The start of his Ferrari career has been largely the opposite of what he would have hoped for and, aged 40, time is running out for Lewis Hamilton to achieve his final Formula 1 dream
All Lewis Hamilton could do was shake his head as he studied the timing screens, the look of disbelief at the size of the gap to those ahead said it all. Seventh on the grid after qualifying for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix is not what the seven-time Formula 1 champion came to Ferrari for after leaving Mercedes.
He was almost a full second slower around the Jeddah Corniche Circuit than pole-sitter Max Verstappen – and the following day was no better. While team-mate Charles Leclerc secured Ferrari’s first podium of 2025 by continuing his steady improvement, Hamilton remained rooted to seventh place and looked a defeated man in post-race interviews.
“It’s going to be painful,” he said, referring to the rest of a first season with Ferrari which began with so much hype and expectation. Was he already writing off the year after just five rounds of a 24-event season? It certainly sounded like it.
Hamilton scored 31 points across those five Grands Prix and one sprint race. Championship leader Oscar Piastri has 99 already. Sure, he has had the not insignificant challenge of adapting to new surroundings, not least driving Ferrari machinery after 12 years behind the wheel of a Mercedes.
But Carlos Sainz, who went the other way from Ferrari to a Mercedes-powered Williams, has already found his feet. So has young Oliver Bearman, who performed on 48 hours’ notice for Ferrari in Jeddah last year and has impressed in his debut season so far with Haas.
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Is it an oversimplification to wonder whether it’s a case of an old dog struggling to learn new tricks? Hamilton has had a remarkable career but we are seeing evidence suggesting he may no longer be at the peak of his powers.
The same happened to Michael Schumacher, who didn’t win a single race in his three-year comeback with Mercedes. The German was in his 40s at the time, as is F1’s only other seven-time champion now. But it is clear that Hamilton is not the only problem.
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Leclerc may be getting far better results out of the same car but he too has been critical of the machine they are both saddled with for the year. “I am really not happy,” he said in Jeddah, referring to his car’s inability to match the McLarens, and also what Verstappen is doing in his Red Bull.
The formbook suggests Leclerc is maximising the car while Hamilton admits he still has a way to go on that front. That was to be expected given Leclerc has been Ferrari’s cornerstone driver for years and the performance gap between them will surely narrow in the coming months.
And Ferrari clearly still have a way to go operationally, evidenced by that embarrassing double disqualification last month in China. His Shanghai sprint win showed Hamilton can still deliver when his car is set up just how he likes and the conditions are in his favour.
But some of the Brit’s more impressive performances over the years came when things went against him and he still delivered. That’s what he’ll have to do if he is to finally wear that elusive eighth drivers’ crown before he retires.
McLaren’s advantage this year already looks almost insurmountable for Ferrari and Hamilton who are a long way back. He turns 41 next January and 2026, with new car regulations potentially upsetting the balance of power on the grid, already looks likely to be the make-or-break season for Hamilton’s hopes.
But even if there is to be no happy ending, it will not affect his remarkable legacy in any way. And at least that young boy from Stevenage finally got to live out his dream of racing in red.
