Lewis Hamilton dismisses Ferrari exit claims
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Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton arriving for the drivers' press conference on Nov 6, ahead of the Brazilian grand prix.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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- Lewis Hamilton denied rumours he may leave Ferrari before his contract ends in 2026, despite a challenging season, including a record of 20 races without a podium.
- Oliver Bearman, a Ferrari protege, also dismissed rumours that he would replace Hamilton as unrealistic, despite his own strong rookie season.
- Hamilton criticised the FIA's penalty procedures, citing a lack of transparency and accountability, especially after his controversial penalty in Mexico.
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SAO PAULO – Lewis Hamilton on Nov 6 dismissed claims that he may not be at Ferrari beyond 2026, after a hugely disappointing 2025 season following his move from Mercedes.
The seven-time champion has gained an unwanted record after going 20 races without a podium finish, the longest in Ferrari history, and is only sixth in the drivers’ championship with 146 points, 64 fewer than teammate Charles Leclerc.
Following another disappointing outing at October’s Mexico City Grand Prix, rumours began to circulate that he could be replaced by 20-year-old fellow-Briton Oliver Bearman, a Ferrari protege currently with Haas.
Hamilton, 40, said: “I have a pretty long contract. Normally, when you do a contract, it’s usually the year before (that) you start to talk about it. And I’m a little bit far from that right now.”
Rumours about Hamilton intensified during a roller-coaster season with Ferrari that has seen him without a podium finish – he has never failed to score fewer than five before in his previous 19 years in F1 – and push for changes in Ferrari’s working practices.
This has been accompanied by speculation about the future of team boss Fred Vasseur, and added to by the recent departure from Ferrari of his former performance engineer Riccardo Corte.
Hamilton was more forthcoming on Nov 6 about his call for the sport’s ruling body, the International Automobile Federation (FIA), to upgrade penalty procedures, following several controversial incidents in Mexico.
The Briton was the only one of several drivers who cut across the grass and rejoined the track who was punished. He said there was a lack of clarity and transparency.
“It’s something which definitely needs to be tackled and done in the background,” he said.
“But I don’t know if they’re aware of the way that their decisions can ultimately steer careers and decide a championship, as you’ve seen in the past. Some work needs to be done.”
Meanwhile, Oscar Piastri responded to his doubters by emphatically claiming that he remains confident he can recover form and win the 2025 drivers’ world championship.
The 24-year-old Australian, who lost the lead of the title race for the first time in six months when McLaren teammate Lando Norris won in Mexico, said: “I’ve still got what it takes to win.”
Norris leads Piastri by a point in the drivers’ standings with four rounds remaining. “Yeah, there’s been some bumps along the road, but there’s been bumps along the road for everyone this year at different points,” Piastri said.
“I’m confident that I’ve learnt a lot of helpful things from the last couple of weekends in particular... I’m confident as well that I can still perform at some of the heights of the success we’ve had this year.
“There’s still a lot of laps to go and I’m very confident I can still win.”
McLaren chief Zak Brown has said his team would rather lose the world championship by a point than favour one of their drivers against Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who is hot on their tails.
“We’ve got two drivers who want to win the world championship. We’re playing offence; we’re not playing defence,” he said.
“I’d rather go, ‘We did the best we can and our drivers tied on points and the other guy beat us by one’ than the alternative.” AFP, REUTERS
