Lewis Hamilton’s first season with Ferrari hasn’t gone to plan but he still has time to make up for it in 2026.
The seven-time champion was expected to compete for podiums at the very least from race one, but instead finds himself sixth in the drivers’ championship without a rostrum with seven races to go. By his own high standards, he hasn’t been good enough.
Part of Hamilton’s struggle may be down to not adjusting very well to Ferrari’s car. After all, it has been the first time in nearly 20 years that he has had to compete without a Mercedes power unit behind him. Now that the bulk of the hard work is gone, things should be more promising for the 2026 F1 regulations.
Hamilton made a ‘child’s mistake’ in Baku by failing to let his teammate through at the end of the race. There have been suggestions that Hamilton’s mood is ‘completely different’ at Ferrari and has worsened over the last 12 months or so, but it’s far too late to change his mind now.
Lewis Hamilton is the ‘trickiest’ F1 driver to photograph after taking secret paddock routes
Hamilton’s biggest problem in 2025 has been hype, according to Guenther Steiner, who believes that too much pressure was put on the Briton to win from day one. The knowledge and experience he was bringing from Mercedes was always going to take time to be implemented.
What it does do is build expectations for 2026 once more, meaning that if Ferrari have yet another poor winter and turn up with a car that can’t compete for at least a podium in Australia next year, the fans could begin to turn on them.
It might even force Hamilton to start hiding in the Formula 1 paddock. Photographers already find it hard to capture him, though, with Kym Illman suggesting that he’s the ‘trickiest’ driver of them all since he moved to the Scuderia.
“Lewis Hamilton, the trickiest of the lot to shoot. Especially this season, he has taken to going back routes, behind hospitality suites, to allow him to get where he’s going a lot quicker and without as many photographers or cameramen getting in his way.”
“I mentioned that Lewis is pretty tough to find sometimes, for his own reasons. Certainly, last year when he was wearing his fashion gear in, it was a lot easier to shoot, but this year has been a different story.”
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As Hamilton approaches an unwanted Kimi Raikkonen record, time is running out for him to earn a first podium in his debut season in red.
However, the lack of results seems to be down to the car, more than the driver. In Baku, Hamilton matched teammate Leclerc all weekend.
It was an impressive showing, and after starting the event with a very strong Friday practice, where his team were one and two, there would have been some disappointment across the rest of the running.
Singapore isn’t always their best track, but it’s another chance to at least try for the podium, and hope that some of the cars in a tense title battle ahead get caught up and offer an opportunity for a better result.