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The year was 2007 when Lewis Hamilton first stepped into an F1 car to race in his first Grand Prix. Since then, he's done so for close to two decades. The car has seen the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. The recent race in Barcelona was one such example where Lewis Hamilton claimed that it was one of his worst. Almost 20 years into his career, the driver is at a crossroads right now.
He hasn't fought for a title since the heartbreak of 2021, and by the looks of it, he won't be fighting for one in 2025. As we write this piece, Lewis Hamilton is the highest-paid asset in F1 and has a contract for 2026. With that being said, some factors could trigger an early retirement for the Ferrari driver.
#1 He's achieved more than most drivers in F1 history
When you look at Lewis Hamilton's record in F1, you look at a driver who has achieved all that there is to be achieved. You name a record, and there's a high likelihood that Lewis Hamilton has broken it. He's done all that there is to be done in F1, and when you have been doing so, it's hard to keep yourself motivated.
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To add to this, the 2025 F1 season has seen him not score a single podium in the first nine races. A driver with this much success, who has more than a hundred wins in his bag, has to question what the point is of turning up to a race weekend when you can't even win or compete at the front.
#2 An 8th world title looks impossible right now
Going by the current driver's championship standings and his performances, Lewis Hamilton is not in contention for a title in 2025. Nine races into the season, and the SF-25 is far from his liking and comfort levels. So much so that he has even said it "just feels so alien" after his P5 finish in the Bahrain GP. What's even worse news is that the future does not look particularly bright for the Italian team. Reportedly, when the FIA was trying to propose a late change to the 2026 F1 regulations, Ferrari, alongside Red Bull Ford Powertrains, were the two PU suppliers who were unsure of the same.
As many have pointed out, if you are confident of your preparations going into a regulation, you do not try to delay them. On the contrary, what you try to do is what Mercedes was doing, and that is a call for all teams to be "open-minded" as per team principal Toto Wolff. Of all the teams that are rumored to have a strong contender for 2026, Ferrari's name is not at the top, and hence, a Lewis Hamilton title bid next season looks highly unlikely as well.
#3 Is Formula 1 even enjoyable anymore for Lewis Hamilton?
All this time, we've not touched upon the most important aspect of the driver, which is the utterly one-sided dominance he's had to face from his teammates over the last couple of years. In 2024, George Russell had a clear edge over Lewis Hamilton in terms of performance. The driver just couldn't keep up over a lap and started races with a deficit every time.
A lot of it was attributed to the driver being in his last season with Mercedes and hence being a bit mentally checked out. This season, however, there is no excuse, and the gap is massive. In performance, Lewis Hamilton has had the edge over his teammate Charles Leclerc just once in qualifying. That was in China early in the year. Other than that, it has been one-way traffic, with Hamilton continuing to question the car or why he's not able to extract the best from it.
Conclusion
The race in Barcelona was probably the lowest point, according to Lewis Hamilton, as the driver was comprehensively outclassed by his younger teammate and, during the interviews, looked in pain to explain the reason.
"It was just not a great day. Strategy was good, team did a great job. What do you want me to say? I just had a really bad day and I’ve got nothing to say. It was a difficult day. There’s nothing else to add to it, it was terrible," he told the press following the Spanish GP [via planetf1].
It's been almost 18 months of Hamilton not having a good time racing, and as someone as successful as he is and someone who has been an alpha for as long as he has, this new reality is hard to get on top of.
For how long would he be fine with being the second fiddle at Ferrari? For how long will the team be fine with having its multi-million-dollar star attraction continue to struggle? It's hard to say that the sport has been fun for Lewis Hamilton in the last few years, and the struggles are only going to make it worse.
After a point, the sport stops being fun when you're neither winning nor performing at the highest level, and by the end of 2025, it will be two years of facing one-sided dominance from his teammates for Hamilton.
That's a lot of losing for a driver who, as recently as 2021, was winning a race every season he competed in.
