Lewis Hamilton sets clear end-goal for 2025 as Mercedes threatens Ferrari's position

Lewis Hamilton has set a clear goal for the final stages of the 2025 F1 season as his current team faces a threat in the constructors' championship from his former team. Going into the Brazil Grand Prix, Ferrari sits second in the standings with 356 points, and has Mercedes right behind in third place with 355 points.

McLaren already won the constructors' championship in Singapore. So, the top spot is not in contention. There are four races left in the 2025 season - the Brazil GP, the Las Vegas GP, the Qatar GP, and the Abu Dhabi GP.

During media day on Thursday, ahead of the upcoming race weekend in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Lewis Hamilton said that he 'doesn't care' about where he finishes in the drivers' championship. His sole goal alongside teammate Charles Leclerc is to ensure Ferrari remains second in the constructors' championship.

"We're not fighting for a championship now," Hamilton said. "So apart from right now, our job is to try and get the best results to win, to do the best in the Constructors' Championship. The driver's position, no one cares really. I don't care really about fifth or sixth or anything like that. It's more about trying to keep the constructors' title, second place for the team."

Hamilton is sixth in the drivers' championship with 146 points. The driver ahead of him in fifth is teammate Charles Leclerc with 210 points, and the driver behind him in seventh is Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli, with 97 points. The points gap on either side is substantial enough to ensure they finish as is, if not for freak occurrences.

Where Ferrari finishes in the constructors' championship matters because there is a difference of approximately $10 million in prize money between the second and third place finishers. The advantage that the Scuderia has over Mercedes is that their drivers are firing on a relatively consistent level in recent races, with Lewis Hamilton acknowledging that he's felt more at one with the SF25. Whereas the Silver Arrows are being carried by George Russell (258 points) in the constructors' championship, with rookie Antonelli (97 points) yet to step up similarly.

Lewis Hamilton counting on his feedback to aid a big step forward for Ferrari's 2026 car

Charles Leclerc with Lewis Hamilton at the F1 Brazil Grand Prix - Source: Getty

Lewis Hamilton's first season with Ferrari turned out to be more challenging than expected. He entered the summer break on a mental low, calling himself "useless" after the Hungarian GP debacle.

However, after the summer break, the seven-time F1 champion seems to have regained some of his mojo, despite the results not being in his favor. "Rome wasn't built in a day" is what he said about his partnership with Ferrari.

Ahead of the Brazilian GP, Hamilton acknowledged that progress takes time and labeled 2025 as a "year of foundation building." The 40-year-old highlighted that he has given significant feedback to the team for its 2026 challenger and hopes for the partnership to take off next season.

"I think next year is the year where it'll be a car that I've had something to do [with] helping develop, so I'm hoping it's a good year," he said.

Lewis Hamilton is an honorary citizen of Brazil, and the race in Interlagos is one of his favorites, with his icon, Ayrton Senna, also hailing from there. There might not be a better circuit than this for the seven-time champion to secure his first podium with Ferrari.

Edited by Yash Kotak