FERRARI'S 2025 FAILURE EXPOSES A TEAM STILL IGNORING LEWIS HAMILTON’S WISDOM
After 17 long years without a championship, Ferrari looked like a team ready to fight. The tifosi were excited. The global F1 community was buzzing. And Lewis supporters worldwide believed this was finally the moment the greatest driver of all time would bring glory back to Maranello.
But as the season unfolded, that dream dissolved into another painful chapter in Ferrari’s modern history. Instead of a revival, Ferrari endured a campaign defined by inconsistency, missed opportunities, internal friction, and a car that seemed determined to betray both its drivers. For Lewis, it became—by his own admission—one of the hardest seasons of his legendary career. For Ferrari, it was further proof that the issues holding them back have deeper roots than many care to admit.
A Year of Expectations Crumbling Away
The signing of Lewis was supposed to be the turning point. Ferrari gambled big, believing that adding a seven-time world champion—someone with unmatched pedigree, racecraft, and technical understanding—would bring the final missing ingredient. Many believed the combination of Lewis’ experience and Ferrari’s resources would be unstoppable.
But Formula 1 is rarely that simple.
Lewis—the most successful driver in F1 history—completed his first season with Ferrari without scoring a single Grand Prix podium. It is a shocking statistic that speaks volumes about the SF-25’s weaknesses and the team’s inability to respond quickly to problems. And Charles Leclerc, entering the season as Ferrari’s in-form driver after a brilliant 2024 finish, found himself stuck in the same cycle of underperformance and frustration. Four years with Ferrari. Four years without a race win.
What began with optimism ended in disappointment, forcing Ferrari fans to confront a painful truth: the Scuderia simply wasn’t ready to match Red Bull, McLaren, or even Mercedes in a season demanding consistency, innovation, and unity.
The Pressure Mounts on Fred Vasseur
Team principal Fred Vasseur entered 2025 with tremendous support and belief from fans and the Ferrari board. His calm, disciplined leadership was supposed to bring stability after years of chaos. But several decisions from early in the year came back to haunt him—most notably the move to abandon aerodynamic development on the SF-25 as early as April.
That decision created a performance plateau that Ferrari never recovered from. The midfield closed in. The top teams pulled away. And the SF-25 was left standing still.
The pressure on Vasseur is now enormous. Ferrari do not tolerate prolonged failure. And with the 2026 regulation reset approaching, decisions made today could define the next decade.
Signs of Hope: Ferrari Tests a 2026 Prototype Component
Despite the disaster of 2025, Ferrari quietly used the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend to test early 2026 concepts. While the team limped toward the finish line of the season, they also introduced a small but meaningful prototype on Lewis’ car—a simplified steering wheel designed with the 2026 regulations in mind.
Arthur Leclerc, standing in for Lewis during FP1, trialed this redesigned wheel for the first time. It represents Ferrari’s first attempt to integrate Lewis’ feedback into next year’s machine. And that alone is a conversation in itself.
Lewis’ Influence Behind the New Steering Wheel
The simplified design is far closer to the type of steering wheel Lewis thrived with at Mercedes—lighter, cleaner, and far less cluttered. Lewis has spent the entire year giving Ferrari extensive notes, suggestions, and detailed feedback on what needs to improve. He brings six championship-winning years of Mercedes expertise with him, yet Ferrari has often been slow—or reluctant—to adapt to his requests.
Still, this new wheel is evidence that his push for change is finally starting to gain traction.
According to Motorsport Italia, the new wheel removes many of the overly complicated functions that Sebastian Vettel once requested while he was at Ferrari. Vettel loved having numerous options at his fingertips. But Lewis, like many champions, prefers clarity, simplicity, and systems that allow him to focus on extracting maximum pace, not micromanaging dozens of inputs.
Ferrari’s decision to redesign button layouts, restructure sub-menus, and incorporate Lewis’ driving style into the 2026 concept signals a shift—however small—toward the direction Lewis has been fighting for since he arrived.
Vettel’s Legacy vs. Lewis’ Vision
It is fascinating how the ghosts of Ferrari’s past still influence its present. Vettel’s legacy, especially in terms of steering wheel design, has shaped the team’s cockpit philosophy for years. A layout built for Vettel has carried through to Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz, and now Lewis.
But Lewis is not Vettel.
Their careers share notable parallels—multiple titles, fierce rivalry, and a jump to Ferrari in pursuit of glory—but their approaches differ in meaningful ways. Lewis thrives on feeling the car beneath him, on refining his feedback into focused adjustments, and on reducing distractions inside the cockpit.
By moving toward a simpler, Mercedes-style wheel, Ferrari is finally acknowledging that maybe—just maybe—their new champion knows what he’s talking about.
The Tension Inside Ferrari: Why Lewis’ Advice Hasn’t Been Welcomed by All
While many Ferrari personnel deeply respect Lewis, there have been whispers—now widely reported—that some staff members haven’t appreciated the volume or intensity of his feedback. Lewis has “so many notes,” as he said recently, and he has made no secret of the fact that Ferrari must change if they want to win.
But change is not something Ferrari embraces easily.
Ferrari is steeped in tradition. In pride. In stubbornness. And sometimes that pride becomes their biggest weakness. Lewis arrived precisely to push the team forward. Yet some within the walls of Maranello are still clinging to old philosophies—the same philosophies that haven’t delivered a championship in nearly two decades.
This tension is part of why 2025 spiraled so quickly.
Following Vettel’s Path — But With a Critical Difference
Lewis’ first year with Ferrari mirrors Vettel’s early struggles in many ways. Both champions arrived with expectations of reviving Ferrari. Both wrestled with unpredictable cars. Both dealt with politics, pressure, and internal resistance. But there is one crucial difference: Lewis is not done yet.
Vettel’s decline began with frustration. Lewis’ decline—if this season can even be called a decline—is the direct result of a car that simply wasn’t built around his strengths. He hasn’t slowed down. He hasn’t lost motivation. He hasn’t lost talent.
He just hasn’t had the machinery. And Ferrari must take responsibility for that.
The Questions Surrounding Lewis — And the Reality Behind Them
With Lewis being beaten by Leclerc on pure pace too often this season, questions have begun circulating: Has he lost his edge? Is 40 finally catching up? Is his Ferrari move a mistake?
But those questions ignore the obvious. Leclerc has four years of experience mastering Ferrari’s cockpit design, Ferrari’s quirks, and Ferrari’s unpredictable handling traits. Lewis has had one.
And that one year has been spent driving a car fundamentally unstable, inconsistent, and difficult to trust—something Arthur Leclerc, Pierre Gasly, Nico Hülkenberg, and multiple other drivers noticed firsthand while following Lewis on track.
The issue was never Lewis. The issue was Ferrari.
Why the 2026 Car Must Be Built Around Lewis
The steering wheel is just a small part of a bigger challenge. Ferrari must commit—fully—to building the 2026 car around Lewis’ knowledge, strengths, and input. Lewis knows what a championship-winning team feels like. He knows how to lead development. He knows when something will work and when something won’t.
For Ferrari to win again, they must stop treating Lewis as just another voice in the room and start recognizing him as the expert he is. Because the truth is simple: Ferrari signed Lewis for his driving, yes. But they also signed him for his mind. 2025 proved what happens when they ignore him.
Didn't I Say Ferrari Needs to Listen to Lewis?
Yes I did. And I was absolutely right.
Ferrari cannot afford to repeat the same mistakes as they enter the most important regulation change in modern F1. They have a generational talent in Lewis—one who is still fiercely hungry, still sharp, still capable of fighting for wins and titles.
If Ferrari want to return to glory in 2026, they must stop fighting their greatest asset and start building with him. Because if they don’t listen now, if they insist on continuing down the same stubborn path, then the conclusion becomes inevitable: Lewis will walk.
And if Ferrari lose the greatest driver of all time because of their own arrogance, it will define the next decade of Formula 1.
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