Nico Rosberg says Lewis Hamilton is in an “incredibly tough” situation after a difficult first season at Ferrari, but a major overhaul of Formula 1 rules in 2026 still offers “huge hope” of turning things around.
Hamilton’s first year driving with early expectations for F1’s most famous team ultimately yielded few on-track highlights, with the 40-year-old finishing the season without a podium for the first time in his 19-year career.
Rosberg, Hamilton’s former teammate and Mercedes title rival, has known Hamilton since childhood and described the Ferrari driver’s year as “painful”.
“He’s already faced all the challenges in the world. This isn’t the biggest one, but it’s an incredibly difficult challenge,” Rosberg told Sky Sports News at the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi, where Hamilton withdrew in the first stage of qualifying for Round 3.
“He’s stuck because he can’t quit. It would be a huge loss of face.
“Unfortunately it’s terrible. He was the greatest player of all time and it’s not fitting to end his great legacy and it hurts him.”
“I don’t want to be in his position because his car wasn’t good.”
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Sky Sports’ Nico Rosberg, Martin Brundle and Simon Lazenby talk about what’s next for Lewis Hamilton after a tough first year at Ferrari
Hamilton has a multi-year contract with Ferrari, which runs until at least the end of 2026.
Rosberg added on Sky Sports F1: “I think he has to continue. It wouldn’t be cool to stop now.”
“He’s just started this Ferrari project. It won’t work to give up after just one season.
“He has to continue, try again and hope he feels comfortable in next year’s car.
“Maybe this car is a good car? This year’s car is not good.”
Will F1’s big ‘reset’ prove timely for Hamilton and Ferrari?
Hamilton said the 2022-2025 generation of ground effects cars were “probably the worst” he had driven in his time in F1.
In four seasons, he added just two race wins and one Grand Prix pole position to his all-time record, finishing second to his teammate in the Drivers’ Championship in three of his four seasons.
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Lewis Hamilton says the 2025 season proved his resilience and reveals plans to transform the squad around him for the 2026 season.
Rosberg said Hamilton now needs to hope that the next regulation era, from 2026, will be more favorable for both him and Ferrari, which fell to fourth in the standings after failing to win a race this year.
“The big thing is that the regulations are changing,” said the 2016 world champion.
“That’s his big hope: a reset. This car could be the winning car next year.”
“He suddenly felt much more comfortable in the car, which he hasn’t been this year.”
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Lewis Hamilton says his support network of family and fans helped him overcome a disappointing first season at Ferrari
Rosberg said Hamilton also needed to gradually change his qualifying tone.
The Briton has suffered a 19-5 defeat in qualifying to Mercedes’ George Russell and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in qualifying for the past two seasons.
“His biggest struggle this year was qualifying pace. In the race there were flashes of brilliance that we had seen all along,” Rosberg added.
“This is just qualifying pace and the car is very different next year so maybe he can find some of that old magic again in qualifying.”
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