The combination of Formula 1's most successful driver and its most successful team was supposed to be a match made in heaven -- but the 2025 season ended with Lewis Hamilton calling it a "nightmare," failing to get to grips with an underperforming Ferrari car.
Can Hamilton and Ferrari bounce back in 2026 amid a rules reset and much-changed regulations? Or could this even be the seven-time champion's final year in red, and F1 altogether?
As Hamilton turns 41, ESPN answers all the big questions ahead of a big year for the British driver.
- Lewis Hamilton on 2026 after tough Ferrari F1 season: Time for change is now
Hamilton kicked off his Ferrari career with a viral Instagram post at Maranello and the hype around his move was tantalising. After a flat opening in Australia, it seemed like the excitement was justified a week later as Hamilton took pole for the sprint in China, an event he then won the following day. Ferrari would be disqualified from the Shanghai race itself for two separate violations related to the underside of the floor, which would become a key part of its season. Understanding why Hamilton's year got away from him stems from this.
In essence, the crux of Ferrari's season came down to that China disqualification.
It quickly became apparent Ferrari's car needed to be run so close to the ground to extract its best that it risked being declared illegal at the end of every race -- running it higher sacrificed key performance. The team wasted valuable time early in the year finding a solution to that issue, rather than trying to cut the gap to McLaren, and before long decided to abandon the 2025 project altogether to focus on 2026, something both Hamilton and Leclerc were both in favour of. From a short-term performance standpoint, it was a double-whammy for Hamilton, effectively locking in the flaws of the car for much of the year at a time he was still trying to get to grips with all things Ferrari, without any leeway for him to push for fundamental changes.
As the results dried up, Hamilton's own belief in himself appeared to dissipate. He called himself "useless" and suggested Ferrari should switch drivers after seeing teammate Leclerc take pole in Hungary. A handful of fourth-placed finishes would be the best he would achieve in grand prix races, the first year of his storied career he failed to record a single trip to the podium in a full-length race. He was comprehensively outperformed by Leclerc, too, just to rub salt into the wounds.
It was clearly a difficult situation for him, driving for F1's most storied team but simply unable to extract the best out of his car. Late in the year, he said: "This is a nightmare, and I have been living it for a while. The flip between the dream of driving for this amazing team and the nightmare of the results we have had, the ups and downs, it's challenging."
You would hope and think so. Hamilton was no fan of the last generation of F1 machinery -- the much-disliked 'ground effect' era of cars which were in force between 2022 and last year -- and will hope for a better feel with the new cars coming into force from 2026 onwards. F1 has promised this latest iteration to be more nimble and better for overtaking, and the expected complexity of the various modes and active aerodynamic adjustments drivers can make lap to lap should in theory favour some of the sport's more experienced drivers early in the season. If that's the case, it could swing some much needed initiative back Hamilton's way.
It's also worth pointing out Hamilton always pointed at 2026 as his season to fight for a championship with Ferrari, even in the hype-fuelled early weeks of the move. While he never expected such a dismal first year racing in red, he played down expectations going into 2025, pointing at how difficult it would be to switch teams at the end of a cycle of rules -- the man he replaced, Carlos Sainz, struggled in a similar fashion early on for Williams, albeit before turning the corner from Baku onwards. Then there's that early shift in focus the team made. Many of the changes Hamilton would have identified that he needed or wanted from the car simply would have been shifted down the pipeline to this coming season, meaning this car arguably should be a better representation of the type of car he wanted underneath him from the get-go.
Crucially, he also now knows what he's dealing with internally. While outwardly Hamilton's tone quickly turned negative and he seemed to still have an awkward relationship with race engineer Ricardo Adami over the radio, the Briton has now had a year to assess the inner workings of Ferrari's Formula 1 operation will understand it and, crucially, how best to operate within it much better than this time 12 months ago. That will be invaluable. Whether Ferrari can deliver him and Leclerc a car that can compete at the front remains to be seen, and that could be a key factor in how the year plays out too.
Hard to say -- but as it stands, don't bet on it. Late last year, Hamilton strongly hinted that he had an agreement spanning far beyond two seasons with Ferrari. "I have a pretty long contract," Hamilton said in November. "Normally when you do a contract, it is the year before that you start to talk about it, so I am a little bit far from that point."
It is believed Hamilton has options which include his post-career -- perhaps an ambassadorial role with Ferrari itself -- which might muddy how much of that means he actually stays in F1, but on the surface there's nothing to suggest Hamilton would or could be out in the cold by the end of the year.
But that's before we've started racing again. Ferrari surely would not stomach another year of its big-money asset being so off the pace relative to Leclerc -- especially if its car emerges as a contender this season. Company chairman John Elkann took aim at his drivers late in the season and his already waning patience may be tested further if things do not turn a corner.
Should things not improve for Hamilton, the encouraging progress of academy driver Oliver Bearman at Haas means there is a viable long-term option waiting in the wings if Ferrari wants to explore the nuclear option, although his time at Ferrari might well be extended if the team is unable to keep Charles Leclerc beyond 2026 -- there's no way the team would let itself lose two marquee drivers in one season. Either way, this part of the equation is impossible to predict. F1 contracts, if negotiated properly, are usually loaded up with various escape clauses and extension options for both parties to trigger in different circumstances, so get-outs might exist if Hamilton struggles again.
Then there's Hamilton himself. His mood was negative for much of 2025 but we also saw signs of a lack of belief in himself during some of his final seasons at Mercedes. Hamilton has always worn his emotions on his sleeve and should that continue into the season, it is fair to wonder whether he will want to keep performing when the results just are not coming.
While Fernando Alonso has stayed on into his 40s in the vague hope of challenging for a third world title, his situation is much different to Hamilton's -- the joy of fulfilling his childhood dream of racing at Ferrari might well keep him beyond 2026. But then there's the frustration with Ferrari as an entity to consider. Hamilton already hinted last year that some of his suggestions about how to improve the race team were falling on deaf ears -- Alonso and Sebastian Vettel's patience with Ferrari's method of operating eventually collapsed during their own title-less stints with the team. There's every chance the same could happen with Hamilton. Watch this space, basically.
Hamilton and Alonso -- who turns 45 in July -- are rarities for their era in racing into their 40s. But back in F1's formative years, mature drivers were far more common. The oldest driver to take part in a race is Louis Chiron, who was aged 55 years, nine months and 19 days when he took part in the Monaco Grand Prix in 1955. The oldest 17 drivers on the all-time list all come from the 1950s, while you have to get until Alonso -- currently the 51st oldest driver to start a race -- until you find a driver to have competed in a season later than the 1970s.
Hamilton, for now, is 101st, although that will rise this season. If he takes part in 2027, he will leapfrog the likes of Kimi Raikkonen (42 years, one month and 25 days in 2021). Raikkonhen, Pedro de la Rosa and Michael Schumacher (43 years, 10 months, 22 days in 2012) are the only other drivers 'ahead' of Hamilton in the modern era.
If Hamilton were to win a race this year, he would likely become the seventh oldest winner in F1 history. Nigel Mansell is currently seventh, and was aged 41 years, three months and five days -- and Hamilton will pass that in April, early on in the F1 season.
The oldest is Luigi Faglioli, who was aged 53 years and 22 days when he won the French Grand Prix in 1951. Interestingly, Hamilton is also the seventh youngest driver to have ever won a race, aged 22 years, five months and three days in Canada in 2007.
Ferrari car launch date: Ferrari are holding a season launch on Jan. 23, three days before private preseason testing begins in Barcelona.
Preseason test 1: Jan. 26-30, Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya (behind closed doors)
Preseason test 2: Feb. 11-13, Bahrain International Circuit
Preseason test 3: Feb. 18-20: Bahrain International Circuit
Australian Grand Prix (first race): March 6-8, Melbourne