Lewis Hamilton has described the 2025 Formula 1 season as the worst of his career. He qualified last in qualifying in Las Vegas – the first time this had happened in 19 years. He described himself as “useless” after Hungary. Ferrari chairman John Elkann publicly told him to talk less and drive more.
This is where things were five months ago.
Hamilton persevered and returned with a new mindset in 2026. And that, more than anything, tells you what you need to know about where Lewis Hamilton’s head is in Miami.
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Why did Hamilton go to Ferrari in the first place?
When Lewis Hamilton left comfort and success at Mercedes, it wasn’t about the money. Hamilton left Mercedes – 12 seasons, six championships, every record that counts – for a reason. Ferrari was his dream team. This was always the dream.
The great Michael Schumacher won five titles there. Tifosi are the most passionate fans of the game. The red car holds more weight than the silver one ever does. Hamilton said that Ferrari had “every ingredient” to win the championship. He talked about fulfilling a childhood dream. He was not performing for the camera. This is what Hamilton meant.
What no one fully accounted for was how brutal the change would be. Twelve years at Mercedes meant 12 years of muscle memory, engineering language, relationships and culture that he incorporated into everything he did. Hamilton arrived at Ferrari when the 2025 car was already ready – built without him. He had no input. He had to learn a completely foreign machine while racing against the world’s best drivers.
It didn’t work. He went the entire 2025 season without a Grand Prix podium for the first time in his career. Leclerc disqualified him 19 to 5. Marks difference at the end of the year: 86. Ferrari essentially shut down development mid-season to focus on 2026, leaving Hamilton to fight with everything he had. He visited Abu Dhabi and described this year as “a nightmare” and said he “can’t wait to get away from it all.”
Where do Hamilton and Ferrari stand in 2026
That’s better. The numbers are real.
Fourth in Australia. Third in China – his first Ferrari Grand Prix podium, finally, after 25 races with Ferrari. Sixth in Japan. Forty-one points in three rounds. This is his best start to a season since 2023 and more points than five races in 2025.
The tricky part is right there on the timing sheet. Teammate Charles Leclerc has 49 points. Leclerc is in third place. Hamilton is fourth in the same car, eight points behind. The score of this year’s qualifying head-to-head is 0-3 in favor of Leclerc. Japan was actually a step behind – Hamilton finished sixth when the safety car should have given him a podium shot.
He said that on Christmas Day, he had made a specific mental decision about how he would approach this season. He ran 63 miles between the Chinese and Japanese tours. He has been in the factory more. He helped build the SF-26 – something he never had with the car, which made his life miserable last year.
“It’s a huge difference, and a huge undertaking,” Hamilton said of his second winter at Ferrari. “You can arrive and jump in the cockpit, but learning new tools, especially a different culture and a different way that people like to work, and adapting to that.” He left the sentence hanging there. He didn’t need to end it.
One year was left. Year two is considered different. So far it’s a little bit of both.
Controversial 2026 F1 regulations haven’t hurt him
There is one thing working in Lewis Hamilton’s favor: the 2026 rules wiped the slate clean for everyone.
New power units. Active Aerodynamics. A completely different car that no one had driven before February, not Leclerc, not Verstappen, not Antonelli. Hamilton had real input on the SF-26. Sky Sports F1’s David Croft put it bluntly: The fact that Hamilton helped develop this car is no small thing.
The Ferrari is legitimately fast. Heading into the 2026 Miami Grand Prix, he is second in the constructors’ standings. The jumping horse has one platform in each round. The SF-26 is a real car in a way the SF-25 never was.
The point is that the Mercedes is faster. Hamilton is not fourth in the championship because he lost a step – he is fourth because he has been in the third-fastest car most Sundays, seven years behind a teammate with Ferrari DNA. Those are two different problems. Ferrari needs to fix the first one. Hamilton will have to fix the second himself.
Leclerc and Hamilton dynamic at Ferrari
No one is saying it out loud, but the numbers are saying it anyway.
Leclerc, 28, has been at Ferrari since 2019. He knows every engineer, every system, every nuance of how that team operates. He is, at the moment, the closest thing to a Ferrari-bred driver since Schumacher.
Hamilton, 41, has seven championships and has had the greatest statistical Formula 1 career in history. And right now, his teammate is outscoring and outqualifying him, and has been doing so for two seasons in a row.
It wasn’t close in 2025. The difference in 2026 is small – China proved that Hamilton can beat Leclerc on the same day if everything goes right. But Japan proved the gap could still open in a hurry.
After the Chinese Grand Prix in March, Leclerc was candid and generous about his on-track battles.
“I really enjoyed the race. A bit disappointed to lose out on the podium, but on the other hand, I’m happy for Lewis, and I think he deserves it more than me on a weekend like this, where he’s been on top of things more than me…I enjoyed the battle and the only big negative I would say is the difference to Mercedes.”
Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur was equally positive about having them race wheel-to-wheel. “They’re professionals and I think it makes sense to let them race in this situation… At the end of the day, I think it’s the best way to build a team.”
The moment Ferrari builds a car that can actually win championships, these dynamics are going to force some decisions that no one in Maranello will enjoy making.
Hamilton’s location as he heads to Miami
Hamilton wins in Miami. The Miami crowd came to Formula 1 partly because of him – Netflix documentary drive to survive Years ago turned him into a mainstream sports celebrity beyond motorsport. He fits in well in this city.
He needs this weekend. The championship maths aren’t a crisis – 31 points behind Antonelli with 19 races left is quite manageable. But with Leclerc trailing in two races, a sixth in Japan, and a mediocre race in Miami, an all-too-familiar story about the 41-year-old running out of time will begin to arise.
A strong weekend turns it all around. Ferrari’s upgrade cycle is coming. The car is about to get better. Hamilton knows this circuit.
He came to Ferrari to win the championship. The dream is not dead. But he’s 41, still finding himself on a team in its second season, watching a 19-year-old break his record in the seat he used to own.
The window is not getting bigger. Lewis Hamilton’s Miami Grand Prix performance needs to count.
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