Lewis Hamilton issues new Ferrari update after cryptic comment sparks exit fears
Lewis Hamilton has had a poor start to life at Ferrari
Lewis Hamilton has vowed to “come back stronger” after the F1 2025 summer break, insisting that the “fight’s not over” despite a difficult start at Ferrari.
It comes after the seven-time World Champion appeared to raise doubts over his participation in the second half of the season following Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton: ‘The fight’s not over – don’t count me out’
Additional reporting by Thomas Maher
Hamilton has had a largely disappointing start to his Ferrari career since his high-profile move from Mercedes at the end of 2024.
Despite achieving some success in the sprint format, the British driver has failed to register a podium finish across his first 14 appearances for his new team.
Hamilton’s season slumped to another new low at last weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix, where he finished a distant 12th, his worst classified result of 2025, after failing to reach Q3 on Saturday.
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Speaking after qualifying in Budapest, where team-mate Charles Leclerc set pole position, Hamilton repeatedly referred to himself as “useless” and suggested that Ferrari should consider replacing him.
His stance did not change after the race as Hamilton told media including PlanetF1.com that he felt the “same.”
Hamilton, who recently teased that he will make an announcement on Friday August 8, went on to cast doubt over his participation in the next race, the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, later this month.
He added: “I look forward to coming back [after the summer break]… Hopefully I will be back.”
In a separate interview on Sunday, Hamilton also mysteriously pointed to “a lot going on in the background that’s not great.”
In a fresh update, Hamilton has appeared to ease fears that he could walk away from Ferrari mid-season, vowing that he will “come back stronger” after the summer break.
He said: “It’s been a challenging weekend and one to move on from.
“We weren’t able to make the progress we hoped for but I’m grateful for the effort everyone in the team put in throughout the weekend.
“Now we head into the break. I’ll be using the time to reset, recharge and come back stronger.
“I’m not where I want to be yet, but the fight’s not over – don’t count me out.”
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Hamilton, then of Mercedes, previously raised doubts over his participation in the final three rounds of the 2024 season in the aftermath of a punishing race in Brazil last November.
In a cryptic team radio message to his Mercedes team after finishing a lowly 10th in Sao Paulo, Hamilton said: “If this is the last time I get to perform, it’s a shame that it wasn’t great, but grateful for you.”
Hamilton went on to complete the season with Mercedes, making his final appearance for the team at the last race of 2024 in Abu Dhabi.
Speaking to media including PlanetF1.com after the race in Hungary, Fred Vasseur, the Ferrari team principal, put Hamilton’s comments down to frustration following another challenging weekend.
Vasseur said: “I don’t need to motivate him, honestly. He’s frustrated, but not demotivated. It’s a completely different story.
“I can perfectly understand the situation. Sometimes you are making comments about what the driver saying about the car.
“Put the microphone on some other sportsman, in football, and so I’m not sure that it would be much better.
“You know that they are in the performance and sometimes they are making comments even when they jump out of the car.
“I can understand the frustration. We are all frustrated.
“And sometimes, if you ask me [about certain subjects], I want to say things but would go to the stewards [for bad language].
“Sometimes just after the race, or just after quali, you are very disappointed and the reaction, the [initial] reaction, is off.
“But we all know that we are pushing in the same direction.”
More on Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari from PlanetF1.com
Hamilton revealed at the recent Belgian Grand Prix that he is going “the extra mile” in order to turn his situation around at Ferrari, holding a series of key meetings with senior figures last month and submitting a series of “documents” to propose changes to the car and the team’s structure.
Vasseur acknowledged that Hamilton is “demanding” to work with, but insisted that his commitment has been a key element of success.
He added: “Yes, he’s demanding, but that’s why he’s a seven-time World Champion.
“He’s demanding with the team, with the car, with the engineers, with the mechanics, with myself also.
“But first of all, he’s very demanding with himself. I think it’s always a good motivation for him and the main reason of performance.
“And, for sure, when you are a seven-time World Champion, and your team-mate is on pole position and you are out in Q2, it’s tough.
“It’s a tough situation. The outcome of this is that Charles at the end was able to do pole position.
“I can understand the frustration from Lewis. This is normal and we’ll come back.
“The race today was difficult because that we took [a] bet to start with [the] hard [tyre] and so he was stuck in the DRS train.”
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