Mario Andretti tells Lewis Hamilton’s critics what you ‘can never doubt’ after his miserable 2025

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Lewis Hamilton had the worst season of his 19-year F1 career after joining Ferrari in 2025, which caused the Briton to cut an increasingly dejected figure in the paddock.

The 41-year-old stunned the Formula 1 world in February 2024 when he agreed to move to Maranello from the 2025 season. Yet while Hamilton stated upon his arrival from Mercedes that Ferrari had “every ingredient” to win a title, his initial optimism proved very misplaced.

Hamilton gave Ferrari numerous documents calling for changes to the Scuderia’s car and the way of working in Maranello throughout 2025. His issues adapting to their car were also not helped by team principal Fred Vasseur stopping Ferrari developing their 2025 F1 car in April.

Vasseur opted to focus their resources on the 2026 F1 regulations after realising just how far behind Ferrari were. The situation in Maranello resulted in Hamilton failing to clinch a single Grand Prix podium in a season for the first time, plus scoring just 156 points over 24 rounds.

Prove me wrong: Lewis Hamilton can still win an eighth F1 drivers’ title

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Mario Andretti still believes Lewis Hamilton can win an eighth F1 drivers’ title

Hamilton hoped that joining Ferrari could put his career back on track in his bid for a record-breaking eighth F1 drivers’ championship title. The Stevenage-born star quit Mercedes after enduring winless seasons in 2022 and 2023, but the 2025 title was beyond a distant dream.

READ MORE: Lewis Hamilton’s seven best Mercedes drives before joining Ferrari in 2025

Mario Andretti still refuses to rule out Hamilton one day surpassing Michael Schumacher by securing his eighth title. The 1978 F1 champion believes you can never rule Hamilton out as while his mood became increasingly downbeat during 2025, you cannot doubt his abilities.

“I don’t think you could ever count him out,” Andretti told GPBlog. “There’s too much talent there to say, ‘Well, no’. To me, it’s going to be up to him, of course.

“I don’t know what his mental situation is or desire, but you can never doubt the talent. I mean, not with the record that he has in the sport. He could be world champion again, absolutely.”

Ferrari hold Lewis Hamilton’s mood in their hands ahead of the 2026 F1 regulations

Has Damon Hill just identified what’s going wrong for Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari?

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Hamilton’s move to Ferrari was a landmark occasion, as the most successful F1 driver of all time joined the series’ most iconic brand. But Hamilton winning the F1 Sprint in China from pole position in round two was a huge red herring, as Ferrari’s problems then became clear.

Ferrari suffered a double disqualification from the Chinese Grand Prix, after Charles Leclerc’s car was found to be underweight and Hamilton suffered excessive wear to the skid plank on his floor. Hamilton’s woe, in particular, showed the Ferrari SF-25’s chronic ride height issues.

Add in the hurdles Hamilton faced adapting to Ferrari’s car and the first non-British F1 team he has driven for, and his mood became increasingly bleak. Hamilton claimed Ferrari should “change driver” after qualifying in Hungary, and he even called 2025 a “nightmare” in Brazil.

The Scuderia did not fix the SF-25’s ride height issues, which forced them to run higher set-ups that deprived Hamilton and Leclerc of better performance. Now, their hopes for a better 2026 hinge on how Ferrari have prepared for the biggest regulations overhaul in F1 history.