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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2025 Practice 1 And Practice 2
Lewis Hamilton is still adapting to life at Ferrari
Toto Wolff believes that Mercedes are ‘really having fun’ with the arrivals of Kimi Antonelli and the returning Valtteri Bottas this season. A new dynamic is forming within the Silver Arrows’ camp after Lewis Hamilton’s exit. Hamilton was the central figure in the Mercedes team for over a decade before his surprise move to Ferrari was announced in February 2024.
Now, George Russell is the lead driver with 18-year-old rookie team-mate Antonelli injecting new life into the Brackley-based squad.
Wolff’s organisation have also benefited from the expertise of Bottas, who won 10 Grands Prix driving for the Silver Arrows before he was dropped to make room for Russell at the end of the 2021 campaign. The Finnish racer is a much more laid-back figure in 2025 after his personality was unleashed throughout his Sauber career.
Speaking to Sky Sports F1 about the impact that Bottas and Antonelli have had on the Brackley-based squad, Wolff said: “Yeah, we are really having fun, to be honest. And that isn’t the case because Lewis is gone – we had lovely moments and a lot of fun with Lewis, too.
“But with the new energy with an 18-year-old in the car, there is almost like an easiness that we have, and then George brings in the lap times. And Valtteri is a contributor, clearly. Especially on those smooth tarmacs, he was a superstar back at Mercedes.
“And he’s coaching him – Kimi’s listening, you know, sometimes Formula One drivers don’t think that they can learn from others. Kimi is open-minded – they talk about how to handle the tyres, how to bring them in.
Ahead of Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix
Toto Wolff and Mercedes are enjoying a fresh energy
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“And Valtteri seems to be enjoying himself whilst, of course, seeking another race seat opportunity. But we love him. He’s doing the same work, he’s putting in the hours, and he’s developing next year’s car, so it’s strong.”
The relaxed atmosphere is producing on-track results, too. Russell has started the 2025 campaign in immense form, scoring podiums in three of the first four races, only finishing behind McLaren drivers on those occasions.
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Unfortunately for Hamilton, the mood is not quite as positive at Ferrari. The Scuderia were the talk of the F1 community over the winter, but the seven-time world champion is having trouble adapting to his new machinery, and is yet to score a top-four finish. Team-mate Charles Leclerc is also having difficulties.
After a challenging start to the weekend in Jeddah, he said: “Normally, on Saturday, it goes backwards, but there’s not a lot of backwards for me to go from where I am. Hopefully, overnight, we will make some improvements to the car.
There were a few bits through the session that felt good, and just once we get to the soft tyre, it’s not there.”
F1 News Today: Hamilton pain continues at Jeddah as red flag hits qualifying
Lewis Hamilton’s nightmare weekend continued at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, after he was left nearly a second off the pace following Saturday’s Formula 1 qualifying session, which was hit by a late crash and red flag.
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FIA announce Red Bull F1 star penalty verdict at Saudi Grand Prix
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Lewis Hamilton’s struggles from FP1 and FP2 continued into the final practice session after another testing time on Saturday afternoon ahead of the evening’s crucial qualifying session.
Lando Norris admits frustration over ‘forced’ McLaren change
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‘Fury’ over Toto Wolff behaviour raises doubts over Max Verstappen-Mercedes move
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Lewis Hamilton involved in embarrassing Saudi Grand Prix blunder
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Lewis Hamilton given ‘last chance’ at Ferrari says former boss
Former Ferrari president Luca Di Montezemolo has stated that Lewis Hamilton’s move to the Formula 1 team is his ‘last chance’ to win a world title, as he delivered his verdict on the seven-time world champion.
Di Montezemolo returned to the F1 paddock at the Bahrain Grand Prix, where he bemoaned Ferrari’s lacklustre start to the season and claimed they lacked ‘leadership’ and a ‘soul’.
The 77-year-old also expressed his support for Mercedes and Italian driver Kimi Antonelli, hinting that he would like to have seen the youngster at Ferrari, after he suggested he should have gone to Sauber first – the team often acting as a warm-up seat for future Ferrari drivers.
Ferrari’s former chief also spoke on the man Antonelli replaced, Lewis Hamilton, and said to Sky Sports Italia: “Hamilton is a great driver and part of Formula 1 history, he knows this is his last chance. He came to Ferrari to win and to end his career there.”
Can Hamilton win a title at Ferrari?
The first four rounds of Hamilton’s Ferrari career have offered a mixed bag of results, ranging from a sprint race victory to a disqualification at the same weekend in Shanghai.
Hamilton remained hopeful that a series of upgrades in Bahrain would improve Ferrari’s performance, but a P9 spot in qualifying prompted him to deliver a curt interview reminiscent of his Mercedes days.
Whilst Hamilton went on to finish the race in fifth, he stated afterwards that he ‘needed to do a better job’ for Ferrari but nevertheless offered a glimmer of hope regarding their new upgrades which he described as ‘positive’.
The chance of an eighth world title with Ferrari feels out of reach already in 2025, as McLaren once again proved to be the dominant car in Bahrain after Oscar Piastri’s stunning victory.
Hamilton is now 52 points behind championship leader Lando Norris in the drivers’ standings, but is also crucially off the pace compared to his team-mate Charles Leclerc in qualifying and races.
The Formula 1 world never pauses, and for Scuderia Ferrari, drama is a constant shadow.
After a disappointing Bahrain Grand Prix that yielded fourth and fifth-place finishes, the Maranello squad faces intense scrutiny heading into the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Whispers of early challenges in Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari journey only amplify the pressure.
“Obviously, it’s disappointing when you give everything and finish fourth — it doesn’t make me smile,” Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc said. “But for now, this is the situation we’re in. We did our best this weekend, but our best isn’t enough.”
Ferrari is struggling so far in 2025
ferrari formula 1 F1 australia grand prix
Leclerc’s words capture Ferrari’s 2025 struggles. There have been no podiums yet, except for Hamilton’s Sprint race win at the Chinese Grand Prix. Bahrain’s result, though point-scoring, was a missed chance for Leclerc, who briefly contended for third before strategy faltered.
Ferrari chose a different strategy for Bahrain by starting on the medium compound tires. This was meant to give Leclerc and Hamilton flexibility and a potentially stronger final stint on softs, but it cost Leclerc two places at the start, behind George Russell and Lando Norris. The race changed dramatically with the safety car’s presence, despite a strong second stint where Leclerc was significantly faster than second-place finisher Russell at times.
This entrance of the safety card forced Ferrari into what they believed was the “safest option” – the hard compound tire – as they deemed a long final stint on softs too “ambitious.” Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur said after the race, “The safety car emerged at the worst possible moment.”
Despite the setbacks caused by this tire strategy, Ferrari’s run at Bahrain did show promise. The new floor in Sakhir reduced the performance deficit and the data showed a larger operating window than in Suzuka. The smooth, low-downforce Jeddah circuit could suit the SF-25 further, allowing Ferrari to run lower and optimize, increasing their performance window by 30 percent over Bahrain.
Is the Lewis Hamilton marriage already on the rocks?
Lewis Hamilton Ferrari Formula 1
While the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix looks more positive for Ferrari, rumors about Lewis Hamilton’s integration into the Scuderia Ferrari team have already started circulating.
During Bahrain qualifying, Hamilton made a mistake which dropped him to ninth place before he gave the team a thorough apology over the radio. Vasseur confirmed he needed to work harder on integrating Hamilton, who is still smarting from his stay at Mercedes and could perhaps be reluctant to trust his new team. Vasseur understood Hamilton’s frustration because it demonstrated his competitive mindset. The adjustment period has proven challenging because Hamilton described the Ferrari car as “so alien” after Bahrain. Not exactly a ringing endorsement from the world champion.
Adding to the external speculation, even F1 CEO and former Ferrari figure Stefano Domenicali has weighed in, suggesting current Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli as a potential future replacement for Hamilton at Ferrari. While Domenicali’s view is not an internal Ferrari assessment and faces resistance from Mercedes, it highlights the intense scrutiny surrounding Hamilton’s early performances with the Scuderia.
The team will travel to Saudi Arabia with hopes that circuit characteristics and their new floor will produce their first podium of the season. However, the early whispers about Lewis Hamilton serve as a reminder that the pressure at Ferrari is always immense, and the “continuing saga” at the Prancing Horse is far from over. As Vasseur has suggested, the team must stay calm as they work through both on-track performance and off-track speculation.
At the 2025 Bahrain Grand Prix, Ferrari’s star duo-Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton-made waves even before hitting the track. While the rest of the grid leaned towards practical luxury SUVs-the Ferrari drivers chose stunning Maseratis, turning heads with their luxury vehicles.
Renowned photographer Kym Illman shared his keen observations on the car lineup. Among the fleet of vehicles bringing drivers to the track in Bahrain, Maserati stood out with two of the F1’s biggest choosing it as their ride.
Leclerc was seen stepping out of a Maserati Ghibli, a sleek and powerful luxury sports sedan, starting at $110,995. Hamilton, not to be outdone, was in a Maserati Grecale, a more compact yet equally luxurious crossover-with an estimated value of $77,995 after trim and options.
Illman pointed out that the luxury lineup at the Bahrain Grand Prix was impressive, with several other drivers also arriving in distinct vehicles.
Max Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda drove Ford Explorers, Pierre Gasly and Lando Norris drove in Ford Expeditions, and Oscar Piastri opted for a Jet2 T2 XWD. Meanwhile, the likes of George Russell, Kimi Antonelli, and Fernando Alonso were seen in top-tier vehicles adding to the spectacle of luxury.
Yet, it was the Ferrari drivers, with their Maseratis, that stole the spotlight. Their choice of car highlighted more than luxury-it underscored a shared flair for precision and style. In a sport where every detail matters, these subtle gestures often resonate just as strongly as performance on the track.
It also speaks to a level of synchronization between the drivers, even before they’ve had the chance to align their performance during the race weekend.
Interestingly, Hamilton didn’t just arrive in style-he arrived prepared. The seven-time World Champion had a second car reserved for his crew, which likely included his long-time trainer Angela Cullen, photographer, or manager Marc Hynes.
It’s a small but telling detail: Hamilton’s meticulous approach extends beyond the cockpit, ensuring his entire entourage moves with the same level of precision and comfort.
On the track, the mindset showed. Despite a tough qualifying session that saw him start from ninth, Hamilton delivered a resilient drive. He climbed through the field to finish just behind the Monegasque showing a clear sign that he’s beginning to find his rhythm with Ferrari.
