Follow us on Google Discover Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton faces an unwelcome end to his first season driving for the Scuderia.
Very few people would have predicted that Lewis Hamilton’s first season as a Ferrari driver could end without a Grand Prix podium.
However, unless something drastically changes in the next six races, Hamilton will become only the fifth driver since 1980 to complete a full F1 season with Ferrari and not stand on the rostrum.
Charles Leclerc has earned all five of Ferrari’s podiums in 2025, with Hamilton’s Sprint Race win at the second race of the year in China overshadowed by their double disqualification that Sunday.
Unfortunately for Leclerc and Hamilton, neither driver has been given a car capable of winning races this year.
RANKDRIVERTEAMPOINTS1George RussellMercedes252Max VerstappenRed Bull183Lando NorrisMcLaren154Oscar PiastriMcLaren125Kimi AntonelliMercedes106Charles LeclercFerrari87Fernando AlonsoAston Martin68Lewis HamiltonFerrari49Oliver BearmanHaas210Carlos SainzWilliams12025 Singapore Grand Prix result
The Monegasque driver looked on course to end that drought at the Hungarian Grand Prix, only for his race pace to fall off a cliff after his final pit stop.
Hamilton’s demeanour when speaking to the media has changed throughout the year, but his results on track haven’t markedly improved.
Former Haas team principal, Guenther Steiner, has developed a theory as to why the seven-time world champion is lacking ‘confidence’ in the SF-25.
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Photo by George Hitchens/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty ImagesGuenther Steiner explains why Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari brake issues are causing a ‘confidence’ crisis
Steiner was speaking about Hamilton’s disappointing end to the Singapore Grand Prix on The Red Flags Podcast.
Hamilton looked on course to finish fifth and overtake Andrea Kimi Antonelli before suffering a brake failure that eventually saw him penalised and slip back to P8.
It was another example of Ferrari’s car letting down the seven-time world champion, and Steiner explained: “It was very quiet for a while, and then, since Lewis came, again they are having these problems as far as I can recollect.
“In the last years, I mean, I don’t think they had problems, it’s just since Lewis came, but maybe he’s not used to that brake and he’s used to something else and cannot adapt himself to it.
Position Drivers’ Championship PointsPts 1 336 2 314 3 273 4 237 5 173 6 127 7 88 8 70 9 39 10 37
“So, if you don’t know exactly the brakes, the brakes for a driver are the part of the car where he gets his confidence.
“I mean, it’s pretty logical, if you don’t know how good your brakes are, you’re not going to the limit because you don’t know what to expect, and that could knock on your confidence quite a lot.
“Lewis was using different brakes because Mercedes used a different brake supplier than Ferrari, and maybe he’s used to that feeling different, and he cannot get used to it because you know, a leopard doesn’t change its spots even as they get older.”
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Ferrari have stopped Lewis Hamilton from utilising one of his greatest strengths
Much was made at the start of the year of the amount of time it was going to take Hamilton to adapt to life at Ferrari.
That included Hamilton getting used to using Brembo brakes rather than the Carbon Industrie brakes he used during his time at Mercedes.
Ferrari faced a backlash when a story emerged about potentially changing brake suppliers, such is the strength of their relationship with Brembo.
However, the failure that the 40-year-old suffered in Singapore highlighted another problem that Ferrari created for themselves this year.
Friday 17th October to Sunday 19th October
Friday 17th October 17:30 1st Practice Friday 17th October 21:30 1st Sprint Qualifying Friday 17th October 21:49 2nd Sprint Qualifying Friday 17th October 22:06 3rd Sprint Qualifying Saturday 18th October 18:00 Sprint Saturday 18th October 18:00 1st Qualifying Saturday 18th October 18:25 2nd Qualifying Saturday 18th October 18:48 3rd Qualifying Sunday 19th October 19:00 Race
Ferrari have the smallest brake discs in the paddock, a compromise reached to try and improve their car’s aerodynamic performance.
Throughout his career, Hamilton has been notorious for his skill under braking, but Ferrari’s SF-25 has made it virtually impossible for him to take full advantage of this.
He will have to hope that Ferrari find a way to resolve these issues with next year’s car.