David Croft gives his take on whether Lewis Hamilton could retire at the end of the 2025 F1 season

Sky Sports F1 commentator David Croft claimed that he was confident that Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton would be on the grid in the 2026 season. The seven-time F1 world champion has had a tough start to his tenure with the Italian team, as he has failed to consistently extract the maximum performance from the SF-25.

Although many had anticipated the British driver to be behind his new teammate Charles Leclerc in the first half of the 2025 season, the gap between the two drivers has been alarming in most races. The 40-year-old has only managed to finish ahead of the Monegasque just once in nine attempts, and qualified ahead of him just twice in the same time.

After his P6 finish in the Spanish GP, where Sauber driver Nico Hulkenberg overtook him in the final few laps, there has been some chatter surrounding Lewis Hamilton retiring at the end of the year.

While appearing on the Sky Sports F1 podcast, David Croft believed that the Stevenage-born native would honor his deal with Ferrari and rubbished such rumors, saying (via PlanetF1):

''Lewis will be around next year. He's not going anywhere.''

"I think the next race is quite critical for Lewis, because Canada is a place he goes so, so well at. It's a place he loves. This is Lewis Hamilton's track. And if he has another down day like he did in Barcelona, then there are issues. But look, if anyone can do it and turn it around, the seven-time world champion, that is Lewis Hamilton can definitely turn that around," he added.

Lewis Hamilton is currently P6 in the drivers' standings with 71 points, with P4 in Imola being his best result in the main race.

Lewis Hamilton opines on the future upgrades for the SF-25

Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton stated that the Maranello-based outfit should shift their focus to the 2026 season and limit upgrades on the SF-25.

As per The Mirror, the 40-year-old reflected on the resource allocation and said:

"I don't know what upgrades we have coming. We haven't had an upgrade for quite some time. We'll keep pushing with what we have but before too soon, I'll be just saying focus on next year."

"So building foundations this year, learning about the tools in terms of structure, in terms of our processes, nailing those so when we arrive next year we'll be with the car that we really want," he added.

There have been limited updates regarding Ferrari's 2026 season, and the Italian team has kept its plans for new regulations under wraps but has revealed that it will bring a new rear suspension for the British GP next month.