Lewis Hamilton has clarified his comments after suggesting he was “not looking forward” to the 2026 season after the disappointing Las Vegas Grand Prix.
A disappointed Hamilton made a series of pessimistic assessments of his weekend and form after coming from bottom of the grid to finish 10th (8th after McLaren’s disqualification) in last Sunday’s road race.
In a subsequent interview, he said he felt “terrible” and was looking forward to seeing the other side of what he admitted was the “worst season” of his first career at Ferrari. He also suggested that 2026 is not something to look forward to.
But when asked what that meant on Thursday ahead of this weekend’s Qatar Grand Prix, the penultimate event of the season, Hamilton said: “I would be surprised if other drivers were looking forward to next year at the end of the season because normally at the end of the season you don’t have a lot of energy looking forward to spending time with your family and stuff.”
“But, you know, it’s just in the midst of frustration.
“There’s often a lot of frustration at the end of a race, especially when it doesn’t go well.
“I’m excited to see what the team builds next year and continue to develop further with them.”
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Hamilton finished last at the Las Vegas Grand Prix and was eliminated from Q1.
Hamilton, who attended Thursday’s official press conference at the Lusail International Circuit, was reluctant to reflect on his difficult first year at Ferrari in detail.
Asked how he would look back on 2025, after Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz were asked to reflect on their respective seasons, Hamilton replied: “Not really. I’m just looking forward.”
“There’s not much to say really. The results show. There are some positives to take from it and we just have to move on.”
“The team is united and there is incredible passion within the team.”
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Hamilton was depressed after finishing 10th at the Las Vegas Grand Prix
Hamilton has ‘no regrets’ about leaving Ferrari and is ‘not concerned’ about Leclerc’s dominance in 2025
Hamilton’s struggles in Las Vegas were emblematic of recent difficult weekends in the seven-time world champion’s first season with Ferrari.
But when asked if he would have still signed for the Italian team from Mercedes knowing what he knows now about how his debut season in red went, Hamilton said: “First of all, it’s a hypothetical question so I’m not going to go into it too much, but I don’t regret my decision to join the team.”
“We know that building and growing within the organization will take time, and we anticipated that.”
He also said he is not worried about losing to teammate Charles Leclerc this season.
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Las Vegas Grand Prix Qualifying Highlights
Leclerc is already certain to finish as the top Ferrari driver in the championship, with a 74-point lead over his teammate with two races remaining. The Monaco has claimed all seven podiums for Ferrari this season and also comfortably won his first head-to-head qualifying clash with Hamilton (17-5).
“I’m not worried about that. I’m just focused on my team during this period,” Hamilton insisted.
“Charles has done a great job. He’s been here for seven years and has a team around him that he’s worked with for many years, so it’s a well-oiled machine.”
“For me, it’s a new group of people, a new environment that I’m not used to yet.
“We’re working really hard to make it work as well as we can. You can’t just do it that way when you compare it to someone who’s had this disease for seven years. It’s going to take a little bit of time.”
Sky Sports F1 Qatar GP Schedule
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A look back at some of the most dramatic moments that happened at the Qatar Grand Prix.
Friday, November 28th
11:05am: F2 practice
1:00pm: Qatar GP Practice (Session starts at 1:30pm)*
3:30pm: Team boss press conference
4:05pm: F2 Qualifying*
4:50pm: Qatar GP Sprint Qualifying (session starts at 5:30pm)*
Saturday, November 29th
1pm: Qatar GP Sprint build-up*
2pm: Qatar GP Sprint*
3:30pm: Ted’s Sprint Notebook*
4:15pm: F2 Sprint
5:15pm: Qatar GP qualifying build-up
6pm: Qatar GP Qualifying
8pm: Ted’s Qualification Notebook
Sunday, November 30th
11:55am: F2 Special
2:30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Qatar GP Build-up
4pm: Qatar Grand Prix
6pm: Checkered flag: Qatar GP reaction
7pm: Ted’s Notes
*Also held at Sky Sports Main Event
F1’s season-ending triple header continues with the Qatar Grand Prix Sprint weekend, which will be broadcast live on Sky Sports F1 from Friday. Stream Sky Sports now – cancel anytime with no contract
