Lewis Hamilton spiralling towards worst F1 nightmare at Ferrari

F1 legend Lewis Hamilton is hurtling towards his worst nightmare at Ferrari, despite the move to Maranello initially prompting hopes of a record-breaking eighth championship for the Brit.

When the seven-time champion announced his switch from Mercedes before the 2024 campaign had even begun, he shocked the sporting world, but come January 2025, his arrival at the Scuderia signalled endless possibilities.

Could he be the man to finally return the iconic Italian outfit to championship success for the first time since 2008? Could he finally beat Michael Schumacher's record of the most championship victories in the sport's history?

Well... no. It's looking highly unlikely.

Instead, Hamilton's current situation is much more reminiscent of another Schumacher career moment - his lacklustre three seasons at Mercedes after coming out of retirement.

Hamilton hardly went on a hiatus from the sport like Schumacher after his championship success, but the Brit has been lying rather dormant where the championship standings are concerned ever since the current ground effect era was ushered into the sport in 2022.

Hamilton's best finish in the driver's championship since narrowly missing out on the 2021 title to Max Verstappen was P3 in 2023. But after a disappointing start to his maiden campaign in red, Hamilton declared that he simply won't allow Ferrari's previous failings to see him also retire from the Scuderia without championship success.

The Maranello-based squad last won the drivers' championship in 2007 thanks to Kimi Raikkonen, but even with the Finn among their ranks the following season, Ferrari were only capable of winning the constructors' title (thanks to Hamilton, who took his maiden drivers' title in 2008)!

Speaking at the Belgian Grand Prix earlier this season, Hamilton reflected on why he refuses to follow the disappointing trend of champions who have headed to Ferrari in hope of returning to the title fight.

"I see a huge amount of potential within this team. The passion - nothing comes close to that. But it’s a huge organisation, and there are a lot of moving parts. And not all of them are firing on all the cylinders that they need to be.

"That’s ultimately why the team has not had the success that I think it deserves. So, I feel that it’s my job to challenge absolutely every area, to challenge everybody in the team—particularly the guys that are at the top who are making the decisions.

"If you look at the team over the last 20 years, they’ve had amazing drivers: Kimi, Fernando, Sebastian—all world champions. However, they didn’t win a world championship. And for me, I refuse for that to be the case with me."

Are F1 champions cursed by Ferrari?

As Hamilton is acutely aware of, Ferrari do not have the best record with former champions.

Since their last title victory in 2008, the Scuderia have welcomed two-time champion Fernando Alonso to their ranks and four-time drivers' title holder Sebastian Vettel.

Hamilton is far from being the first driver to fall for the myth that Ferrari's iconic status in the sport aligns with championship success, with both Alonso and Vettel before him proving that making their childhood dream of racing in red come true didn't return them to the top of the standings.

Time is running out for Hamilton to defy the so-called Ferrari curse that haunted both Vettel and Alonso, and whilst he may be taking every possible step to ensure the 2026 car is more to his liking, what happens if he still can't compete at the top?

As things stand, the 40-year-old is only contracted with the Scuderia until the end of the 2026 season, and judging by his defeated manner at the Hungarian GP last weekend, his patience his already wearing thin at Ferrari.

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