F1 star claims Lewis Hamilton success at Ferrari 'not ideal'

When seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton made a plea for Ferrari to 'change their driver' during his abysmal start to life in red last season, it signalled a sad shift in the superstar's stellar career.

Thankfully for the Brit and his global fanbase however, the 41-year-old has bounced back in much better shape in 2026.

After a reshuffle of his personal team and those that work closely with him in Maranello, Hamilton has not only achieved his first grand prix win in red this year but also positioned himself as the closest championship challenger to Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli.

Heading into the summer break, Hamilton is 50 points behind the 19-year-old who replaced him at the Silver Arrows, meaning a record-breaking eighth world title is very much on the cards for the British legend.

But all this success doesn't bode well for one of Hamilton's compatriots who is waiting in the wings for an opportunity to get signed by the Italian F1 marque.

READ MORE: Lewis Hamilton issues apology for attitude to F1 media

Bearman: Hamilton success is special, but not great for my future

Ollie Bearman made his F1 debut under unique circumstances when he got the call up to replace Carlos Sainz at the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

The Spaniard was ruled out of competing for Ferrari due to appendicitis, leaving Bearman with the unenviable task of juggling his F2 racing duties with racing against his heroes with minimal preparation time.

At just 18 years of age, Bearman crossed the line in P7 at the wheel of Sainz's Ferrari, even beating fellow Brits Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton.

To this day, Bearman remains a part of the Ferrari driver academy and that impressive showing in 2024 had many excited to see the youngster secure a seat at Ferrari in the near future.

But that future continues to get further and further away the more Hamilton excels.

After all, Charles Leclerc just committed even more of his career to the Scuderia, and the Italian squad were never going to swap a far less experienced driver in the form of Bearman out for their Monegasque Prince in the first place.

Speaking about Hamilton's upturn in form across the 2026 campaign and what it means for his own future, Bearman told the F1 Beyond the Grid podcast: "Things have changed a lot in the last six months.

"As an F1 fan and a Lewis fan as well, it's pretty cool to see him performing at the level he is and seeing him on the top step in Barcelona was quite a special moment for British F1 in general.

"It was three Brits on the podium, with the best British driver, the best driver we've ever seen in P1. That's something pretty special.

"Of course, in terms of my future, that's not ideal, but I'm still young.

"I'm only 21. I'm not in a huge rush and, for me, staying at Haas for the foreseeable is not a bad thing. I feel like there's a lot to learn at this team. There's a lot to still achieve. I really want to get back to those highs which we tasted in Mexico and other events. I feel like they're on a good trajectory, this team, and I'm really happy to be on the journey with it.

"It's a tough moment right now and it's a really challenging one, and one that builds character, I would say, but I don't want to be defined as the team who had a really good first year with me, but then we really struggled to achieve that performance again.

"Hopefully we can get a bit more performance and score some good points again," he concluded.

READ MORE: F1 insider claims Ferrari talent on the drivers' market: 'He can't stay there'

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Written by

Kerry Violet - F1 News Editor

Having graduated from the University of Sheffield with a 2:1 in Journalism in 2022, Kerry continued her pursuit of finding a full-time position in motorsport through work with the F1 Arcade in London, where she got to meet true fans of the sport and make a live grand prix watch party memorable for them. It was here that she confirmed her dream of combining her background in journalism and love of motorsport, going on to volunteer with the female-led platform Empoword Journalism. Having completed stints as a screen editor and sports editor, Kerry landed her first F1-specific editorial role with GPFans and has thoroughly enjoyed continuing to work closely with the sport ever since. The access GPFans offers Kerry has allowed her to interview big names such as Naomi Schiff and David Coulthard and given her experiences she could only have dreamt of as a young F1 fan.

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