Lewis Hamilton has made the biggest mistake of his career as Ferrari carnage unfolds

We all kind of knew what Lewis Hamilton was getting himself into at Ferrari but that lure of Maranello was just too tempting.

Let's take stock of Hamilton coming out of 2023 and heading into 2024. There was only one team to be at that year with Red Bull winning 21 of the 22 races.

At Mercedes they endured their first winless season since 2011, before Hamilton even joined the team. Lewis may have finished third in the championship, but Mercedes were on the downswing.

That dominance between 2014 and 2020 was over - we can talk all day about Abu Dhabi 21, but over that entire season it was difficult to argue against Max Verstappen and Red Bull being the ultimate package.

Mercedes were rumoured to be back in contention for 2022, with a zero sidepod design. It was revolutionary and the reported numbers would give them a clear advantage, one that infamously created the meme of 'an advantage being locked in for years'. The grim reality was the total opposite.

READ MORE: Lewis Hamilton calls for Ferrari investigation after Azerbaijan Grand Prix flop

Mercedes' doomed era with Hamilton

Zeropod was a dud, so much so that the man behind the idea (which, to be fair to him was excellent on paper) Mike Elliot swapped roles with Chief Technical Officer James Allison to become technical director, and with that the concept was axed as Mercedes looked to get back to winning ways. Elliot left the team at the end of 2023.

Given the two relatively barren years Hamilton had endured, there was one team who looked like getting it right and that was Ferrari, with Carlos Sainz the only non-Red Bull winner of the 2023 season after triumphing in Singapore.

Ferrari also ran Red Bull close in 2022, at least in the first half of the season. Charles Leclerc was having some memorable tussles with Verstappen, but that charge faded away mid-season as Red Bull kicked on and Ferrari did the most Ferrari thing and failed to develop their car.

Still, in the first two years of the ground-effect era, Ferrari had an argument to suggest they were getting on top of the concept better than Mercedes and looked a strong horse (pun not intended) to back going forward.

Also, Hamilton probably had an itch to join Ferrari. A team he always wanted to drive for and one almost all world champions get a chance to join at some point.

So, less than a year into his new two-year deal with Mercedes he triggered a clause to join Ferrari for 2025, leaving the F1 world picking up their collective jaws off the ground when the news was announced before the 2024 season.

The thing with Hamilton is he picks the right teams at the right time. After McLaren's dodgy 2006, he made his debut for the team in 2007 when they had the best car for the next couple of years.

He stuck with the team that gave him his big F1 chance, but as they continued to drop the ball from 2009 onwards, he moved to Mercedes to replace Michael Schumacher one year ahead of the team becoming one of the most dominating forces from 2014 until the end of the decade.

Hamilton finally moves to Ferrari

To many, Hamilton had seen something from Ferrari to turn his head, to give him that opportunity of winning a record eighth world championship at the team who had crowned Michael Schumacher for a seventh time in 2004. The script was perfect.

Now, winning in 2025 wasn't in the script despite Ferrari's strong end to the 2024 season. McLaren and Red Bull soon established themselves as the teams to beat but there were already concerns at Ferrari with Hamilton struggling for the entire year behind Leclerc.

The only positive for him, was he hadn't left a winning position at Mercedes, with George Russell and Hamilton's replacement in rookie Kimi Antonelli struggling even more in his first F1 season.

So even after one horrible Ferrari year, Hamilton couldn't have had too many regrets over leaving Mercedes - given he had achieved one thing by moving and that was being able to call himself a Ferrari F1 driver. Don't underestimate this as a career achievement.

Year two should be a much better story for Hamilton. He's had his first Ferrari win in Spain, achieved multiple podiums including at his home race for the British Grand Prix, and is beating Leclerc in the championship.

Now, he is not just a Ferrari driver, but a proven one, banishing the prospect of being a Ferrari flop. Yet this season could hurt even more for Hamilton than his first campaign in Maranello did.

While the 41-year-old legend has been in a title battle this season, That title battle is also as good as dead. Hamilton hasn't had a podium in his last six races, and now trails Antonelli by 103 points. He isn't even second anymore, sitting 37 points behind his former team-mate Russell.

Ferrari are in turmoil too. The way there season has unravelled to now being beaten by Red Bull and McLaren has put a lot of heat on team boss Fred Vasseur. It's not a happy camp to be in right now.

Hamilton's Ferrari dreams are fading

The reality is, Hamilton has gambled on Ferrari coming good and just like Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso, has found out this isn't the same team that rampaged through the early 2000s with Michael Schumacher.

Unlike Alonso and Vettel though, Hamilton has jumped out of a championship-winning car to achieve his Ferrari dream. It's a bitter pill to swallow.

Now of course, Lewis could bounce back next year and win the world title. His dream isn't dead yet but he will be 42 next season so time is now running out.

We've been waiting 18 years for Ferrari to come good again, Hamilton may only have 18 months to find out if this project can have a happy ending.

READ MORE: Christian Horner is heading for Ferrari as 'sack the manager' vibes hit fever pitch

LEWIS HAMILTON: Career record with every pole, win and title

Written by

Dan Ripley - Global Editor

I've been a massive F1 fan since the mid 1990s and continue to study the history of the sport long before that. As an experienced motor sport reporter covering F1, MotoGP and the LeMans 24 Hour race, being part of GPFans has allowed me to work with a diverse team with all sorts of different backgrounds in watching the sport and given me a greater appreciation of F1.

View full biography

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