Hamilton’s ‘farewell’ tones ignite fresh scrutiny over Ferrari future

Under the cold blue glare of the Yas Marina floodlights, Lewis Hamilton stood in front of the cameras sounding less like a man resetting for another title bid and more like someone closing a book. After a bruising, podium-less first year in red, the seven-time champion talked about disappearing over the winter, throwing his phone in the bin and unplugging from what he called “the Matrix”.

"I don't have a mindset for next year at the moment," he told Italian TV after Abu Dhabi. "I just want to switch off and not talk to anyone. Nobody will be able to reach me this winter. I won't have my phone with me. I'm looking forward to that. Just being completely disconnected from the Matrix." A weary smile and a Ferrari suit still damp with sweat did the rest of the talking.

Then came the line in the paddock that really lit the fuse. Asked about the new rules era, Hamilton admitted: "2026? At the moment I’m not looking that far ahead," before quickly adding that "retirement is out of the question." According to former F1 driver Johnny Herbert, those Abu Dhabi reflections "sound like a farewell speech" and hint at a legend questioning how much longer he wants to wrestle an uncompetitive car.

The numbers explain the gloom. Hamilton’s first Ferrari campaign delivered 0 wins, 0 Grand Prix podiums and a season-long struggle just to escape the DRS train of the midfield. He endured three consecutive Q1 eliminations, became the first full-time Ferrari driver to suffer that fate, and finished almost a hundred points behind Charles Leclerc as the Scuderia slumped to fourth in the constructors’ standings.

From the outside, the body language has jarred with the driver who once turned Sunday afternoons into a masterclass in tyre management and pit-window timing. Ralf Schumacher called Hamilton’s Abu Dhabi interview "strange" and said it "definitely leaves things open" about his future. Nico Rosberg went further, arguing that his former team-mate is "stuck because he can't quit", noting that walking away now – a year into the Ferrari project – would be "a big loss of face" and "not a worthy end" to a career of this scale.

And yet, when the lights went out on the 2025 season, Hamilton was adamant that this is not the final chapter. He has repeatedly swatted away the idea of immediate retirement, framing the doubt as external noise rather than inner truth.

"It's the love for what you do, it's the love for racing. I've got amazing support from people around me, my fans. It's that constant keeping an eye on the dream. I still have a dream that I hold hope in my heart for, and that's what I work towards."

— Lewis Hamilton, speaking to the UK press in Abu Dhabi

That dream, as he has said since the day he signed in Maranello red, is to win with Ferrari. His commitment has wobbled in tone but not content. Earlier this autumn he caused a stir by saying he was "not looking forward" to 2026 after a dire Las Vegas weekend, only to clarify weeks later that it was "just in the heat of frustration" and that he is excited to see what Ferrari produce for the new rules cycle.

Those 2026 regulations now hang over his future like a chequered flag on the horizon. Hamilton is on a multi-year deal that runs at least to the end of that first season of the new era, and insiders like Pedro de la Rosa describe it as his "last chance" to chase the car that will let him escape the dirty air and fight at the front again. Rosberg calls the rules reset his "huge hope" – a clean slate that might return some of the old qualifying spark that has deserted him.

Off-track, the signposts to life after F1 are quietly being planted. GP Fans revealed that his father, Anthony Hamilton, has registered a new motorsport venture, HybridV10, along with trademarks like Hybrid World Series and HybridV10 World Motorsport Festival. No one is claiming this is a formal retirement plan, but its timing has inevitably fed the sense that the Hamilton family is at least sketching what the world might look like once the visor finally comes up for good.

For now, though, Hamilton’s story is not a goodbye – it’s a cliffhanger. A winless season, farewell-sounding reflections and a winter spent off the grid have sharpened scrutiny on whether he will see out this Ferrari project. But in his own words, the dream is still alive. When he reappears from that self-imposed digital blackout and straps back into the scarlet car, the question won’t just be whether Ferrari have found pace. It will be whether Lewis Hamilton can write another chapter worthy of the legend that brought him here in the first place.