Lewis Hamilton said he plans to go off-grid over the winter break as he reflects on a nightmare first season at Ferrari.
The seven-time world champion shook up the racing world last year when he announced he was moving to the Scuderia after 12 largely successful years at Mercedes, where he won six of his titles.
The move paired the sport’s most successful driver with its most successful team. Expectations were high, especially after Ferrari narrowly missed out on last year's constructors' title to McLaren. But 2025 has been the worst of Hamilton's 18-year Formula One career, while Ferrari dropped down to fourth in the final standings.
Hamilton could only finish eighth at Sunday's season-ending Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and sixth overall in the drivers' standings. It was the first time in his career he had failed to score a podium finish.
The final three races were marred by consecutive first-phase qualifying exits, leading many to question whether next year will offer any hope of improvement.
The Briton acknowledged the move to Ferrari had not panned out how either party had envisioned this year, and that he planned to use the F1 winter break to recalibrate – starting by binning his phone to avoid outside distractions.
“At the moment I'm only looking forward to the break, just to disconnecting, not speaking to anyone,” said the 40-year-old.
“No one will be able to get in touch with me this winter. I won't have my phone with me and I'm looking forward to that. Completely unplug from the matrix.
“I've generally always had it around. But this time, it's going in the freaking bin.”
Hamilton's struggles
Multiple reasons could lie behind Hamilton’s struggles, according to The National's Mina Rzouki. The first is the nature of this regulatory era introduced in 2022. Ground effect cars have never suited his instincts. Earlier in the season, he described it as “the worst for me,” and expressed hope that 2026 would offer a reset.
The second element is braking. Braking and corner entry have traditionally been key strengths for Hamilton, yet this year those phases have exposed some of his greatest difficulties. The transition from the Carbone Industrie system at Mercedes to the Brembo hardware at Ferrari has forced him to rewire instincts built over two decades.
The third factor is cultural. Ferrari is an empire with its own cadence, vocabulary and rituals. Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel reflected on his own experience on the Beyond the Grid podcast, saying: “Ferrari has an Italian heart. You cannot really connect with everyone if they do not speak or understand English.”
Leclerc: 'Now or never'
Hamilton’s teammate Charles Leclerc, who finished fifth overall but raced to seven podiums, has struck an equally frustrated tone at Ferrari’s winless season.
The Monegasque said next season, with radical rule changes offering the chance of a reset, was Ferrari’s “now or never” moment.
The team, who enjoyed years of dominance with German great Michael Schumacher in the early 2000s, last won a drivers’ championship with Kimi Raikkonen in 2007.
Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur played down his drivers’ comments.
“It doesn’t matter if you are first or 10th, I think the debrief today at Alpine, at Williams, at Red Bull, or with us, it’s the same,” said the Frenchman. “We are just trying to do a better job”.
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Stuck in a job without a pay rise? Here's what to do
Chris Greaves, the managing director of Hays Gulf Region, says those without a pay rise for an extended period must start asking questions – both of themselves and their employer.
“First, are they happy with that or do they want more?” he says. “Job-seeking is a time-consuming, frustrating and long-winded affair so are they prepared to put themselves through that rigmarole? Before they consider that, they must ask their employer what is happening.”
Most employees bring up pay rise queries at their annual performance appraisal and find out what the company has in store for them from a career perspective.
Those with no formal appraisal system, Mr Greaves says, should ask HR or their line manager for an assessment.
“You want to find out how they value your contribution and where your job could go,” he says. “You’ve got to be brave enough to ask some questions and if you don’t like the answers then you have to develop a strategy or change jobs if you are prepared to go through the job-seeking process.”
For those that do reach the salary negotiation with their current employer, Mr Greaves says there is no point in asking for less than 5 per cent.
“However, this can only really have any chance of success if you can identify where you add value to the business (preferably you can put a monetary value on it), or you can point to a sustained contribution above the call of duty or to other achievements you think your employer will value.”
