Will Lewis Hamilton retire from F1? And who could replace him at Ferrari?

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton’s start to life at Ferrari sunk to new depths at the Hungarian Grand Prix, where he could only qualify and finish 12th at one of his best circuits.

Hamilton has underdelivered and been outclassed by Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc across the opening 14 races and remains without a grand prix podium. Following his latest poor performance in Budapest, the 40-year-old Briton declared himself “useless” and suggested Ferrari should “change driver”.

Hamilton’s cryptic comments are concerning and have raised questions over his future, leaving uncertainty over whether he will return after the summer break, let alone see out the remainder of the 2025 F1 season.

It is worth noting that Hamilton wears his heart on his sleeve and such remarks are often made in the heat of the moment, and heavily influenced by his results. Only a few days prior to his Hungary meltdown, a determined and motivated Hamilton spoke of his “refusal” to accept failure to win a title with Ferrari.

But fast forward to the end of a hugely disappointing weekend and many observers in F1 cannot remember a time Hamilton was so despondent and down in the dumps.

This situation got us thinking, in the hypothetical scenario in which either Ferrari opted to replace Hamilton, or he simply decided to walk away from the sport, who would come in to replace him?

Oliver Bearman

The obvious replacement for Hamilton would come in the shape of Oliver Bearman.

The 20-year-old Briton is part of Ferrari’s junior programme and has already made his grand prix debut for the Scuderia when he stood in for Carlos Sainz in Jeddah last year after the Spaniard was diagnosed with appendicitis.

Despite not driving the car until final practice, Bearman had a mightily impressive debut as he qualified 11th and finished seventh (ahead of Hamilton) in the race to score points on his F1 debut.

Bearman has since gone on to join Haas full-time, and has shown further glimpses of his raw talent and potential during an at-times messy rookie F1 season with the American squad.

He is believed to be under contract at Haas for two years, but it wouldn’t take much for Ferrari to pull him out of that deal if they needed a sudden replacement for Hamilton. He is after all tipped as being the future of Ferrari.

Valtteri Bottas or Sergio Perez

Beyond Bearman, the next easiest options for Ferrari if they needed an immediate stop-gap would be turning to F1’s sidelined drivers.

Either Valtteri Bottas or Sergio Perez are two drivers who boast vast experience fighting at the sharp-end of the grid and would act as a safe pair of hands at short notice.

Both shrewd operators are free agents and know what it takes to contribute towards championship success, as well as supporting their teammate’s respective F1 title bids in the de facto ‘number two’ driver role.

Neither Bottas or Perez would be long-term solutions for Ferrari, but could step in and do a respectable job for a handful of races if needed.

Carlos Sainz

If Hamilton left Ferrari, it would back up claims from some quarters that the team made a mistake in parting ways with Sainz.

Sainz won four races in four seasons with Ferrari and proved to be a reliable and close match for Leclerc. His impressive contribution alongside Leclerc last year took the team agonisingly close to winning the constructors’ title.

Both parties have not ruled out a reunion at some point in the future, and Sainz is understood to have an exit clause in his contract in the event that one of the big teams came knocking.

Resigning Sainz would effectively be an admission from Ferrari that they made a mistake, which is hard to imagine happening, but he certainly would slot back into the team with ease.

Alex Albon

Ferrari could look across the garage at Williams and try and tempt Alex Albon, who has performed magnificently since switching to Williams at the start of 2022.

Albon has been one of the strongest and most consistent performers on the F1 grid in recent years, and currently has the edge over Sainz in their intra-team battle at Williams.

The British-born Thai has absolutely done enough to warrant a move to a big team having impressively rebuilt his reputation following his brutal Red Bull demotion at the end of 2020, and few would doubt his ability to shine.

Ferrari were reportedly interested in Albon as a potential replacement for Sainz before Hamilton became available and he knows team principal Fred Vasseur well from his time at the ART squad in GP3 and Formula 2.

A deal to lure Albon would not be without complications, but would be possible, and an opportunity he would surely not be able to turn down. 

Max Verstappen

The dream, long-term option for Ferrari would be to poach Max Verstappen from Red Bull.

Verstappen is the hottest property in F1 and the best driver on the grid, but securing his services would be immensely difficult, given he is tied down to a long-term deal with Red Bull.

Such a move would come at a considerable cost to Ferrari and there is no guarantee Verstappen would be interested, though the appeal of racing for F1’s most famous team might prove too tempting to dismiss.

A Leclerc-Verstappen partnership at Ferrari would be a mouth-watering prospect but also one which would likely lead to fireworks and drama, something the team would probably be keen to avoid.