Lewis Hamilton's 'perplex' dilemma leaves former Ferrari engineer questioning F1 team's role

Lewis Hamilton’s first season in Ferrari colors became a year defined by frustration, inconsistency, and a car that rarely behaved the way he wanted. As the criticism grows louder, former engineer Luigi Mazzola stepped in with a pointed assessment that shifts focus back to the team.

Hamilton entered 2025 with excitement and pressure. The early flashes were promising when he grabbed the pole in the Shanghai Sprint and converted it into victory. But as the season unfolded, that result looked more like an exception. Ferrari slipped into a winless campaign, Hamilton finished fifth in the standings, and never looked in control. It was his first podium-less season in F1.

Mazzola argued that it cannot simply be written off as driver decline.

“I don’t put all the blame on Hamilton. I don’t put the whole situation, ‘Hamilton, you messed it all up.’ No. I put a good part of it on the team, because you cannot, in 24 races, still not have understood how this character drives, or at least not given him a car that is consistently satisfactory,” he said, via NewsF1 Motorsport e Automotive. (3:32 onwards) “A driver isolates himself and goes in peace when he has a car he can’t drive. This is what leaves me a bit perplexed. I don’t even blame the race engineer, because I don’t know how much freedom the race engineer has to decide what to do with the car,” he added.

For Luigi Mazzola, external challenges like new team culture, systems, and communication habits play a role. But they are not enough to explain an entire year of struggle at this level.

Lewis Hamilton of Ferrari talks to his engineers at Bahrain Testing. Source: Getty

Far too often, the Ferrari was on the back foot before the lights even went out. And this is where Mazzola’s concern turns inward toward the structure around the driver. He recalled past experiences at Ferrari, when big technical voices controlled setup direction, to the point of ignoring whether it fit the driver.

Ferrari, meanwhile, had already shifted part of its focus toward 2026, something team boss Fred Vasseur acknowledged. That early pivot took resources away from short-term development, leaving Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc navigating an unpredictable car.

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Lewis Hamilton pushes for changes inside Ferrari for 2026 reset: “Different things need to be looked upon”

Lewis Hamilton with Scuderia Ferrari Team Principal Frederic Vasseur during F1 75 Live. Source: Getty

Lewis Hamilton’s tone at the end of 2025 matched Luigi Mazzola’s frustration. The seven-time champion was clear about the need for structural improvement. While 2026 is set to be the final guaranteed season of his contract, with an option to extend, it also arrives with sweeping regulation changes.

On paper, it resets any advantage in the grid. But Hamilton is relying on changes within. Ahead of Abu Dhabi, he explained (via F1.com):

“It’s not actually a straightforward process. We’re testing next week and then we go back to the factory. I’ve got to decide what my approach is when it comes to sitting down with the key stakeholders… and how that approach is to create the change that’s needed.”

Lewis Hamilton also spoke about holding himself accountable. Each race weekend, he documented decisions, mistakes, and missed opportunities, not just on track, but in the team environment. He described it as a personal audit and added:

“My surroundings in terms of personal personnel, team personnel, how you utilize people, whether people need to move into different positions to work better, all these different things need to be looked upon in my personal space so that we can optimise our teamwork.”

The wait to see whether Ferrari answers those questions will not be long. Pre-season testing returns in less than a month at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya from January 26 to 30.

Edited by Hitesh Nigam