The 2025 Formula 1 season will remain engraved in the Annals as a year of dramas and shattering revelations. At the heart of this storm, Lewis Hamilton, the seven -time world champion, rocked the paddock with explosive statements following a series of disastrous performance with Ferrari. This scandal, which broke out after the Spanish Grand Prix, highlights the internal tensions within the Scuderia and raises questions about the future of Hamilton with the Italian team.
It all started at the Monaco Grand Prix, where Hamilton publicly criticized his race engineer, Riccardo Adami, for a failing communication. A reversing penalty on the grid, caused by erroneous information on the actions of Max Verstappen, has dropped Hamilton from the fourth to seventh place. This mishap marked the start of a tumultuous relationship between the British pilot and his new engineer. Radio exchanges, marked with frustration, revealed a lack of synchronization which cost Ferrari dearly on a circuit as demanding as Monaco.
But it was after the Spanish Grand Prix that the situation reached its climax. Hamilton, visibly exasperated, described this race as “the worst of his career”. Completing to a modest sixth place, preceded not only by his teammate Charles Leclerc, but also by a Sauber piloted by Nico Hülkenberg, the champion let his anger burst. On the radio, he reported a problem of balance on the SF-25, declaring: “There is a problem with the car! Asked after the race, he refused to develop, just saying, “It was not an ideal day. This apparent reservoir has only increased speculation.
The Italian media, known for their fervor towards Ferrari, have not chewed their words. The Gazzetta dello Sport titled: “Hamilton, the Scuderia fiasco”, while Corriere dello Sport spoke of “a champion lost in red chaos”. These harsh criticisms have exacerbated pressure on Hamilton, which seems to be to adapt to the SF-25. An earlier revelation, dating from the Bahrain Grand Prix, had already indicated that Ferrari had identified a technical problem on the car, costing more than one tenth per turn. This defect, still unresolved, has fueled the pilot’s frustrations.
The scandal has taken a new dimension when Hamilton influenced a major strategic decision. According to sources close to the team, Ferrari has given in to his pressures to abandon the development of the SF-25 and focus on the 2026 car, baptized Project 678. This announcement, relayed by F1 Naija, shocked fans, who saw it as a confession of failure for the current season. With a 197 -point delay on McLaren in the manufacturers’ classification, Ferrari seems to have drawn a line on his ambitions for 2025, a decision that divides observers.
Frédéric Vasseur, the director of Ferrari, tried to calm the game. After the China Grand Prix, where controversial radio communication had suggested a team order to let Leclerc pass, Vasseur revealed that the idea was actually from Hamilton. “It was Lewis who proposed the exchange,” he said, “denouncing the media manipulation orchestrated by the Formula One Management. This clarification highlighted the excellent agreement between the two pilots, but was not enough to appease internal tensions.
The contrast with Charles Leclerc, who continues the podiums, accentuates discomfort. In Monaco, then in Spain, the Monegasque demonstrated better control of the SF-25, relegating Hamilton to the background. This emerging rivalry promises to ignite the second half of the season, while Ferrari struggles to keep his second place in the manufacturers’ championship.
This scandal raises crucial questions: will Hamilton manage to overcome these obstacles to bring Ferrari to the top? Or will his passage to Maranello turn into resounding failure? One thing is certain: the Hamilton-Ferrari saga continues to captivate the world of Formula 1, between explosive revelations and dramas on the track. The next Grands Prix, starting with that of Japan, will be decisive for the future of this tumultuous collaboration.
