F1 champion Max Verstappen gives honest verdict on Lewis Hamilton Ferrari woes

Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen — Photo: © IMAGO

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Max Verstappen gives honest verdict on Lewis Hamilton Ferrari woes

Lewis Hamilton has had a disappointing start to his Ferrari career

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Wednesday 17 September 2025 20:28

Four-time world champion Max Verstappen has issued a verdict on his old rival Lewis Hamilton's difficulties at Ferrari.

Verstappen and Hamilton were involved in a fiercely fought 2021 championship battle in which Verstappen got the better of the seven-time F1 champion to claim his first title.

Since then, Verstappen has added three more consecutive titles, while Hamilton has only managed to win two grands prix since that controversial day in Abu Dhabi.

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Following three seasons of not being able to challenge for the title at Mercedes, Hamilton opted to switch to Ferrari, but he arguably has never been further from winning the championship than he is now.

Hamilton has not even claimed a grand prix podium with his new team in 2025, and is 46 points behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.

The 40-year-old's confidence in his own abilities seems to have taken a knock throughout 2025, with Hamilton regularly appearing downbeat in interviews.

Now, Verstappen has opened up on Hamilton's struggles, and believes that the seven-time champion is still settling in to the Scuderia.

"It's always difficult to know exactly what's happening," he told Italian media at the Italian Grand Prix. "I don't know how he worked at Mercedes, I don't know how he feels personally, and I don't know what's going on within the team. I don't have any information about any of that. The point is, he went to a team that already had a very strong driver in Charles.

"It's not easy to go there and immediately beat your team-mate, who is also so well integrated, knows everyone in the team, and speaks the language.

"With these cars, it can be quite difficult to understand why you're sometimes fast and sometimes not."

Can Hamilton bounce back in 2026?

While Ferrari's SF-25 is clearly not fast enough to challenge McLaren's dominance, Hamilton's form compared to his team-mate has been concerning.

He's been outqualified by Leclerc on 12 occasions out of 16 so far, and that inability to qualify higher has seen him only manage to rise up to sixth in the drivers' championship.

Throughout the ground effect era, Hamilton has suffered in underperforming cars, but has also only beaten a team-mate once in those four seasons.

With new regulations sweeping into the sport in 2026, Hamilton will not only be hoping that Ferrari will be able to make gains on their rivals, but he'll also hope that the new generation of cars are better suited to his talents.

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Max Verstappen Lewis Hamilton Ferrari