Ferrari have reportedly already lined up a replacement for when seven-time F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton departs the team.
Hamilton’s move from Mercedes to Ferrari hasn’t exactly gone as planned. After 14 races of his debut season, he is still yet to reach the podium, and sits 175 points behind World Drivers’ Championship leader Oscar Piastri. He has his lowest points tally ever since a new points scoring system was introduced in 2010.
The 40-year-old has frequently been critical of his performances, declaring himself “useless” and urging Ferrari to replace him after qualifying 12th at the Hungarian Grand Prix. In the same race, his teammate Charles Leclerc took pole.
The Brit has been outperformed by Leclerc all season, with their respective performance tallies reading 10-4 in favour of Leclerc in qualifying and 11-2 in races. The Monegasque driver is one place and 42 points ahead of his teammate.
It has been nearly an entire year since Ferrari were the first to reach the chequered flag, with the now-Williams driver Carlos Sainz the last man to win a race for Ferrari at the 2024 Mexican Grand Prix. Unless their fortunes improve, the 2025 season could well be the first campaign since 2021 where Ferrari haven’t won a race.
Ferrari Have Identified Lewis Hamilton’s Successor
Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has backed Hamilton to emerge from his slump and go on to help the team achieve success. However, having achieved all that there is to do in the sport, few would blame Hamilton if he chose to retire at the end of the current season.
If Hamilton were move on, fellow Englishman Oliver Bearman is apparently in line to replace him, according to a report from Auto Motor und Sport.
The Haas driver has had an up and down rookie season, finishing 11th in four of the last five races and picking up eight points for his team. He has been more impressive in qualifying, reaching Q3 twice and Q2 six times, outperming his teammate Esteban Ocon. Ferrari, though, remain unconcerned by the 20-year-old’s patchy form and are convinced that he has the skills to take over from their star driver in the future.
Retirement would look to be the only way that Hamilton could get out of his deal with Ferrari. His £39 million-per-year contract runs through 2026 with an option for another year. However, if he were to decide that the 2025 season is his last in F1, Ferrari are seemingly ready to promote their academy product Bearman, who would be available to make the move.