Lewis Hamilton had imagined his first year in red as the realization of a dream, not as a sporting and technical nightmare. Yet 2025 presented him with a steep bill, both on and off the track. However, it is precisely within this disappointing season that some of the most crucial lessons for Ferrari’s future are taking shape. At least, that is the hope to prevent the agonizing year from being a completely wasted exercise.
The British driver has never hidden the complexity of the transition: a car that was 99% new — widely publicized by Ferrari management but normal from one year to the next even under “regulatory stability” — born from a change in philosophy that was meant to be revolutionary but turned into a boomerang, coupled with a team that hoped to capitalize on the positive momentum of the SF-24 to make a definitive step forward. The opposite happened. The Ferrari that had contended for the 2024 Constructors’ Championship against McLaren until the last curve at Yas Marina turned, within a few months, into an anonymous presence at the top: respectable, yes, but lacking bite.
Seven podiums for Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton’s Sprint victory in Shanghai are exceptions, not the rule. The rest of the season paints a gray picture of regressions, correlation struggles, and a car that lost its best qualities while attempting to gain new ones. A year to forget, but not to ignore: it is precisely in failure that the truest opportunities for rebirth can be found.
Lewis Hamilton: notes for reclaiming Ferrari and his career
In the aftermath of the Qatar Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton spoke with the frankness of someone who has lived through Brackley’s golden years and knows what it takes to build a winning cycle. He did not speak about emotions but about notes: a dense collection of technical, methodological, and organizational observations. Proof that the seven-time world champion did not come to Maranello to simply bide his time, but to make an impact.
“I have a lot of notes on things we need to improve. Time will tell if we act accordingly, keep what works, and change what doesn’t, which is a lot. There’s no reason we can’t fix them if we put in the work. I’m confident we’ll move forward,” he told Sky F1. A message that is both a slap and an encouragement.
Lewis Hamilton did not limit himself to Ferrari. He made a tough but necessary comparison: the Williams team. Like Ferrari, Williams had not developed its car since April, yet it managed to grow noticeably after the summer break. A team that found rhythm, efficiency, and consistency on tracks where it had no reason to be competitive. And while Ferrari slid backward, Williams moved forward. For Hamilton, this is a virtuous model: if they can do it without Ferrari’s resources, Ferrari must be able to as well.
“Without a doubt, it’s been the hardest year, both in and out of the car. It showed how developed all the teams are and how little progress we made at this point in the season. I was almost overtaken by Sauber and couldn’t keep pace with Williams. The other Williams was third, so they did an excellent job,” he added, his gaze filled with realism.
These words carry weight. They come from a driver who, even when underperforming in terms of raw results, brings a winning cultural and technical-organizational mindset that Ferrari has lacked for a long time. They also reflect the reality: the 2025 Ferrari was not an unfinished project — it was a flawed project.
But the real game is no longer in this swan-song season. It’s 2026. And it is here that Lewis Hamilton’s voice can become the team’s most valuable asset: he is providing Ferrari with an operational manual, the ability to identify priorities, and the clarity to understand where a team loses time and where it can gain it. His technical presence is a value, not just a human factor.
2025 definitively proved that Ferrari can no longer afford random revolutions. It can no longer hope to close gaps simply with investments or superficial changes. If the Briton can transfer a culture of continuity, coherence, and measurable evolution, then this black year could be remembered as the beginning of something different.
Everything depends on one thing: transforming Lewis Hamilton’s notes into a concrete plan. It won’t be easy. But it is the only path toward a future that genuinely looks promising. Lewis Hamilton must be allowed to do what he was hired for — which, it’s worth remembering, is not to be a figurehead. Ferrari is bigger than any of its interpreters. What it needs is the expertise of someone who, until proven otherwise, is the most successful driver of all time.
The lost season isn’t the end of the story. It might just be the prologue to the comeback everyone has been waiting for.
