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Lewis Hamilton's 2025 F1 season is something he would not want to look back on with pride. The British driver's first season at Ferrari promised a lot when he had that first photoshoot in Maranello. The off-track hype, meeting fans, and the marketing surrounding the most successful driver's alliance with the most successful team were at a different level altogether.
Then came the reality, and the reality wasn't as good. By the end of the season, Lewis Hamilton had already been publicly told off by Ferrari boss John Elkann to essentially just focus on driving.
To make things worse, it became clear that Lewis Hamilton was just unable to keep up with his teammate Charles Leclerc throughout the season. This could have been seen as a one-off incident, but the reality is that the driver's performance follows a trend, an uncomfortable one.
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He consistently got worse during his partnership with George Russell at Mercedes. It almost appears that where he ended up with Ferrari was a logical progression of his form. Age is also a factor, as at 40 years, Hamilton is not getting any younger.
So, is it about time that Lewis Hamilton retires from Formula 1? Well, let's take a look.
Can he beat the elite talents in the same car?
Unfortunately, we've reached a stage in Lewis Hamilton's career where the answer is no. There's always a claim by several pundits that when the car is right, the driver would magically return to his former glory.
The answer to that is just no, it doesn't happen that way. For sure, the form is temporary, and the class is permanent, but at some point, if your performance levels have already been stagnant and they coincide with your age, then such a thing is not going to be easy.
The last few years have shown that Lewis Hamilton is unable to perform at the same level and with the same consistency as the elite talents. If he does end up in the best car on the grid and has a Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen, or George Russell in the other car, he would be a massive underdog in that battle.
Should an F1 team hire him?
This is the question that Ferrari would need to answer because John Elkann signed Lewis Hamilton, intending him to be the team leader. Unfortunately, you cannot be a team leader if you are a few tenths off your teammate.
Hamilton finds himself in that situation right now, as he is not the benchmark within his team. Ferrari could, however, reset expectations that do not view Lewis as the lead driver within the team but as a mentor to Charles Leclerc and the squad.
The British driver has a wealth of knowledge and knows what it takes to win in F1, including how a team should function, and what the key areas are where it can improve. To add to this, even though Lewis Hamilton might not be at his best anymore in terms of what he's capable of in an F1 car, he'd still belong in the category of drivers that are just below the top tier on the grid. He can still be a valuable asset to a team, but just might not perform at the elite level people expect from him.
Lewis Hamilton: Should he retire?
Now comes the tough question because none of the F1 pundits or fans can make this call for Lewis Hamilton. It has to be the driver who makes this call. First of all, he has to come to terms with the reality that he's not performing at the same level as some of the elite drivers in F1.
Once he comes to terms with that, the question he has to answer is whether he wants to continue racing if he knows he's not elite anymore. If the answer is no, and he's only there to fight for the eighth title and be the best, then it might be time for the driver to call time on his career.
If the answer is yes, and he still wants to race, as he thinks he loves racing in F1, then that is the moment when the real expectations need to be set. He would have to accept the mentorship role where he is no longer the lead but a supporting cast member within Ferrari. With the kind of value he can provide and the level at which he can still perform, he can continue racing at the highest level for multiple years as the Italian team rebuilds.
