Lewis Hamilton’s first year at Ferrari hasn’t exactly gone to plan. More than halfway through the 2025 Formula One season, Hamilton sits sixth in the drivers’ standings and has scored just six points in his last three races.
After 12 of the most successful seasons in the history of the sport, Hamilton left Mercedes after last year to join the most winning and popular team on the grid. But through the first 15 races of the year, the seven-time champion has yet to reach anything close to title-level racing on the track.
Speaking with the press ahead of the Monza race, Hamilton said that his time at Ferrari has been an ’emotional rollercoaster’ and not everything has been as easy as he originally thought.
“It’s been an emotional roller coaster,” Hamilton said. “Did I expect it to be as volatile in terms of the feeling? No, but that’s life. And I’d like to think that we’re coming, even though we had a difficult Sunday [in Zandvoort], we’re coming towards the brighter end of the tunnel.”
Hamilton crashed in the Dutch Grand Prix, in what was his second time in three weekends not finishing a race. After a fourth-place finish at the British Grand Prix, Hamilton has scored just six points in the last three races, with an average finishing position of 13th.
Up And Down With Ferrari
The most successful driver on the grid, pairing up with the most successful team on the grid, has been the biggest storyline in the sport since the news was announced in February 2024. But since the start of the season, Hamilton and Ferrari haven’t looked anything close to a championship driver and team duo.
After a slow start to the season, Hamilton has put in multiple fourth-place finishes. However, those have come sparsely, with poor qualifying sessions, underperforming in the race, and consistently finishing behind teammate Charles Leclerc, all being signs that this season isn’t what Hamilton or Ferrari expected.
Despite his lackluster results and somewhat consistent self-criticism, Hamilton had a more positive outlook heading into the race in Monza.
“But the great thing is that the team remained really, really positive (after the crash). They’re incredibly supportive every single weekend. Even though personally you don’t feel great about it, they lift your spirits,” Hamilton said about Ferrari on the last race day. “There’s been a lot of adjustment, both from my side and my team’s side, to Ferrari’s side. And I think that really moved heaven and earth to accommodate me.”
Though this season doesn’t look like it will end in championship success for Hamilton, after the summer break, he feels the team will have a stronger finish to the 2025 season.
“Honestly, I think the harder it is, the better it can make you. And I think this year has been tough for everyone within the team, but I think it really prepares us for better days. And I think we’ll be stronger having gone through this tough first six months and I’m really, really excited and motivated for a positive uphill battle from here.”
Lewis In Monza At The Italian Grand Prix
Now heading into Ferrari’s home Italian Grand Prix, Hamilton has the chance to put an early stamp on his tenure at the team. But even before the start of the race weekend, things had already started badly for the Brit.
It was announced that Hamilton will have a five-place grid penalty for the race in Monza, due to a yellow flag infringement at the Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort. Upon hearing the news, Hamilton said he was ‘shocked’ and didn’t know about the penalty until he got home the night of race day.
“I don’t know how the other drivers have felt about the decisions of the last race, but I mean, I landed back home and then saw that I got this penalty and I was really, really shocked, to be honest. But I mean, it is what it is,” Hamilton said.
“It’s obviously not black and white. The fact is, if you look at the report, I did lift [off the throttle], but to their liking, not enough. And so, yeah, that’s why it’s, I guess they’re saying not more, but to get the penalty and get penalty points, it’s pretty hardcore.”
Hamilton finished seventh in qualifying in Zandvoort, after two tough outings at the Belgian and Hungarian Grand Prix, both of which he was outside the top ten.
Hamilton is tied for the most wins at the Italian Grand Prix, coming first in 2012, 2014, 2015, 2017, and 2018. Leclerc won the race last season, his second occasion after winning in his maiden home race for the team in 2019.
Hamilton sits sixth in the driver standings with 109 points, 42 points behind Leclerc and 200 behind championship leader Oscar Piastri. Ferrari is second in the constructor standings with 260 points.
Lewis Hamilton Gets Brutally Honest On Ferrari Before Italian GP