). The year 2026 will be crucial for the Hamilton-Ferrari partnership. The British driver signed with Maranello with the goal of winning the World Championship. “Yes, the objective is to win the World Championship,” Lewis Hamilton told the French sports daily L’Equipe. “It has been a long time since Ferrari last won a Championship—I can’t even remember when. Yet, a Ferrari on track still evokes a strong emotion. I can’t think of any other car brand, no other brand in the world in general, that inspires a similar feeling. Perhaps only a football team can achieve this.”