Juan Pablo Montoya shares exactly what Lewis Hamilton has changed during his ‘tough’ year at Ferrari

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Lewis Hamilton is in the midst of his worst season ever in Formula 1, and Juan Pablo Montoya has shared exactly what he has changed during his ‘tough’ maiden campaign at Ferrari.

The seven-time world champion has been a shade of his former self since his move to Italy, and his future at Ferrari seems to be thrown more and more into question with every passing race weekend.

His former boss, Toto Wolff, believes Lewis Hamilton is a ‘fish out of water’ at Ferrari.

Having spent 12 years leading the British driver to six drivers’ titles and eight consecutive constructors’ championships, the Austrian executive knows what Hamilton’s best version of himself looks like.

The most startling statistic from Hamilton’s 2025 campaign is his continual lack of a podium in Ferrari colours.

Despite being the record holder for the number of top-three finishes in F1, he is in danger of completing his first full season in the sport without a single podium to his name.

• READ MORE: Lewis Hamilton can forget about ‘doing a Michael Schumacher’ at Ferrari, Martin Brundle says

Sum up Lewis Hamilton’s debut season at Ferrari in one word…

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Juan Pablo Montoya shares how Lewis Hamilton’s communication has changed as the 2025 F1 season has progressed

Speaking in an appearance on F1’s Weekend Warm-Up for the Qatar Grand Prix, Juan Pablo Montoya noted how Hamilton’s style of communication has changed as the season has continued, and his fortunes at Ferrari worsened.

Speaking alongside Jolyon Palmer and James Hinchcliffe, Montoya said, “I think Lewis, I know he’s in a tough spot and he’s frustrated.

“I think he’s just venting a lot of it. I think he kept a lot of the composure through the beginning of the year when he wasn’t running good, and people were questioning a lot why he wasn’t running well.

“And I think he got to a point he said, ‘I don’t really care. I’m just going to speak out and tell him how frustrated I am.’ I think it’s more that he still wants to do the job.

In Brazil, in quali, he was doing a really good job. If Charles doesn’t spin in qualifying, he would have outqualified him; Charles would have been knocked out in qualifying.

“So yes, in race pace, he’s still missing. I don’t think it’s the easiest car to drive, and I don’t think he has anything to prove, but he loves racing.

“So, I know he’s not happy where he is, but he doesn’t want to quit at this point, being on a down. I think he wants to still prove to himself he can do it.”

• READ MORE: Lewis Hamilton’s former mechanic says his confidence is totally ‘gone’ after what he saw at Qatar GP

Lewis Hamilton appeared defeated after falling out of the first session of Sprint qualifying in Qatar

The 40-year-old’s woes this season went from bad to worse in Lusail. Off the back of several disappointing results on recent race weekends, Hamilton failed to make it out of SQ1 during qualifying for the Sprint in Qatar.

Hamilton’s comments to the media following his early exit were a tough watch. Asked if there are any positives to take into tomorrow, he only noted the weather, which has caused some ‘legitimate questions’ to arise at Ferrari over Hamilton’s future.

Prior to the most recent race weekend in Las Vegas, Ferrari CEO John Elkann lashed out at Hamilton and teammate Charles Leclerc for apparently talking too much instead of focusing on their job.

The attack from Elkann was reportedly supposed to be constructive, according to sources at Ferrari, but it may have done more damage within the ranks of the Maranello-based team rather than good.

Hamilton is contracted to the Scuderia until the end of 2026, with an option to extend his tenure into the 2027 season.

It remains to be seen how much longer we will see the seven-time world champion ply his trade in Formula 1.