Not done yet! Lewis Hamilton drops hint over extending Ferrari future

The prevailing narrative surrounding Lewis Hamilton is that if things don’t go his way at Ferrari in 2026, he could leave F1 as early as the end of that season.

Swarms of pundits have tried to gauge just how long Hamilton will remain at Ferrari, with an exit predicted if the team are uncompetitive next year or if the champion continues to struggle to perform.

However, when it comes to Hamilton’s F1 future, there is only one man we should be listening to - and that is the seven-time world champion himself.

Hamilton’s latest discussions with the media at the Las Vegas Grand Prix prove his intent, and that he will want to extend his Ferrari future rather than shorten it.

"I joined this team knowing full well that it takes time to steer a ship in a different direction," Hamilton said to F1 media.

"This is a huge thing, it’s a huge organisation. There’s so many moving parts, you can’t fix it in the click of a finger.

"It takes real time. Of course it’s not been what any of us wanted in terms of a season, with the troubles that we’ve had and the results that we’ve had. We’ve just continued to push on, full steam."

While these quotes are by no means a concrete confirmation of his future, the language Hamilton uses suggests he isn’t going anywhere soon.

Why Hamilton wants to stay in F1

Hamilton is aware that rebuilding Ferrari to become a championship-winning team will take ‘real time’ and in several other press appearances across the year he has described his work at Ferrari as a process.

If it will indeed take ‘real time’, then Hamilton cannot expect that two seasons will be enough to return to title glory and surely will work with Ferrari longer than that, and thus is only thinking of extending his future and not ending it as prematurely as 2026.

It's also important to remember that when Michael Schumacher first joined Ferrari in 1996, he didn’t win a world title with the team until 2000 - although admittedly the German was a driver at the peak of his career compared to Hamilton, who is a pale imitation of his previous form.

Nevertheless, Hamilton wouldn’t be so determined to present a unified front and so much belief in Ferrari after such a difficult season, if he didn’t believe in his own longevity at the team.

There is also the question if Ferrari want to continue with Hamilton. The team’s performances could improve in the next year, but if he is unable to match the pace or better team-mate Charles Leclerc this could present a problem.

In 2025, Hamilton has been largely outpaced by his younger counterpart and in a miserable year he has failed to achieve a single grand prix podium, and if the Brit cannot match the pace of his team-mate they make look elsewhere.

Ollie Bearman has been tipped as a name for Ferrari's future, but the Brit is only in his rookie season and still has a lot to learn before he can fill the big shoes Hamilton occupies.

Ferrari’s internal deliberations remain and will continue to be behind closed doors, but Hamilton has made his intention clear. He wants to continue with Ferrari. Otherwise, what is the point of this continued front to the media?

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