Lewis Hamilton is experiencing one of the worst moments of his sporting career in F1. The move to Ferrari is proving much more complicated than expected, both for him and for the team. After the Scuderia ended 2024 dominating the last few races, expectations were very high, especially with the arrival of the seven-time world champion, but the asphalt has put things in their place.
Hamilton, down and out
Lewis Hamilton has three weeks to reflect, to try to turn around a situation that is unprecedented for him, where he has suffered disappointment after disappointment, without finding an explanation for his situation. At the beginning of the season, Leclerc’s poor results invited the Briton to look for all kinds of excuses, but now the Monegasque is fulfilling the minimum required of a Ferrari driver, while the Briton continues to show little ability to overcome adversity.
In Hungary, he finally exploded, saying he was “useless” and that Ferrari should consider a change of driver because he couldn’t understand what was happening to him. He said he doesn’t feel uncomfortable driving the SF-25, yet he is unable to get the same performance out of it as his teammate, and he is becoming frustrated.
Adaptation problems
Hamilton is the most successful driver in F1 history, but for many, those achievements do not live up to his standard. No one doubts what an excellent driver he has been, but many believe that his titles are due to the fact that he has been in the most dominant team in the history of the sport, with the best car, and that he would not have been able to achieve such success if there had not been such a big difference. In fact, during one of those years of dominance, he lost a World Championship to Nico Rosberg, and many in the sport believe that a champion like him should never have allowed himself to lose that championship.
Now, for the first time in his career, he has moved to a team that is nothing like McLaren or Mercedes. Ferrari is another world, another way of working, another language, another car… and at the first hurdle, Hamilton has sunk like no one predicted.
The English press talks of retirement
After the last race, the British press, one of the most important in the world of F1, has begun to question Hamilton’s abilities. They are beginning to suggest that he could bring forward his retirement from F1 and devote himself exclusively to his personal affairs, which also bring him great financial rewards. They believe that age is beginning to weigh on him and question his ability to resolve the problems he is experiencing in F1.
Some sectors have even speculated that the English driver will leave the wheel during this break, but this seems unlikely.
“It seems very unlikely that Hamilton will not return to finish the season, but if things continue like this, his desire to return in 2026 will have to be questioned.”
Hamilton is going through the worst moment of his career as a driver. At Mercedes, he was the commander, everything revolved around him, although in recent seasons he had already been overtaken by Russell, but his track record carries a lot of weight.
His move to Ferrari caused an earthquake that swept away many things, including Carlos Sainz. And things are far from how they were expected to be. His ambition remains to win his eighth title with Ferrari, but it is easier for Leclerc to achieve this before him. The Briton’s future is up in the air and his retirement could be a reality at the end of this season.