Hamilton told ‘it’s over’ at Ferrari as Newey has ‘intense’ Honda ‘exchanges’ – roundup

Oliver Harden 16 Dec 2025 9:00 PM

Lewis Hamilton's dream Ferrari move is not going to plan

Tuesday’s fast-paced F1 news includes former Ferrari boss Maurizio Arrivabene taking a dim view of Lewis Hamilton’s “documents” as Adrian Newey has “intense exchanges” with Aston Martin engine partner Honda.

With Honda confirming its unusual F1 2026 engine launch plans, and an extra detail from Lando Norris’s title triumph in Abu Dhabi, here’s today’s roundup…

Maurizio Arrivabene: Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari documents a worrying sign

Maurizio Arrivabene, the former Ferrari team principal, believes Lewis Hamilton’s documents are a sign that his relationship with the team is already “over.”

And he has drawn an unflattering comparison between Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel, describing Vettel’s own attempts to take a hands-on approach at Ferrari as “almost useless.”

Hamilton announced in July that he has been sending various “documents” to Ferrari in order to make a success of his stint with the team.

Adrian Newey has ‘intense exchanges’ with Honda over Aston Martin AMR26

Koji Watanabe, the president of the Honda Racing Corporation, has revealed that he “often” has a “quite intense exchange” of views with soon-to-be Aston Martin team boss Adrian Newey.

And he says the pair “laughed a lot” in their first meeting together at Aston Martin having previously achieved success at Red Bull.

Newey is leading the development of the Aston Martin AMR26, the first car of the team’s partnership with Honda, for next season.

Honda to hold unusual F1 2026 engine launch event

Honda is to hold a special launch event for its new F1 2026 power unit next month.

The Japanese manufacturer is making a full-time return to Formula 1 next year having officially stepped away at the end of 2021.

An event will be held in Tokyo on January 20, six days before the start of F1’s behind-closed-doors test with the new 2026 cars in Barcelona.

McLaren left special grid tape message for Lando Norris in Abu Dhabi

McLaren wrote a special motivational message on Lando Norris’s grid tape ahead of the title-deciding Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, it has emerged.

It comes after the FIA handed rivals Red Bull a ‘significant’ €50,000 fine – half of which was suspended – for an incident ahead of the race start at this year’s United States Grand Prix earlier in F1 2025.

Norris won the F1 2025 world championship in Abu Dhabi, pipping Red Bull driver Max Verstappen to the title by two points.