Twelve months ago, a visit to Maranello for Ferrari’s traditional end-of-season Christmas debrief was a trip full of anticipation. The long wait was all but over: Lewis Hamilton would join the team just a few weeks later, and Ferrari was finally allowed to talk about the future after spending some quality time thanking Carlos Sainz when he left for Williams.
The potential was enormous. Ferrari had risen again in the latter part of 2024, narrowly missing out on the Constructors’ Championship at the final race of the season. Continuing that upward trend could threaten McLaren on multiple fronts – and Hamilton knows exactly what it takes to win a title.
You could feel the excitement around the new era. It seemed like a dream scenario to pair the most successful driver the sport has ever seen with its most iconic – and successful – team.
The situation in which both parties find themselves a year later looks more like a nightmare.
Ferrari were struggling at the start of the season and had clear weaknesses that needed to be addressed. By the time it had succeeded, it was effectively already out of title contention and could no longer justify its focus on playing catch-up when a whole new set of rules lay ahead.
The development taps were all but turned off, and there would be no late-season revival this time around. In fact, there would not be a single Grand Prix victory all year, and not even a podium for Hamilton.
“I think we started this season in Bahrain a bit in the background, and then we had a problem with the disqualification in race two in China, and this put us in a corner,” said Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur. [ED: Charles Leclerc’s car was below minimum weight, and Hamilton’s had excessive wear to the rear skid]. “I was honestly quite happy with the team’s response because we came back in three or four races – we came back at a decent pace.
“But if you look at this, we lost 110 points to McLaren in this first part of the season and we were two or three tenths behind at this stage of the season, so it was almost done.
“What we have to learn is that every detail – and this is always true in my business – can make a huge difference. And the reason for the disqualification… I think we had to foot the bill for a third of the season.”
Ferrari introduced a suspension tweak later this year to address the setup issues, but that was as much about learning for 2026 as it was about hoping for an improvement in 2025.
That meant a season in which both drivers fought to get into the first three rows. While Leclerc secured pole position, his average qualifying position was 5.46, while Hamilton’s late-season form (three consecutive Q1 exits) eventually reduced his to 9.04.
Only Kimi Antonelli separated them in average qualifying position, but for Vasseur the team’s competitiveness and an extremely tight field spread accentuated Hamilton’s struggles.
“I think it was difficult for Lewis, and it’s probably a small word because after 20 years – I say 20 years because for me McLaren was McLaren-Mercedes and then Mercedes, so he spent 20 years at Mercedes – it was a huge change,” he said.
“Personally, I underestimated the step. It’s not that we’re doing it [things] Whether it’s worse or better, it’s that we just do (things) differently. It’s not just about the food or the weather, it’s about every single piece of software being different, every single part being different, the people around it were different, and if you’re not at the top of everything, you’re leaving a few hundredths of a second on the table.
Hamilton and Vasseur’s relationship dates back to when they won championships together at junior level, but Vasseur admits he underestimated how big an adjustment everything else about the move to Ferrari would be for a seven-time champion. Simon Galloway/Getty Images
“And today, with the field we have… I think it was in Abu Dhabi in Q2 that you had a tenth in P5 and P15 [ED: 0.076s covered P8-P15]. We didn’t have full control over every detail and package, and in this way we lost a bit of the path of the season.
“Sometimes less than a tenth of a second – I think in Budapest – Charles was a tenth faster than Lewis in Q2, Lewis was eleventh [ED: 12th, 0.247s off Leclerc] and once again Charles finished on pole position.
“It’s not an excuse, it’s not a good reason, you have to stand up for everyone, and at the end of the day we talk about details. And I think maybe we underestimated the change, the change of culture, the change of the people around us, the change of everything.
“Even if we got back to a decent pace – I’m not talking about the standings, I’m talking about working together and understanding the car in the last part of the season – I think it was tough.”
Ferrari and Hamilton knew it would be a challenge, just not to that extent. Upon his arrival at Fiorano in January, the seven-time world champion stood in front of Enzo Ferrari’s house in a statue meant to define the start of a new era. He looked determined, powerful and almost Godfather-like in his long black coat.
If it were remade today, Hamilton would be standing in front of a building site, the house little more than a shell, with a covered exterior while major renovations take place.
As necessary as it is, it’s still quite striking to see such an iconic structure undergoing so much work. But it may be a metaphor for how Ferrari must also get the best out of Hamilton in 2026.
“I think it has to come from everywhere,” says Vasseur about how Ferrari can help Hamilton move forward. “I think the mentality of the team and the mentality of the driver has to be: ‘let’s try to do a better job everywhere.’
“It’s not that something doesn’t go right and then everything else goes wrong. Ultimately, we have to improve. We have to improve the collaboration with Lewis. We have to improve in the team. He may have to improve in the way he gets the best out of the car he has.”
“I know what you have in mind – the brakes for example, which he spent 20 years with one supplier. They have changed this season. We have much more control now. But in the end every detail will make the difference.”
“It is not the case that if you are three tenths behind someone, he or she has the magic bullet or the part in the car that is three tenths faster. Very often you have ten subjects where you are three hundredths of a second slower. One by one we have to tackle each point.”
“To be honest, it is also a matter of mentality, a matter of understanding each other. I am talking about one side of the garage in this case, because we know each other with Charles, but in this case it is more about understanding exactly what he needs, what he wants. And for him, and for me the same, to understand exactly what he would like to do.”
Instead of going away and taking a break, Ferrari and Hamilton know they will have to work closely together again this winter.
While there may be anticipation for new rules next year, there is almost a sense of dread that further efforts are needed on multiple fronts to make Hamilton feel even more comfortable. But just like with Enzo, Ferrari will not shy away from the work.
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