Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari F1 season ‘not as bad as it looks’ as adaptation continues

Ex-F1 driver Esteban Gutierrez has defended Lewis Hamilton’s first season with Ferrari, claiming it “hasn’t been as bad as it looks”.

Hamilton has yet to finish on the podium for Ferrari during his first season with the team.

This podium drought means Hamilton now holds the record for most races for Ferrari without a maiden top-three finish.

Hamilton was on the wrong side of luck in Mexico City.

Despite making a good start, he lost out to teammate Charles Leclerc on the opening lap of the race.

This was because Leclerc cut the first corner to get ahead but wasn’t penalised by the stewards.

Hamilton was then involved in a couple of incidents with Max Verstappen, who attempted an aggressive Turn 1 lunge.

Hamilton received a 10-second penalty for a separate incident later in the lap, where he cut the track at Turn 4 but stayed ahead of the Red Bull driver.

This ruined Hamilton’s race and left him finishing a disappointing eighth.

Conversely, teammate Leclerc finished second, scoring Ferrari’s seventh podium of the year.

While Hamilton’s podium drought has continued, his overall performance has improved since the summer break.

On average, Hamilton has been approximately under a tenth off Leclerc’s pace in qualifying.

Hamilton still needs to make progress on race day, particularly with execution.

“It’s been a process” for Hamilton

Hamilton’s focus has inevitably been on next year and the new 2026 F1 regulations.

Gutierrez, who raced for Sauber and Haas during his F1 career, sees signs of encouragement for Hamilton.

“It seems like he felt more comfortable with the car somehow this weekend from his comments. Maybe he’s not going to be as happy right now, but certainly, I think it’s been a process,” Gutierrez said on the F1 Nation Podcast.

“I was at Ferrari and I understand the differences of an English team towards an Italian team. I’m just going to say it straight. At Ferrari, there’s a lot of passion, but it’s a well-organised mess.

“Not to say anything wrong about them, I really love Ferrari. I mean, we all do. I think every driver’s dream is to be a Ferrari driver deep in our hearts. Winning with Ferrari has a much bigger challenge than winning with any other team.

“That’s why all the champions who have not been champions with Ferrari and try to come to Ferrari to be a champion, they struggle. It’s not easy.

“So, in my opinion, from that perspective, Lewis’ performance this year hasn’t been that bad as it looks. Hopefully he’ll be able to use this year as an experience and do another step next year.”