Hamilton and His Toughest Season: The Record at Risk

Joining Ferrari was supposed to be a sort of F1 career coronation for Lewis Hamilton. A lifelong admirer of the Prancing Horse. He could hardly have imagined that 2025 would turn into one of the toughest seasons of his career. And a record could be about to fall

Lewis Hamilton 202 podiums in his life long career

For the British driver, this championship could mark the first time in his career that one of his longest-running records comes to an end: the streak of consecutive seasons with at least 5 podiums.

A seven-time world champion and the all-time record holder for F1 podium finishes, an incredible 202, Hamilton had managed to score at least five podiums every year. From his debut in 2007 through 2024. Only in 2009 and 2013 did he hit his lowest marks, with five and six podiums respectively. This year, that number still stands at zero.

Unfortunately, the Shanghai Sprint Race, which Hamilton won this year, doesn’t count towards this particular statistic, even if it was an impressive achievement.

To keep his record alive, Hamilton would need to finish on the podium in all five of the remaining races this season. Impossible? Almost. Yet in recent rounds, Ferrari seems to have finally found the key to making certain components. Such as the rear suspension, work more effectively, allowing for better ride height adjustments and preventing the car’s plank or floor from scraping the ground.

Everyone knows that changing teams is never easy. Adapting to a completely different car, especially after years in a machine tailor-made for him, is an enormous challenge.

Bearman in, Lewis out

However, early signs from Maranello suggest that Ferrari and Hamilton could part ways after 2027. Meanwhile, young and promising Bearman is waiting in the wings, having impressed everyone with a stunning fourth-place finish for Haas at the F1 Mexican Grand Prix.

For Hamilton, wrapping up his career with the most famous team in the world would be fitting, even if his first year in red has mainly been about learning how to master a car unlike any he’s ever driven. It’s a bit like learning to ride a bike: the first time you don’t fall is already an achievement.

All things considered, his current fifth place in the Drivers’ Championship, just behind the more experienced Leclerc in P4, can be seen as a respectable result.

With the Brazilian Grand Prix fast approaching, Hamilton will have to squeeze every ounce of performance from his SF-25, chasing that long-awaited result that both the team in Maranello and the Tifosi have been dreaming of all season.