When “Now or Never” Actually Means “Probably Never”
Charles Leclerc’s dropped the ultimatum. 2026 is Ferrari’s moment. It’s now or never. Brilliant timing for that proclamation, given his teammate just completed the most catastrophic season of his career whilst Ferrari forgot how to build race-winning machinery.
Here’s what Leclerc actually said. The whole team’s “incredibly motivated” because massive regulation changes create “a huge opportunity to show what Ferrari’s capable of.” After six or seven races, they’ll know which teams will dominate for the next four years. No pressure there, obviously. Just Ferrari’s entire future decided by Easter whilst Lewis Hamilton tries remembering which way the steering wheel turns.
“I believe that, but next year becomes a crucial year. The whole team is incredibly motivated for next year, because there’s such a big change taking place. It’s a huge opportunity to show what Ferrari is capable of. It’s now or never, so I really hope we start this new era well.”
It’s now or never. What a delightfully ominous warning for a team that just admitted they completely underestimated how badly Hamilton would adapt to their car. Ferrari’s trackside engineering boss Matteo Togninalli finally confessed what everyone’s been watching for twelve months. They didn’t anticipate the adjustment period being this disastrous. “Maybe we underestimated that at the beginning,” he admitted. Maybe? The man couldn’t make Q2 in the final three races whilst Lando Norris was collecting his first world championship.
The Perception Gap That Fooled Nobody
Ferrari’s spinning this narrative that Hamilton’s relationship with the team “looks much worse than it actually is.” Togninalli insists the frustration and results create an image that’s “far worse than reality.” Which would be more convincing if Hamilton hadn’t spent Abu Dhabi describing “an unbearable amount of anger and rage” before announcing his phone’s “going in the bin” for winter.
Nothing screams “healthy working relationship” quite like needing to disconnect from civilisation just to survive the trauma of your debut season, does it?
“What you see from the outside is much worse than it actually is. Nevertheless, the frustration and the results create an image of us and of him that I think is much worse than reality. I have every confidence, I don’t think the relationship is as bad as you all think.”
The radio messages throughout 2025 told a different story. Heated exchanges with race engineer Riccardo Adami. Visible frustration building every weekend. Chairman John Elkann publicly ordering both drivers to “focus on driving and talk less” because apparently discussing legitimate problems violates Ferrari’s code of silence. Fred Vasseur himself criticised Hamilton’s “extreme reactions” earlier this year, claiming his messaging “only makes things worse.”
But sure, the relationship’s fine. Just don’t listen to the radio. Or watch the qualifying sessions. Or read Hamilton’s post-race interviews.
The Simulator He Won’t Touch and the Career He Can’t Salvage
Ralf Schumacher delivered the diagnosis nobody at Maranello wants to hear. Hamilton needs to either adapt or leave. Preferably leave, according to the German.
“Lewis must let go of Ferrari and above all allow the team to put a second good and young driver next to Leclerc next year. Otherwise Ferrari is really doomed to fail.”
Schumacher’s logic is brutal but sound. Ferrari can’t develop a car that suits both Leclerc and Hamilton simultaneously. The Monegasque adapted. The Brit hasn’t. And according to Schumacher, Hamilton’s “cramping searching for the driving feeling he once won with” whilst demanding modifications that are “simply impossible.” He won’t adapt his driving style. The simulator’s apparently “an absolute drama” for him because he just doesn’t do it. But that doesn’t fit modern Formula 1.
That’s the uncomfortable truth Ferrari’s dancing around. One driver mastered the SF-25 enough to score seven podiums. The other couldn’t reach one. Same machinery. Completely different universes. And with Hamilton’s three consecutive Q1 eliminations ending the season, the trajectory’s pointing entirely the wrong direction.
The Development Decision Hamilton Supported
Here’s the delicious irony. Ferrari stopped developing the SF-25 in April to focus entirely on 2026 regulations. Team boss Fred Vasseur admitted that decision was “psychologically devastating.” Hamilton not only supported it, he actively pushed for it. “I was pushing for it,” he confirmed. “I supported it 100%, and I still think it was the right decision.”
Brilliant strategy when you’re already struggling. Abandon any hope of improvement for nine months whilst betting everything on rule changes that might not even favour your team. Meanwhile, McLaren kept developing and won the constructors’ championship that Ferrari led for months.
Hamilton insists the decision didn’t have a “psychological effect” on him personally. Which would be more believable if he hadn’t described feeling “unbearable anger and rage” whilst planning to throw his phone in rubbish bins.
When Your Dream Move Becomes Career Suicide
Johnny Herbert thinks Hamilton might’ve already delivered his farewell speech in Abu Dhabi. The three-time race winner sees a driver who’s “not the Lewis Hamilton he once was” and whose old form is simply “gone.”
“Everything seems harder, way harder, whereas it was simple. He never even had to think about it. It just happened. It’s gone. Will it come back? I’d be very surprised.”
That’s where the seven-time champion’s at now. Former colleagues questioning whether the talent’s permanently disappeared. Finishing 86 points behind his teammate. Recording his first podium-less season in 19 years. Breaking Didier Pironi’s 44-year record for longest Ferrari debut stint without a rostrum visit. What a legacy to cement.
The calls for retirement are mounting. Karun Chandhok describes 2026 as “make-or-break” for the relationship. Schumacher wants Ferrari to replace him with “a good young driver” before it’s too late. Herbert’s convinced the magic’s gone and won’t return. Even RacingNews365’s own driver ratings placed Hamilton 13th out of 20 full-time drivers with a 6.0 average. Behind Nico Hulkenberg. Behind Fernando Alonso. Barely ahead of Esteban Ocon.
The 2026 Gamble Nobody Believes In
Leclerc’s right about one thing. 2026 is make-or-break. Ferrari either nails the regulations from day one or watches their expensive experiment collapse in real-time. There’s no middle ground when you’ve abandoned an entire season to prepare.
But betting on a 41-year-old driver who couldn’t adapt to this year’s car suddenly mastering next year’s completely different machinery? That’s not strategy. That’s desperation dressed up as optimism.
“The most important for me is to have a guy coming back to us and pushing the team to do a better job and to work all together to try to get better results.”
Vasseur’s defending his driver’s criticism as “positive dynamic” that pushes Ferrari forward. Leclerc’s always complained about everything but channels it constructively. Hamilton’s frustration apparently serves the same purpose. Except one driver scored seven podiums whilst the other couldn’t find one.
Perhaps the criticism would land differently if it came with actual performance to back it up? Instead, Ferrari’s stuck defending a relationship that’s clearly broken whilst insisting everything’s fine behind closed doors. Hamilton’s planning his winter hibernation. Leclerc’s issuing ultimatums. And the team that once dominated Formula 1 is gambling everything on rule changes saving them from their Hamilton disaster.
It’s now or never? Based on 2025’s evidence, it’s probably never. But at least they’ll have photoshoots to fill the time between disappointments.
