Seven-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton is facing renewed scrutiny over his long-term Formula 1 future, with growing suggestions that the seven-time World Champion could risk damaging the legacy he built at Mercedes if his struggles with Ferrari continue into another season.
The highly publicised switch of Lewis Hamilton to Ferrari was expected to ignite a new chapter for both the driver and the Scuderia. Instead, his first campaign in red became one of the most challenging years of his career. He accumulated only 156 points across the season, failed to appear on a single Grand Prix podium and spent much of the year trailing behind team-mate Charles Leclerc, who adapted to the car’s characteristics far more effectively.
Although Lewis Hamilton delivered a bright moment with his Sprint victory in China, that success proved misleading. From the second round in Saudi Arabia, he had already warned that the SF-25’s limitations could haunt him for the entire year. Those fears played out, and by the time the championship reached Sao Paulo, he described the season as something resembling a nightmare, with no signs of upward momentum.
With a major rules overhaul arriving in 2026 and Hamilton now experiencing his third winless campaign in four years, former Formula 1 driver and race winner Johnny Herbert believes the time has come for Hamilton to confront a difficult personal question about how much longer he wants to compete at this level.
Johnny Herbert expressed the opinion that Lewis Hamilton might now be entering a phase of his career where continued underperformance could begin to erode his previously untouchable reputation. He suggested that Hamilton’s situation has been painful not only for the driver but also for the public to witness, particularly because the issues appear to affect only one side of the Ferrari garage, leaving Charles Leclerc relatively unaffected.
According to Johnny Herbert, this contrast between the two Ferrari drivers makes Lewis Hamilton’s difficulties even more striking. He compared Hamilton’s situation with Nico Rosberg’s decision to retire immediately after securing the 2016 World Championship, explaining that some drivers choose to step away on a high, while others continue until the sport no longer offers them a realistic chance at redemption.
The British former racing driver and broadcaster who competed in Formula One from 1989 to 2000 argued that drivers sometimes feel they can push through their decline, but there comes a point where stepping back is the wiser choice. In his view, Lewis Hamilton’s 2025 season demonstrated that this point may already have arrived, as the poor form was not limited to a few isolated weekends but persisted across almost the entire campaign.
Johnny Herbert also highlighted how noticeably different Lewis Hamilton appeared in his media interviews during the season. He suggested that the Ferrari man seemed emotionally drained, defeated, and unable to disguise his frustration—an unfamiliar sight given the driver’s long-standing reputation for mental resilience and fierce competitiveness.
As Ferrari prepare for a reset in 2026, the question now is whether Lewis Hamilton believes he can reverse this troubling trajectory, or whether the risk to his legacy is becoming too great to ignore.
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