2025 Formula 1 Disappointment of the Year: Ferrari & Lewis Hamilton

For the 2025 Formula 1 Disappointment of the Year Award, Paul Velasco, Editor-in-Chief, and Jad Mallak, Editor, confront what high expectations were not met this past season.

What was billed as the deal of the decade promised revival, romance, and renewed glory. A sprint win in China briefly fuelled that belief, but it proved a false dawn. Ferrari’s decision to abandon development early, combined with a car that rapidly became undrivable, exposed deeper structural problems.

More troubling, however, was the visible disconnect. While Charles Leclerc continued to extract everything possible, Hamilton appeared increasingly resigned, his confidence and authority eroding in public view. Cultural clashes, tense radio exchanges, and a winless, podium-free season only amplified the sense of collapse.

Jad Mallak: "We need not overthink this one. It’s simple. Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari. This is my disappointment of the 2025 Formula 1 season. And the disappointment comes mostly from the huge expectations when the deal was announced. Lewis going to Ferrari.

"Paul, you called it at the time the Deal of the Century. This was Formula 1' biggest deal. Everyone was waiting for it. Every driver wants to drive for Ferrari at some point in his career. And everyone was asking, When will the time come for Lewis?

"He said often: No, I love Mercedes. I’m faithful to Mercedes. And then, boom, out of the blue, he announced the deal. There were massive expectations.

"Then we got the sprint race win in China and everyone thought, wow, it’s happening. Lewis is going to make Ferrari win again. And that was the last positive thing we saw from that relationship. From there to the end of the season, Ferrari revealed later that they decided to give up on the car as early as April, and from then on it was undrivable.

"But the most disappointing thing, I feel, is how Lewis seemed to be giving up on the situation. Maybe behind the scenes he was pushing, but what we saw publicly in the media was resignation. Meanwhile, Leclerc was basically driving that car, wringing its neck, trying to deliver results. Even Leclerc couldn’t deliver a win. Ferrari got a few podiums, but no win.

"It was a winless season for Ferrari, a winless season for Lewis, and it was Lewis’s first season with no podium, which is huge. What’s even more disappointing is that we do not yet see a light at the end of the tunnel for Lewis and Ferrari. I think there’s a clash of cultures.

"Lewis comes from the Mercedes environment and goes into the Italian environment, and it doesn’t fit naturally. Ferrari also have their chosen one, Leclerc, who they groomed from the junior categories into the Formula 1 team.

"So there’s a lot Lewis needs to deal with. And from what we saw in 2025, he wasn’t dealing with it properly. I don’t think he integrated well. His tense radio communication with his engineer shows that things aren’t gelling. Results aren’t there.

"We also have to consider that age is his age. Lewis is over 40 now. Naturally you lose a bit of speed, but you gain experience, and Lewis’s experience wasn’t showing yet.

"It takes two to tango. Ferrari are not dealing with Lewis properly. They need to listen to him more, make him feel more at home, and more comfortable with the team and the car. And Lewis needs to dig deep and find a way to make those brilliant driving skills resurface again.

"Until we see something different, that is my Disappointment of the Season. And I say this as someone who is not a Lewis fan, everyone knows that, but it’s still sad and disappointing to see Lewis in that situation in Formula 1."

Paul Velasco: "You’re being diplomatic, so I’ll take the harsher stance, what

Tifosi are probably saying. It was a shit show. Ferrari are to blame first and foremost because they didn’t deliver a decent car. They were always playing catch-up, and they switched off development in April, as Jad said. Next year’s car better be a rocket ship. If they switched off in April and got these results, we hope that time was well spent.

"Ferrari are a team that should be on the podium every race, if not on the top step, then at least in the top three. They dropped the ball big time. I’m wondering if Fred Vasseur is actually the guy to lead the team. The whole year felt like a proper casino

"And with Lewis, I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: shut up, drive, and beat Charles Leclerc. You’ve got to beat Charlie before anyone listens to you.

"Now, talking from a Ferrari perspective. Picture this, I’m the boss and Lewis walks in with,: 'Look, I’ve got all these notes on how to make Ferrari a better place and have faster cars'. I would say, 'sorry, bro, you’re half a second slower than Charles. F@ck your notes. Stop making notes, we don't pay you huge amounts of money for that. Just beat Charles, and then we’ll see where the team goes'.

"In my opinion, Leclerc isn’t the kind of guy who can lead a team. He was groomed from the inside by Ferrari, so he only knows their way; that's why he blames himself constantly for stuff that is not his fault. You need a Max Verstappen to come in and kick ass, as Alonso did at the beginning, before it went pear-shaped.

"So I’m going to say this: as much as he is one of my heroes, Lewis, to me, is a done deal. He got done and dusted at Mercedes by George Russell. Now at Ferrari, he is nowhere close to Leclerc regularly. And when Lewis says: I'm useless, maybe I’m not the guy to drive this car, maybe they get somebody else.

"Maybe he is right. But until he quits, I just wish he would shut up and drive like the monster he once was. For me, Disappointment of the Season was Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari, 0.00001s behind as they crossed the line."