Lewis Hamilton’s long-awaited arrival at Ferrari created a wave of excitement across Maranello before the 2025 Formula 1 season, but that initial euphoria quickly transformed into disappointment and frustration. In January, thousands of passionate Tifosi gathered around Fiorano to witness the Briton complete his first laps in red, celebrating what many believed was the perfect combination: the most successful driver in Formula 1 history joining the sport’s most iconic and emotionally charged team.
Expectations were understandably sky-high. Ferrari had closed the 2024 campaign just 14 points behind McLaren in the constructors’ championship, and hope spread through the fanbase that the Scuderia might finally be positioned to fight for their first world title since 2008. However, Ferrari’s winter overhaul of the SF-25 ultimately proved counterproductive, as the car emerged as only the fourth-fastest package on the grid.
The season results reflected the team’s struggles. Charles Leclerc and Hamilton finished only fifth and sixth in the 2025 drivers’ standings, collecting 242 and 156 points respectively. Meanwhile, McLaren surged forward, with Lando Norris winning the championship on 423 points and the team securing a second straight constructors’ crown with 833 points. Ferrari could manage no better than fourth overall, marking an abrupt end to any early optimism surrounding Hamilton’s move.
Hamilton’s first year at Ferrari evokes comparisons to Michael Schumacher’s comeback
Hamilton’s difficulties have now sparked discussions about whether he might consider ending his Ferrari contract early, possibly stepping away from Formula 1 before the new 2026 regulations arrive. According to reports from the F1 paddock cited by BBC Sport, many insiders believe that age may be playing a significant role in Hamilton’s struggle to adapt to the Ferrari project.
Hamilton will turn 41 on January 7, and although Fernando Alonso continues to perform competitively at 44, the contrast between the two veterans is significant. Alonso failed to progress from Q1 only twice in 2025, while Hamilton endured four Q1 eliminations across the season—an unusual sign of decline for a seven-time champion.
Some observers have already begun drawing parallels between Hamilton’s current situation and the unconvincing performances Michael Schumacher delivered during his Formula 1 comeback with Mercedes in 2010. After retiring from Ferrari at the end of 2006 as runner-up to Alonso, Schumacher was brought back by Mercedes to guide their new factory team. Despite the team’s hopes, Schumacher consistently fell short of teammate Nico Rosberg’s pace throughout their three seasons together.
Although Schumacher achieved a memorable pole position at the 2012 Monaco Grand Prix and secured a podium in Valencia the same year, his comeback ended on a difficult note. One of the most notable moments of that period came when he misjudged his braking and ran into Jean-Éric Vergne’s Toro Rosso during the 2012 Singapore Grand Prix, a mistake that seemed symbolic of a driver past his competitive peak.
Hamilton admits to overwhelming frustration as Ferrari nightmare unfolds
Lewis Hamilton’s early-season Sprint victory from pole position in China seemed poised to launch his Ferrari career in the right direction. Instead, it became the lone bright spot in an otherwise painful year. For the first time in his 19-season Formula 1 career, Hamilton failed to secure a single Grand Prix podium, a statistic that underscored just how difficult his transition to Ferrari had become.
Following his retirement from the São Paulo Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton revealed that he viewed his time at Ferrari as something of a personal nightmare, unable to find a way out of the performance slump. His struggles reached another low point when he qualified last on merit for the first time in his career during the Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend—a moment that led him to label 2025 as the worst year he had ever experienced in Formula 1, particularly after wrestling with extreme weather conditions and a car that never behaved predictably.
The difficulties continued to pile up when Hamilton recorded a third consecutive Q1 elimination for the first time ever at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The 104-time polesitter could only place 16th in Q1 at Yas Marina and had also started 18th in both the Sprint and the Grand Prix in Qatar. Hamilton later explained that the combination of poor qualifying form and ongoing struggles with the SF-25 left him with what he described as an overwhelming amount of internal anger and frustration.
With such a challenging debut season completed, Lewis Hamilton now faces intense scrutiny from fans, media, and figures inside the paddock as speculation grows about whether he can—or will—continue with Ferrari into the next regulatory era.
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