Lewis Hamilton’s net worth in 2025: From the racetrack to real estate
Lewis Hamilton, the seven-time Formula 1 World Champion, has not only dominated the track but also built a substantial empire off it. His move to Ferrari in 2025 includes a $60 million salary and lucrative endorsements. Hamilton’s investments in real estate, cars, and ventures like Neat Burger contribute to his estimated net worth of between $285 million and $480 million.
Lewis Hamilton, the seven-time Formula 1 World Champion, isn’t just a legend on the track—he’s also built an empire off it.
Hamilton’s move to Ferrari in 2025 marked a significant chapter in his career.
Reports suggest he’s earning an annual salary of $60 million, making him one of the highest-paid drivers in the sport . Beyond his base salary, Hamilton’s endorsements with brands like Tommy Hilfiger, Puma, Sony, and IWC Schaffhausen contribute substantially to his income .
Hamilton’s wealth isn’t just tied up in cars and contracts; he’s also a real estate connoisseur. His property holdings include:
Poll
Is Lewis Hamilton a role model for aspiring athletes?
Monaco: A $24.5 million mansion in the exclusive Fontvieille district
London: A $38 million residence in Kensington
New York: A $66 million penthouse in Manhattan
Milan: A luxury home in the Porta Nuova district, acquired after his move to Ferrari .
Colorado: A ranch in Aspen, which he considers his true home .
Hamilton’s passion for speed extends beyond Formula 1. His car collection is valued at approximately $16.5 million and includes LaFerrari Aperta, two Mercedes-AMG Project One hypercars, and Pagani Zonda 760 LH. He previously owned a $29 million Bombardier Challenger 605 private jet, which he sold to reduce his carbon footprint . Additionally, he owns a $4 million Sunseeker 90 yacht, often moored in Monaco.
Hamilton’s entrepreneurial spirit has led him to invest in various ventures like Neat Burger, Almave and Denver Broncos.
As of 2025, his net worth is estimated to be between $285 million and $480 million. At 40, Hamilton continues to break records and redefine success in Formula 1. His move to Ferrari not only signifies a new chapter in his racing career but also underscores his enduring marketability and influence in the sport. With a net worth approaching half a billion dollars, Hamilton’s legacy extends far beyond the track, solidifying his status as a global icon.
Ferrari team-mates Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton walk through the paddock at the 2025 Chinese Grand Prix
Ferrari team-mates Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton
Already not where they wanted to be running at the Miami Grand Prix, Ferrari team orders impacting Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc did little to improve the mood.
However, Leclerc has made it clear that he has “no bad feelings” towards Hamilton after the Miami Grand Prix, the Ferrari drivers swapped around twice without success on the way to a P7 finish for Leclerc and Hamilton P8.
Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc cool, but how do Ferrari bounce back?
Additional reporting by Elizabeth Blackstock
Ferrari split strategies for the Miami Grand Prix, Hamilton starting on the hard tyre, and Leclerc on mediums.
But after the sole round of pit stops were complete, Hamilton came up behind Leclerc on theoretically the faster tyre, but was left frustrated when Ferrari told him to hold position.
Hamilton continued to argue his case and Ferrari did a U-turn, ordering Leclerc to yield, but with Hamilton unable to ditch his team-mate, then Leclerc felt like he was being held up, and asked to be let back through by Hamilton, which ultimately happened.
Leclerc crossed the line 1.5 seconds behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli in P7, as Hamilton narrowly held on to P8 under late pressure from Carlos Sainz in the Williams, which included being speared by Sainz at Turn 17 on the last lap.
But, while Leclerc is frustrated over a lack of pace in the Ferrari – McLaren, Red Bull and Mercedes having been quicker in Miami – he made it clear than none of that frustration was directed towards Hamilton.
Asked by the media, including PlanetF1.com, whether he considered letting Hamilton through before Ferrari asked, Leclerc replied: “I mean, not really, because I knew Lewis was on a medium, so if anything, he would struggle a bit more to go to the end than me, so we had to take care of tyres.
“But I understand as well that he wanted to try and do something different. So I appreciate that. I mean, I would have done the same thing if I was him, and trying to be a bit more aggressive with the medium tyres.
“There’s no bad feelings with Lewis. Not at all. I understand that he wants to try and optimise as much as I want to try and optimise the car potential. The car potential is just this, which is frustrating.”
Asked if he had the chance to speak with Hamilton after the race, Leclerc confirmed: “No, no.
“We saw each other quickly, but he went to get changed, I think, and I came here, so we don’t have enough time to really speak.”
The frustration of the Ferrari drivers played out over team radio at times during the race, that especially true for Hamilton.
And Leclerc agreed with the suggestion that this is a consequence from the lack of performance.
He added: “There’s the frustration already that I was fighting for P8 at the time, and I was not making any gains, so there’s a frustration of that, and then all the rest, and it all adds up.
“So, the radio doesn’t always… In this case, probably… But the radio is not always the real picture.”
Ferrari sit P4 in the Constructors’ Championship standings, already 152 points behind leaders McLaren.
Lewis Hamilton has dealt Ferrari a blow at the Miami Grand Prix, by revealing that the SF-25 is once again “just lacking speed”
The seven-time world champion qualified in seventh for the Miami sprint race but over five-tenths of a second slower than polesitter Kimi Antonelli.
Hamilton was also slower than team-mate Charles Leclerc, who, like the Briton, complained of the car’s lack of pace.
Ferrari again found themselves as the fourth quickest team, with Hamilton having felt better in the car during practice than sprint qualifying.
“I thought it was a better session,” said Hamilton. “P1 (free practice) was probably a bit better, the car was a bit nicer to drive in P1. But, yeah, we’re just lacking speed. I just keep working on from there.”
Overtaking is challenging at the Miami International Autodrome; however, it has been proven to be possible.
Whilst this is the case, the 40-year-old is not optimistic about making places during the sprint race.
“Not really, I think all the cars ahead are faster,” he admitted. “So, yeah, I don’t really know what else to say.”
Following the sprint race on Saturday, Ferrari does have the opportunity to make adjustments to Hamilton’s car, before parc fermé re-closes before qualifying.
The Maranello-based outfit does have things to try; however, Hamilton is aware there is no guarantee it will improve the performance.
“There’s always ideas, whether they’re going to be right or not,” added Hamilton. “But there’s definitely learnings to take from today, set up changes we made and how the car behaved.
“There’s definitely work to do to pick up speed going into the rest of the weekend.”
Lewis Hamilton shares heartwarming update over future F1 career path
Lewis Hamilton has revealed an exciting update on a Formula 1 project, as the champion focuses on other interests during the break between races.
Besides being a seven-time F1 champion, Hamilton has never been afraid to speak up when it comes to issues outside of the sport, and established his charitable foundation Mission 44 in 2021 to tackle the lack of representation in motorsport.
The charity is aimed at helping young people from underrepresented backgrounds to excel in STEM subjects in school and one day pursue a career in motorsport, with the foundation launching the Motorsport Scholarship programme which has inspired one student to try and reach F1.
In a LinkedIn post, Motorsport Engineering Student Amjad Saeed revealed just how influential the scholarship has been and said: “After two years as part of the Mission 44 and Royal Academy of Engineering Motorsport Scholarship, I have seen that it is absolutely possible for someone like me to join the motorsport community at a high level.”
Mission 44 inspires next generation of F1 talent
Hamilton also shared a video where Saeed explained the impact of the scholarship, which allowed him to visit the Mercedes F1 garage where he spoke to team personnel and the champion himself.
“The scholarship has made me more focused and more driven to get into motorsport specifically because of the confidence it’s given me and the skillset it’s given me both academic and personal,” he continued.
“If I did not have the scholarship I would not be where I am at all. The financial support from the scholarship allowed me to actually attend and give it the time it requires.
“Being put into that sector, being put around senior members of Formula 1 and seeing the work that’s been done, being able to speak to someone of that expertise and ask the real nitty gritty questions about specific things is really useful.”
Above the video, Hamilton provided his own thoughts on the scholarship’s impact and wrote: “It’s amazing to hear Amjad reflect on his time as part of the Mission 44 Motorsport Scholarship and how much it’s helped him grow over the past two years.
“We launched the Motorsport Scholarship programme, alongside the Royal Academy of Engineering, to provide talented students like Amjad with the access and opportunity to pursue future careers in F1 – so it’s great to see the impact the programme is already having.”
Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton pictured in the press conference during pre-season testing in Bahrain
Lewis Hamilton has been warned 2026 will be his final chance to win an eighth Drivers’ Championship after a frustrating start to life at Ferrari.
The 40-year-old Briton moved to Maranello with the aim of securing his record-breaking eighth title but after a slow start, he has now been told that 2026 is now or never.
Lewis Hamilton given now or never F1 2026 title warning
Should he fail to win it this season, Hamilton will have gone five years without a Drivers’ title, the joint-longest drought of his career, and Johnny Herbert has warned if he does not do it in 2026 then he never will.
“I think 2026 is Lewis Hamilton‘s final chance at getting the eighth championship,” Herbert told AceOdds. “He’s 40 years old now, is he in his prime? No. Has that prime past? Yes. Is he still really good? Yes.
“But, Charles Leclerc is better than Hamilton at the moment, so even if the Ferrari improves, he needs to beat his teammate.”
Herbert said that Hamilton needed the change of scenery that came with the move to Ferrari, suggesting that it looked like he was losing motivation at Mercedes.
“Last season, the Mercedes was so inconsistent, sometimes it could win races, then struggle to get anywhere near the podium. Lewis Hamilton, I felt, was also losing motivation at the team and was frustrated.
“The one who always found motivation was Ayrton Senna. He would come back later than most for testing and then found himself winning championships. Hamilton needed that refresh at Ferrari.
“After a difficult race in Australia, Hamilton’s season at Ferrari looked really impressive and promising in China with the Sprint win, but since then, it’s not really clicked. Charles Leclerc is having a better, consistent season with some strong performances, but at the moment, the Ferrari is just about getting podiums. It’s not in a bad shape.
“They’re the fourth or third-best team, they need to make a jump to the next level to compete with the McLaren and Red Bull. Lewis will need to be at his best to beat Charles this season, the pressure is on.
“There is an element of settling in for Hamilton, but I thought he would have gotten past that by now and shown he’s quicker than Charles Leclerc. It just hasn’t happened yet. Leclerc came into Ferrari and took the team away from Sebastian Vettel, Hamilton hasn’t quite done that yet, and Leclerc is still controlling the situation with his consistency and speed. Hamilton is consistently eighth or ninth at the moment.
“I think if Hamilton stayed at Mercedes, George Russell would be making it hard for Lewis as Leclerc is right now. The move to Ferrari was the correct decision for a new start, but will we see the Lewis of old? That’s in his hands.”
Lewis Hamilton To Leave Ferrari: Former F1 Drivers
A former Formula One driver claims to know Lewis Hamilton already plans to quit the Scuderia Ferrari team. That shocking allegation, so people understandably are talking about it and will probably continue debating whether it’s true or not as the season progresses, especially if Hamilton’s performance doesn’t improve.
While on the After Lap podcast, Jaime Alguersuari who raced for Red Bull’s Toro Rosso from 2009 to 2011, made the bold prediction, following it up by saying, “I don’t know why I’m taking a risk by saying this.”
However, Alguersuari didn’t say he had some special insider info that Hamilton’s quitting Ferrari at the end of the season is a done deal. Instead, he just said he has “the feeling” it’s going to happen, reports News.com.au.
Hamilton must have caught wind of the declaration. At a recent event held in London, the driver made it clear he’s not about to leave Scuderia Ferrari in the dust. “Please keep your fingers crossed,” he reportedly said. “I’m not going to give up. We’re going to keep getting better. Still we rise, right?”
While Alguersuari’s statements might just be chalked up to idle speculation, the former F1 driver went on to insinuate Scuderia Ferrari is actually holding Hamilton back. “… it is not a winning team,” he said, going on to say Hamilton would have a hard time bagging his eighth world title driving for Maranello.
A second former F1 driver, Ralf Schumacher, who competed from 1997 to 2007, also seems to think Hamilton will call it quits with Scuderia Ferrari. He pointed out problems with the SF-25, saying Lewis “just can’t cope with the car.” That alone, he claims, is reason for the seven-time world champion to walk and find a new team.
Schumacher thinks things will go down gradually at first. Then at some point, he wakes up in the morning and thinks to himself: ‘Why am I doing this to myself? I’m no longer having fun, I can’t do it anymore. I’m getting in the way of my team,’” he said.
“If it goes on like this, there’s a risk that at some point he’ll say: ‘Look, I don’t want this anymore. I want to live my life now, I’m 40 years old. I’m so rich, I’m not doing this to myself anymore. Obviously, it’s not working out for some reason.’”
Interestingly, both former F1 drivers claim to know what Lewis Hamilton is thinking and feeling instead of saying they heard a rumor. Since they’re part of an elite club, perhaps they do know what’s going through the man’s head right now? We might find out at the end of this season if something doesn’t change in a big way.
Just five races into his much-hyped Ferrari chapter, Lewis Hamilton’s future in Formula 1 is already under intense scrutiny.
Former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher has publicly questioned whether the seven-time world champion will see out his time at the Scuderia if his dismal results continue, while Sky Sports’ Martin Brundle has offered his own skeptical take on Hamilton’s struggles.
Ahead of next week’s Miami Grand Prix, the pressure is mounting on the 40-year-old to turn his season around.
Sport Confidential | Episode 565 | SF 01The Inside Line | Episode 597 | SF 02The Inside Line | Episode 596 | SF 02
Hamilton’s 2025 season has been far from the fairy tale many expected. After switching from Mercedes to Ferrari in a bombshell move announced in early 2024, the Briton currently sits a lowly seventh in the drivers’ standings and has consistently been outperformed by teammate Charles Leclerc.
In Saudi Arabia, Hamilton finished a distant seventh – over 30 seconds adrift of Leclerc, who claimed Ferrari’s first podium of the year.
A Grim Picture of Hamilton’s Future
Schumacher says Hamilton’s results—and body language—paint a worrying picture of the future.
“He just can’t handle the car,” the Sky Germany pundit said. “We talk a lot about Lando Norris, but it’s almost worse with him.
“You can see it, he’s really slumped. When you’re standing there at some point and have no more resources and are constantly slowing down, then you lose everything.
“I know from my own experience: If things continue like this, it’s no longer fun. Then he wakes up one morning and thinks: ‘Why am I doing this to myself?
“I’m not having fun anymore, I can’t manage it anymore. I’m getting in the way of my team.’”
Schumacher believes the project that once promised so much could unravel if Hamilton’s motivation slips further.
“If this continues, there’s a danger that at some point he’ll say: ‘Look, I don’t want this anymore. I want to live my life now, I’m 40 years old. I’m so rich, I’m not going to do this to myself anymore’.
“Obviously, for some reason, it’s not working out. It’s a huge project, what Ferrari and Hamilton had planned. But at the moment, he’s a long way from Charles Leclerc. I wouldn’t have thought it would be this extreme.
“However, China also showed that as soon as he gets into the car and the track and the car suit him, he delivers.”
Still, in the main Grand Prix in Shanghai, Hamilton once again trailed Leclerc before both were disqualified for unrelated infringements—further symbolic of a season full of missed opportunities.
Sky F1’s Martin Brundle Martin echoed many of Schumacher’s concerns – though with a slightly different take as the Briton is skeptical that Hamilton’s woes stem solely from a lack of car familiarity.
“Fred [Vasseur] summed it up, he said it’s been up and down, because there was a time when we talked about in commentary where he was in the mid 1m32s which was bang on the pace,” Brundle said during Sky Sports’ post-race coverage in Jeddah.
But Hamilton’s 31-second deficit to Leclerc, even accounting for traffic, raised red flags.
“I struggle to buy into he doesn’t understand the car,” Brundle stated. “It’s a new car, but here we are knocking on the door of May, and they’ve had all the pre-season stuff and all that.”
Brundle suspects the issue lies elsewhere, particularly in setup choices.
“I just think Lewis hasn’t gelled with this car and I don’t think he’s going the right way on the setup,” he said.
Drawing on insights from Hamilton’s Mercedes days, Brundle added: “I know from the things I’ve heard from Mercedes about how Lewis likes the car in a certain way.
“Obviously he can’t get the car there, where he needs it, so it’s difficult days. But what’s a bit odd is, all of a sudden, he was right there.”
Hamilton’s brief moments of competitiveness, like in China, suggest the talent is intact, but the consistency is missing.
As Miami looms, Hamilton faces a critical juncture. Schumacher’s stark warning and Brundle’s analysis underscore a troubling reality: the Ferrari project is faltering, and Hamilton’s inability to match Leclerc is raising questions about his place in the team – and the sport.
With fans and celebrities set to flock to Miami, all eyes will be on whether Hamilton can rediscover his spark or if doubts about his future will grow louder.
Keep up to date with all the F1 news via X and Facebook
Esteban Ocon has hailed Haas’ relentless drive and decisive action in transforming what looked like a bleak start into a highly promising 2025 campaign.
The French driver, who is in his first season with the American squad, has been thoroughly impressed by the speed, efficiency, and determination shown by Haas following a rocky opening round in Australia.
The team now sits fifth in the Constructors’ Championship with 20 points, thanks to consistent performances over the last few rounds – including double points finishes in Bahrain and China.
According to Ocon, it’s no fluke. The turnaround, he says, is the result of an extraordinary work ethic and rapid response to adversity.
“Twice the Work” and a Mindset to Match
Having raced for Manor, Force India, and Renault/Alpine before joining Haas, Ocon has experienced a variety of team cultures and development strategies. But none, he says, compare to what he’s seeing now in terms of sheer responsiveness.
“I’m not going to compare with teams but from where I’m sitting, I don’t feel this team is small,” Ocon told reporters.
“This team is reacting quicker than I’ve ever felt before in terms of producing parts, in terms of producing solutions, coming up with data points.”
Despite being a smaller operation in terms of headcount, Haas has, in Ocon’s words, more than made up for it with output.
“It’s great to see. Yes, we are a lot less [in terms of employees], but there is two times the work [being carried out] that has been done in the past.”
Such praise underscores the culture shift at Haas undertaken last season under new leadership and technical restructuring.
What looked like another challenging campaign in the making has turned into one of the most compelling underdog stories of the year so far.
Ocon didn’t mince words when reflecting on the tough start in Melbourne. Haas appeared off the pace, and critics were quick to write them off. But instead of spiraling, the team surged.
“I’ve never seen a team coming with a solution in two weeks in terms of just bringing a new update in reaction to what’s going on from the beginning of the week of the year,” said Ocon.
That quick turnaround not only changed the team’s outlook but re-energized the entire operation.
“It’s extremely satisfying to work with such a team that takes action quickly to fix things,” he continued.
“We can be proud, it was a big relief in China to see that we were able to fight. It was a massive shock for all of us to see that we were two and a half or three seconds lower than everyone else.
“A lot of people were saying, ‘that’s it for their year. They are going to be in the back the whole year. They haven’t done a great job over the winter’.”
But the atmosphere within Haas told a different story – one of quiet confidence and belief in their potential.
“Nobody believed that here. We knew there was potential in the car. We just needed to unlock it.”
As the season rolls on, Haas’ transformation has become one of the standout narratives on the grid.
And with Esteban Ocon leading the charge and a team willing to move mountains in record time, their fight to stay in the midfield – or push beyond it – is only just beginning.
Keep up to date with all the F1 news via X and Facebook
The Formula 1 Commission convened on Thursday to address concerns over the 2026 engine regulations, agreeing to explore mechanisms that would help underperforming manufacturers close the performance gap next season.
With fears of a competitive imbalance emerging, reminiscent of Mercedes’ 2014 dominance, the FIA, F1, and teams are determined to prevent a lopsided grid when the new power units debut.
The 2026 rules, introducing a budget cap on engine programs, risk locking trailing manufacturers into prolonged struggles, as seen with Honda’s challenging 2015 entry. To counter this, the F1 Commission reached a preliminary consensus to allow lagging manufacturers additional dyno hours and extra budget cap headroom.
Critically, only power unit performance – not overall team results – will determine eligibility for these concessions.
“The F1 Commission discussed in principle refinements to the energy management strategy for 2026, as well as measures to address financial issues that can be faced by power unit manufacturers that experience either low performance or significant reliability issues in 2026,” the FIA stated.
These proposed catch-up provisions are expected to undergo further review by the Power Unit Advisory Committee before being finalized.
Battery Power Limits and Energy Strategy Stir Debate
The meeting also reignited fierce debate over the role of electric power in the upcoming 2026 engine format. One controversial proposal involved reducing the electric component during races to prevent scenarios where cars slow dramatically on straights due to depleted battery charge.
The suggestion proved divisive. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff dismissed the idea as a “joke,” while Red Bull boss Christian Horner—whose team is developing its own power unit in partnership with Ford—championed the proposal.
A potential compromise discussed involves limiting electric deployment only on circuits with long straights, such as Monza, rather than implementing a blanket change.
With teams still far apart on the issue, the Commission deferred any final decision, allowing for further technical analysis and debate in the months ahead.
The Thursday meeting also touched on several smaller but notable items.
In response to the grass fires that interrupted the Japanese Grand Prix weekend, the Commission agreed to investigate using alternative skid materials like stainless steel and applying circuit-specific grass treatments.
These changes could have weight and durability implications, which are still under evaluation.
Additionally, the Commission approved amendments for mandatory two-stop strategies at the Monaco Grand Prix and adjus
ted capital expenditure allowances for new entrants like Cadillac, set to join in 2026.
Lewis Hamilton looks tense as he faces the media while wearing a red Ferrari cap
Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari career has failed to live up to the hype so far
Untelevised team radio footage from the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix has revealed the moment Oscar Piastri was warned about Lando Norris’s struggles to overtake Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton.
It comes after Andrea Stella, the McLaren team principal, told media including PlanetF1.com of his pride that the race engineers of Piastri and Norris worked together to see off Hamilton during the race in Jeddah.
Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri race engineers worked together to see off Lewis Hamilton
Additional reporting by Thomas Maher
McLaren’s impressive start to the season continued in Saudi Arabia last weekend as Piastri claimed his third victory in the last four races to take the lead of the World Championship for the first time in his career.
Piastri currently holds a 10-point lead over team-mate Norris, who recovered to fourth on race day after an accident in the final stage of qualifying.
Norris’s recovery was briefly held up by Hamilton, who after being overtaken at the final corner, used DRS to repass the McLaren on consecutive laps in the early stages of the race.
Speaking to media including PlanetF1.com after the race, Stella estimated that the time Norris lost in his battle with Hamilton ultimately cost him the chance of passing the lead Ferrari of Charles Leclerc for third place in the closing laps.
Stella went on to reveal that Norris’s race engineer Will Joseph took it upon himself to warn Tom Stallard, Piastri’s engineer, of the challenges of passing Hamilton.
And an untelevised team radio snippet from the race has uncovered the moment Stallard passed the message on to Piastri after rejoining behind Hamilton following his only pit stop on Lap 19.
As he closes in on the yet-to-stop Ferrari, Piastri is told: “Against Lando, Hamilton was letting him through into [Turn] 27 and passing back into 1.
“Best to overtake into 1.”
Piastri soon took matters into his own hands, using DRS moments later to make a bold pass on Hamilton into Turn 22, arguably the fastest and most challenging part of the Jeddah circuit, rather than waiting until the start of the following lap to make a move.
Asked how important it was for Piastri to get past Hamilton quickly after his stop, Stella revealed the teamwork at play between Joseph and Stallard on the McLaren pit wall.
He told media including PlanetF1.com: “You’ve given me the opportunity here to actually tell you a story.
“The story is that Lando’s race engineer proactively told Oscar’s race engineer: ‘We struggled to pass Lewis because we attempted twice in Corner 27 and he passed us back in Corner 1, so make sure that Oscar knows that and he gives it a go directly in Corner 1.’
“I was very proud while on the pit wall to hear that. I didn’t need to prompt anything.
“I was just a spectator to an example of the great team spirit and team work that we have at McLaren.
“So well done to Will Joseph, well done to Tom Stallard, well done to the team of people.”
He added: “I think for a podium finish today [Norris] would have needed not to lose the time with Hamilton.
“Obviously, Hamilton is Lewis Hamilton. He knows very well how to race and for a couple of laps he managed to pass Lando.
“And I think this cost us the time that ultimately means that we could not give it a go at trying to overtake Leclerc.”
Hamilton went on finish a distant seventh, four places and a massive 30.969 seconds behind Leclerc in the same car.
The seven-time World Champion revealed after the race that he has been forced to “cancel some plans” this week in order to get to the bottom of his current issues ahead of the next race in Miami on May 4.
Hamilton’s revelation came after he let slip that the Ferrari team and his bosses “are not happy” with his performances so far this season following his blockbuster move from Mercedes last winter.
Speaking after the race, however, Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur insisted that Hamilton retains his unwavering support.
And he described the suggestion that Hamilton’s performances have waned alarmingly over recent times as “****ing bull***t.”
He told media including PlanetF1.com on Sunday in Jeddah: “I will be 2,000 per cent behind him.
“I will give him support and we will start from tomorrow morning to try to find solutions and reasons and to work on it early in the morning.
“If you have a look on what he did in China or what he did in the race in Bahrain last week, or even on the first part of the session in this weekend, the potential is there for sure.
“We just have to adjust the balance because we are, collectively, Lewis and us, we are struggling with the balance of his car and [how] he is working the tyres.
“It’s a kind of negative spot but I think the potential of the car is there and we will try to solve that.”
Put to him that Hamilton’s form has dropped off dramatically, he responded: “It’s not dramatically.
“We did five races so far. I know that you want to have the big headlines tomorrow that ‘Fred said this.’
“But this is f***ing bull***t. At the end of the day, we are in competition. You have ups and downs.
“When we have ups, we are not World Champions. When we have downs, we are not nowhere. It’s just a competition.
“I’m not sure that you draw the same conclusion with Max [Verstappen] last week when he was seventh [in Bahrain].
“It is like it is. The competition is tight.
“You have 10 cars and a couple of tenths. Have a look at Max. He won in Japan. He finished 30 seconds behind Piastri in Bahrain and in Saudi Arabia he was P2 and had pole position.
“We just have to stay calm. You can do whatever you want. I don’t want to worry for you. At least for us as a team, we have to work step by step.
“I think it paid off last year to do hundredths of seconds and hundredths of seconds and we need to keep the same approach.
“I will never be the guy who says we are World Champions or we are nowhere.”
Ferrari and Red Bull have made honest public assessments of Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, respectively, as the fallout from the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix continues. Both drivers endured frustrating weekends, with Verstappen losing pole position to finish second behind Oscar Piastri and Hamilton slipping to seventh, 39 seconds off the race winner.
Ahead of the Miami Grand Prix next weekend, both teams have come out in support of their headline stars as McLaren lead the way in their Constructors’ Championship defence. Meanwhile, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella credited Hamilton’s defensive driving as one of the reasons Lando Norris missed out on a podium spot in Saudi Arabia. The Brit’s Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc rounded off the top three after Hamilton held up Norris’ climb from P10 to P4.
We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Russell is out of contract at Mercedes at the end of the season, and is yet to agree an new deal.
Verstappen criticised over penalty
Former F1 driver Jolyon Palmer has taken aim at Max Verstappen for his five-second penalty in Sunday’s Grand Prix.
“This is another incident of Verstappen refusing to be past and just going off the corner and staying ahead, if he possibly can,” he said.
“We’ve seen it so many times in the past. We’ve seen it here in Jeddah before, as well, back in 2021. Max always forces the stewards to make a decision rather than concede the place, and Oscar just got a great launch there, and that kind of seemed decisive.”
Sainz relieved after “nervous” DRS ploy
Carlos Sainz admitted he was “nervous” over the DRS ploy that brought Williams a double-points finish at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Sainz was eighth in Jeddah, and explained afterwards: “With 12 laps to go, the team asked me to give DRS to Alex (Albon) to make sure Hadjar didn’t have a chance at passing us.
“It was a tricky one because you always feel it exposes you, especially in a high-speed track where the DRS has a very big effect. You always get nervous about it because you cannot put a foot wrong. But in the end, it worked.”
Marko makes huge Red Bull statement
Helmut Marko has backed Red Bull to be superior in pace to McLaren by the San Marino Grand Prix on May 18.
Sspeaking on Saudi Arabia, he said: “Compared to Bahrain, we made big progress. But also this circuit suits us better, faster corners.
“We are moving forward and getting a car which is more predictable and is also working in a wider range. We will have small steps, and I think by Imola we should be in a position that we also have the speed to beat the McLarens.”
George Russell was fifth and Kimi Antonelli sixth, and Wolff said: “Clearly our worst performance so far this year. The pace dropped away with a blistering tyre and overheating tyres, and so far we haven’t got the explanations.
“Today we saw a gap to Ferrari and Max Verstappen also. That was an additional negative that when you manage your expectations by being second quickest, and then this race pans out like it did, it just adds to the frustration.”
Alpine in chaos ahead of Miami
Jack Doohan is reportedly fighting for his place at Alpine. The Aussie was 18th in Jeddah, with Pierre Gasly also crashing out early on.
Doohan is under pressure from reserve driver Franco Colapinto, and is speculated to only have a six-race deal. Saudi Arabia was the sixth Grand Prix of the season.
Alpine are now said to be weighing up whether Colapinto will replace Doohan, who has yet to score a point this season, in Miami.
Fears raised over “seriously unhappy” Alonso
Sky F1 pundit Martin Brundle thinks Fernando Alonso is growing frustrated at Aston Martin losing “serious pace” this season.
“Fernando Alonso was seriously unhappy post-race (in Saudi), saying it’s the worst he’d experienced in 25 years,” he wrote in his Sky column.
“He finished 11th after Liam Lawson was penalised 10 seconds for passing off track, but remember that just two years ago in his Aston Martin he was the only driver who could keep Red Bull in sight. They’ve lost serious relative pace meanwhile.”
Red Bull rule out Verstappen appeal
Red Bull have confirmed they won’t be appealing Max Verstappen‘s five second time penalty at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
After the race on Sunday, team principal Christian Horner said: “We spoke to the stewards after the race. They think it was a slam dunk. The problem is, if we’re to protest it, then they’re going to most likely hold their line. We’ll ask them to have a look at the onboard footage that wasn’t available at the time.”
Teams have 96 hours to submit a protest after a race. That time period has now expired.
Fernando Alonso fears for Aston Martin
Fernando Alonso fears a long season ahead of Aston Martin as the team continues to struggle to score points.
The Spaniard hasn’t scored a single point yet across the first five races of the year, with Lance Stroll not doing much better.
“I gave everything on track. It was hard to keep up the pace with the cars in front. We were just not quick enough,” Alonso said after the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
“P11 is the worst position, probably you can finish, and we need to get used to it. It’s going to be difficult to score points this year.
“Today, we are P11 also because Yuki [Tsunoda] and Gasly had contact on lap one, and Liam [Lawson] had a 10-second penalty.
“If not, we were P14. But there’s still a long way to go.”
Max Verstappen hails Oscar Piastri
Max Verstappen has taken time to highlight just how impress Oscar Piastri’s start to life in F1 has been.
The four-time reigning world champion has reminded everyone that Piastri is in his third season and is showing the signs of greatness.
“People forget a little bit – last year was his second year. Now he’s in his third year, and he’s very solid,” Verstappen said.
“He’s very calm in his approach, and I like that. It shows on track. He delivers when he has to, barely makes mistakes – and that’s what you need when you want to fight for a championship.”
2025 Drivers’ Championship
In case you need a refresher, here is how the 2025 Drivers’ Championship is shaping up after five races…
Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko is confident the team will have the pace to beat the McLarens by the time the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix rolls around in mid-March.
Max Verstappen couldn’t make the podium in Bahrain, but the RB21 showed huge signs of improvement in Saudi Arabia.
That was because Red Bull changed the beam wing for the lower-downforce circuit and reprofiled the engine cover to allow for additional cooling in the Jeddah heat.
Marko said: “Compared to Bahrain, we made a big progress. But also this circuit suits us better – faster corners and so on.
“We are moving forward and getting a car which is more predictable and is also working in a wider range.”
“We will have small steps, and I think by Imola, we should be in a position where we also have the speed to beat the McLarens.”
Lewis Hamilton ‘hard to watch’
Martin Brundle is finding it difficult to watch Lewis Hamilton after races this season amid his early struggles at Ferrari.
Hamilton is seventh in the Drivers’ Championship after five races, 68 points behind leader Oscar Piastri.
And Brundle isn’t enjoying seeing the seven-time world champion endure so much trouble since his blockbuster move from Mercedes.
“Hamilton would finish half a minute behind his team-mate Leclerc in seventh, albeit showing strong pace from time to time,” Brundle wrote in his Sky Sports column.
“The pace is in there somewhere, but it’s a very hard watch when Lewis is doing post-race interviews at the moment. He’s not happy with his performances and is clearly more than a little perplexed and disappointed.”
Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly were taken out of the race at the start, hitting the barrier on turn four.
The Japanese driver has earned Red Bull just two points since replacing Liam Lawson, but Horner has shown him sympathy.
He said: “It was a shame for Yuki. His Q2 time, if he had repeated that in Q3, it would have put him sixth on the grid.
“It was a racing incident with Pierre; he was up against the wall, and they went into the stewards’ meeting, and both drivers accepted it was a racing incident.
“So it was annoying for him, because he would have been right in the battle for decent points.”
Max Verstappen surprised by RB21
Max Verstappen has admitted the RB21 caught him by surprise at the weekend after turning a concerning practice into matching McLaren for race pace in qualifying and the Saudi Arabia GP.
“Yeah, I was very positively surprised, to be honest, because on Friday, it was very, very tough,” said Verstappen.
“And it didn’t matter what I was doing in terms of driving, management, the tyres would just fall off. The car was a lot nicer [in the race]. Still limitations, but it was much more promising.
“And actually, at one point when I started to pull away again, I was quite surprised, positively surprised.
“We have to stay a little bit calm because this track doesn’t have a lot of deg, and we know that when we go to tracks where there’s higher deg, we just struggle more.
“We still need to work on that. But the changes that we made already [on Saturday] also worked. So I’m very pleased with that.”
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has credited Lewis Hamilton‘s defensive driving as one of the reasons Lando Norris missed out on a podium in Saudi Arabia.
Norris finished one second behind third-placed Charles Leclerc in P4 after battling from P10 but losing time while trying to overtake Hamilton.
And Stella has given Leclerc’s Ferrari team-mate his flowers for his racing strategy.
“I think for a podium finish today, we would have needed not to lose the time with Hamilton,” Stella explained.
“Obviously, Hamilton is Lewis Hamilton. He knows very well how to race, and for a couple of laps, he managed to pass Lando.
“I think this cost us the time that ultimately meant that we could not give it a go at trying to overtake Leclerc.”
The four-time world champion is being linked with an exit, with Mercedes, Ferrari, Aston Martin, and Alpine touted as suitors.
However, Mintzlaff has gone as far as to say that he believes Verstappen plans to retire at Red Bull.
“I am convinced that Max will continue with us the long journey he has made so far with Red Bull,” he told De Telegraaf at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
“Max will also drive for us in 2026. It is not without reason that he previously signed a contract until 2028, and he has also recently made his position clear.
“Max once told me that he started his career at Red Bull and that he would like to finish it there. As far as I know, nothing has changed in that regard.”
Ferrari launch Lewis Hamilton defence
Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has launched a passionate defence of Lewis Hamilton amid the Brit’s tough start to life with the team.
Hamilton has admitted that no one is happy with his early results, predicting a rough 2025 season.
However, Vasseur believes in the potential of Ferrari‘s car, calling a claim that Hamilton’s form had dropped off “f***ing bulls***”.
The Scuderia boss said: “I will be 2,000 per cent behind him.
“I will give him support, and we will start from tomorrow morning to try to find solutions and reasons, and to work on it early in the morning. But honestly, I am not too worried.
“If you have a look at what he did in China or what he did in the race in Bahrain last week, or even on the first part of the session this weekend, the potential is there for sure.
“We just have to adjust the balance because we are, collectively, Lewis and us, we are struggling with the balance of his car and how he is working the tyres.
“It’s a kind of negative spot, but I think the potential of the car is there, and we will try to solve that.”
Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton has revealed that he will be forced to “cancel some plans” this week in order to get to the bottom of his F1 2025 woes after a tough Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Hamilton has had a troubled start to life at Ferrari since his blockbuster move from Mercedes over the winter, finishing no higher than fifth across the first five races of the new season.
Lewis Hamilton forced to ‘cancel plans’ after Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
The seven-time World Champion’s struggles continued at last weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, where Hamilton qualified six tenths slower than Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc.
Leclerc went on to collect Ferrari’s first podium of F1 2025 by finishing third on race day, with Hamilton a massive 30.969 seconds behind in seventh place.
Hamilton has revealed that his poor performance has left him with no option but to “cancel some plans” he had for the coming week as he pursues a breakthrough ahead of the next race in Miami on May 4.
He told DAZN Spain after the race: “It was disastrous today in terms of pace. I had no pace at all, as you could see.
“I had issues with the car. I was expecting a better day.
“I don’t have a week off [after this race], I’ve got a work week. After today, I’ll have to cancel some plans.”
Leclerc told media including PlanetF1.com after the race that qualifying is a key weakness for Ferrari to solve, with the dirty air of the 2025 cars making it hard for the drivers to make a difference on race day if they have a poor starting position.
The 27-year-old revealed that he too will be at Ferrari’s Maranello factory early this week to help Ferrari’s recovery from an underwhelming start to the season.
He told DAZN: “The car is good in the race. I think we managed the tyres well.
“We’re lacking performance overall because we’re struggling a lot in qualifying. That’s where we need to focus more now.
“I now go back to Maranello and I’ll be there Tuesday and Wednesday to work on improving the car.
“Hopefully we can turn things around because if we start up front, we can win races, but we’re struggling to qualify better.”
As reported by PlanetF1.com’s tech editor Matt Somerfield, Ferrari brought their first upgrade of the season to the recent Bahrain Grand Prix, where a revised floor was introduced to the SF-25.
