Lewis Hamilton joined Ferrari with a huge smile on his face, as the Scuderia saw 2025 as the season in which a Formula 1 championship might finally go back to Maranello.
But both titles seem bound for Woking in the 2025 season, with McLaren running away with the constructors’ championship and Oscar Piastri fighting his teammate Lando Norris for the drivers’ title. Piastri heads into Sunday’s Dutch Grand Prix with a nine-point lead over Norris.
Max Verstappen of Red Bull sits third in the F1 drivers’ championship ahead of round 15/24 with a 97-point deficit to Piastri. And as the papaya team hold a 299-point lead over Ferrari in second in the teams’ table, Fred Vasseur has conceded the constructors’ title to McLaren.
Ferrari’s wait for their first constructors’ title since 2008 is set to continue into the 2026 F1 regulations, with Charles Leclerc and Hamilton fifth and sixth in the drivers’ standings with deficits of 133 and 175 points to Piastri. Ferrari are also still yet to win a Grand Prix in 2025.
Photo by Andrea Diodato/NurPhoto via Getty ImagesJacques Villeneuve sees a disappointing difference between Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris’ self-criticism
Hamilton suggested Ferrari “need to change driver” and that he was “useless” after the 40-year-old only qualified P12 for the Hungarian Grand Prix, which he finished in P12, before the summer break. At Zandvoort, Hamilton admitted he needed to “reset” over the summer, too.
READ MORE: Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton’s life outside F1 from net worth to family
SEASONTEAMPOINTSWINSPODIUMS2010McLaren182372011McLaren168242012McLaren142362013Mercedes161152014Mercedes2417112015Mercedes2778122016Mercedes2506112017Mercedes263792018Mercedes2566112019Mercedes2848122020Mercedes30710122021Mercedes221.5 (inc 2 from 1 F1 Sprint)4102022Mercedes146 (inc 1 from 1 F1 Sprint)062023Mercedes164 (inc 4 from 2 F1 Sprints)042024Mercedes150 (inc 10 from 2 F1 Sprints)242025Ferrari109 (inc 14 from 3 F1 Sprints)00Lewis Hamilton’s points after 14 rounds since F1 changed its point-scoring system in 2010
But Jacques Villeneuve sees a disappointing difference between how Hamilton reviews his results for Ferrari to how Norris criticises his performances for McLaren. The 1997 drivers’ champion thinks Hamilton’s tone in his statements suggests the 40-year-old is “giving up”.
Villeneuve said on Sky Sports F1 (30/8, 13:11): “They seem to be doing it in a different way. Lewis seems to just be giving up. That’s different. Lando seems to be judging himself, like, ‘What can I do better? What did I do wrong, so I can come back stronger?’
“He doesn’t keep it in. So, he doesn’t boil it. Whereas Piastri might be, we don’t know. We say how he’s so cool [and] he doesn’t have any pressure. Maybe he has tonnes of pressure. Maybe more than Lando. We just don’t see it, and he’s digesting it internally.”
Lando Norris has worn his mistakes on his sleeve in the McLaren man’s 2025 F1 title bid
Photo by Jayce Illman/Getty Images
Hamilton’s first campaign with Ferrari has never matched the optimism that the seven-time champion and the Scuderia shared before the 2025 F1 season started. Vasseur believed the pride of Italy would fight with McLaren before a wheel turned in anger, but Ferrari have not.
READ MORE: McLaren driver Lando Norris’ life outside F1 from parents to celebration
Position Drivers’ Championship PointsPts 1 284 2 275 3 187 4 172 5 151 6 109 7 64
Now, Villeneuve sees “no chemistry” between Hamilton and Ferrari, with the Briton having the worst start to a season of his 19-year career. Never before had the Briton failed to make a Grand Prix podium in the first 14 rounds. Hamilton’s best results for Ferrari have been P4s.
Hamilton’s 109 points so far this year are also the 105-time Grand Prix winner’s lowest since the current points system was introduced in 2010. So, the beaming smile that dominated his face when Hamilton joined Ferrari in January has been destroyed over the last eight months.
Norris has also beaten himself up throughout the 25-year-old’s title bid. But Villeneuve feels the McLaren man’s self-criticism is a strength, rather than a weakness. Norris called himself “clueless” after qualifying P6 in Bahrain, where he recovered to P3 as Piastri won from pole.
Norris also called himself an “idiot” after the Briton crashed in qualifying in Saudi Arabia, as he tried to match the speed through Turn 4 that Piastri carried in Q1 and Q2. He also noted at Imola that the 25-year-old’s qualifying form in Q3 this term was “just not good enough”.