A 7 time world champion Lewis Hamilton scored zero podiums in his first Ferrari season while Carlos Sainz thrived at Williams. When looking at the Hamilton Ferrari 2025 results, one has to ask: Was Ferrari’s driver choice their biggest mistake?
February 1st, 2024. Lewis Hamilton the seven-time world champion, challenged a career that seemed well-established at Mercedes while Carlos Sainz was quietly edged out. Mr. Consistency himself, the driver who’d given Ferrari four race wins and relentless podiums was shown the door to make room for the legend.Looking back at the Hamilton Ferrari 2025 results, the statistics are incomprehensible.
Fast forward to December 2025. The statistics are incomprehensible. The reality is brutal. Zero podiums. Not a single top-three finish. A seven-time world champion, the man who’d stood on the podium 197 times in his career, couldn’t find his way to the champagne once in an entire season wearing Ferrari red. Meanwhile, the Carlos Sainz effect is working for Williams, racking up podiums and proving exactly what Ferrari let walk out the door. The early signs from testing suggested Hamilton’s Ferrari transition carried more complexity than the initial excitement implied.
On the other side Williams moved in the opposite direction, rising steadily from a rebuilding team into a team securing regular points and progress on stats table. While Ferrari struggled with multiple issues. The realization hits somewhere between Bahrain and Abu Dhabi. What was supposed to be Ferrari’s masterstroke has become their biggest regret. The partnership that was expected to break records broke Ferrari instead.
Why Ferrari Chose Hamilton
Since 2008 Ferrari hadn’t won a championship. They hired multiple new talents like 2007 – Kimi Räikkönen, 2010 – Fernando Alonso, 2014 – Kimi Räikkönen ,2015 – Sebastian Vettel,2019 – Charles Leclerc,2021 – Carlos Sainz and finally in 2025 Hamilton became available. Seven titles. 103 wins. The most successful driver of the modern era. Still competitive at Mercedes ambitious for more championships. Hamilton is a global sporting icon. Ferrari gain big marketing, sponsor and ambassador value from signing him, and reports say the package and role on offer were very attractive to him.However, the actual Hamilton Ferrari 2025 results tell a different story than the marketing brochures promised
The time came for Fred Vasseur to make his shot to take Ferrari out from deep waters, calculations were made. Hamilton had won seven championships in which 4 are in back to back years. Hamilton knew how to handle pressure. Hamilton’s racing with Ferrari’s vision could develop a car at the highest level. But there was a problem Ferrari chose to ignore the consistency of Carlos Sainz , that he wasn’t just some placeholder driver warming the seat. He’d won four races for Ferrari. He’d stood on the podium 23 times in red. While Leclerc grabbed headlines, Sainz quietly delivered results smoothly, race after race. Yet Ferrari saw him as expendable, the chance to sign Hamilton emerged, Sainz became collateral damage.
This timeline tells the story that they eyed Hamilton, and as time progressed, the deal was done. Sainz found out his Ferrari career was over not through a meeting, but through rumors. The team he’d bled for chose a 40-year-old legend over a 29-year-old winner in his prime.
The One That Got Away
On the other side, we have Carlos Sainz, whose impact and outcome were slow but steady. He wasn’t in flashy headlines, but he let his work speak for him. He achieved four race wins and twenty-three podiums. Making a great partnership with Charles, he pushed him as well up in stats. He was Professional to the end, he gave Ferrari everything while they didn’t give him what he deserved.
When he learned he was being replaced, it really broke him. But he rose in blue flames at Williams. He didn’t take this change as a setback but as a new opportunity to prove himself. And here we are in 2025, with Carlos Sainz remained the last Ferrari driver to stand on the podium for the team.
The Unthinkable Collapse
When examining the Hamilton Ferrari 2025 results, a seven-time world champion with nearly two hundred career podiums failed to get a single podium in 2025 in red.A seven time world champion with nearly two hundred career podiums, failed to get a single podium in 2025 in red. Fourth places at Silverstone and Austin marked his season highlights. The average position was around P8. These aren’t the numbers Ferrari expected.
The thing that everyone will agree on is that the car was terrible. Unpredictable rear end, inconsistent downforce, tire degradation nightmares. Leclerc couldn’t win races either but he got podiums. Multiple times in same car with better results.
The pressure crushed Lewis. Every race without a podium added weight more than before. Italian media and social media devastated him. Hamilton, usually bulletproof, started cracking. Mistakes in qualifying. Failed overtakes. Visible frustration.
Ferrari’s development path did not align with Hamilton’s technical preferences. Although professional, communication remained tense. There was merely the gradual realization that this was not the collaboration Ferrari was hoping for, not a collapse. Beyond the driver question, Ferrari’s energy management challenges added another layer of uncertainty heading into 2026.
The Verdict
This choice was wrong from the start. Sainz was proving himself in red, reaching his prime, and producing outcomes. At the turning point of a generational change, Hamilton adjusted to machinery that never worked for him. As we step in 2026 the more questionable are rising as will Hamilton stay?
In Williams Carlos Sainz is continuing his comeback in the meantime. Improving pole positions and points. Contracts come next.The Hamilton Ferrari 2025 results remain a point of contention for the Tifosi. The driver that Ferrari rejected turned into the most popular driver by others. The driver that Ferrari rejected turned into the most popular driver by others.
