Lewis Hamilton's dream Formula 1 move to Ferrari results in a nightmare first season

PARIS (AP) — Lewis Hamilton's dream move to Ferrari resulted in a nightmare first season.

The 40-year-old British driver's quest to win a record-breaking eighth Formula 1 title with his new team failed dismally, with Hamilton not even getting on the podium in a Grand Prix race.

Matters became so frustrating that at one point Hamilton suggested Ferrari should replace him with another driver.

Australian driver Jack Brabham was 40 when he won the F1 title in 1966, but Hamilton fell well short of matching that feat.

Hamilton won a short-format sprint race in China in March, but in the 24 main F1 races did not finish higher than fourth. He took no pole positions and placed a disappointing sixth in the F1 standings, a sizable 86 points behind his teammate Charles Leclerc in fifth.

Overall, the former Mercedes star has won only two F1 races over the past four seasons.

His frustration has at times been expressed in curt team radio exchanges during this campaign with Ferrari race engineer Ricciardo Adami. Hamilton sarcastically told him to “have a tea break” during the Miami GP in May.

“ I’m useless, absolutely useless,” Hamilton told British broadcaster Sky Sports after a disappointing qualifying session at the Hungarian GP in early August. “The team have no problem. You’ve seen (Leclerc's) on pole. So they probably need to change driver.”

A few weeks later he sounded more upbeat.

“I just really want to focus on getting back to that enjoyment,” Hamilton said. "I joined the team that I’ve always dreamed of driving for.”

But the season nose-dived further for Hamilton. He made uncommon errors for a driver who owns FI records of 105 wins and 104 pole positions.

He was eliminated from Q1, the first section of qualifying, for the last three races of the season and did not qualify in the top 10 for four consecutive races.

He also crashed in the third practice at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last weekend due to a driver error, losing control of the car's rear and sliding into the barriers.

“I don’t have the words to describe the feeling that I have inside," Hamilton said on Saturday after the crash. “An unbearable amount of anger and rage.”

Qualifying problems persisted for Hamilton.

In July, he qualified 16th at the Belgian GP after his best lap time was scrapped for going off track. The day before, he was 18th in qualifying for the sprint race following a spin.

Earlier that same week, however, Hamilton had spoken with determination and authority. He described holding “ crunch time ” talks with Ferrari’s leaders to demand improvements.

“I’ve sat with John (Elkann, Ferrari’s president), Benedetto (Vigna, CEO) and Fred (Frédéric Vasseur, team principal) in several meetings," Hamilton said at Spa-Francorchamps.

Hamilton even complied a “full document for the team” during the mid-season break, detailing “structural adjustments that we need to make” and “issues that I have with this car.”

All of this input made little difference on the track.

Hamilton finished seventh in Spa, placed 12th in Hungary and did not finish the following race in the Netherlands.

There was another DNF in Brazil last month, followed by finishes of eighth, 12th and eighth to end the season on a low.

Hamilton called the weekend in São Paulo a “nightmare” while Leclerc was “not happy” with his “very slow" car.

Leclerc did not win a race this season either. But the driver from Monaco beat Hamilton 7-0 in podiums and comfortably in the standings.

Following the Braziilian GP a concerned Elkann told both his drivers to “focus on driving and talk less."

Hamilton recorded his worst-ever qualifying performance at the following GP — last in Las Vegas.

“I feel terrible. Terrible,” Hamilton said.

After the Abu Dhabi GP, where fellow Briton Lando Norris clinched his first F1 title, Hamilton vowed to fight on.

“It’s been a tough season, but the kindness and hard work of everyone at Ferrari means a lot to me,” Hamilton said. “I stand with team and know we have better times ahead."

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Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain walks back to his pits after he crashed into the track wall during the third practice ahead of the Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, UAE, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain, left, and Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc of Monaco attend the drivers parade ahead of the Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, UAE, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain prepares for the drivers parade ahead of the Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, UAE, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain in action during the Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain reacts after the Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, UAE, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)

Mohamed Salah's long goodbye to Liverpool begins on Saturday in the quarterfinals of the FA Cup, the competition which represents his best chance of a trophy in his final year at Anfield.

The Egypt winger announced last week that he will be leaving Liverpool at the end of the season after nine years at a club where he has broken scoring records and established himself as one of the world's best players.

Salah potentially has 15 games left in the famous red shirt: Seven in the Premier League as well as three in the FA Cup and five in the Champions League, should Liverpool reach the final in both of those competitions.

That won't be easy.

In the Champions League, defending champion Paris Saint-Germain is up next in the two-leg quarterfinals and it's pretty much as tough in the FA Cup, with Liverpool handed an away match at Manchester City.

Salah, who has 255 goals in 435 appearances for Liverpool, missed the Reds' last game before the international break — a 2-1 loss at Brighton in the league — with a muscle injury but has told manager Arne Slot he should be healthy enough to return this weekend.

“He just does so much for his body for such a long time that he recovers so fast," Slot said on Wednesday. "So, he will train with the team again tomorrow and if everything works well then he’s available to be with us at City.”

The 33-year-old Salah was left out of the Liverpool team for four straight games at the end of 2025 in what appeared to be a breakdown in his relationship with Slot and the club.

Since returning from the Africa Cup of Nations, Salah virtually has been an ever-present in the lineup, seemingly winning the Dutch coach round.

“That hunger never drops,” Slot said of Salah. "It's the thing I find most special about him. So many good players around the world — he's definitely one of them in the last 10 years — and to show that hunger every three days, that professionalism, that commitment to the club and to the team, wanting to score again, always wanting to play ...

“When you take him out three minutes before the end, he's like, ‘Ah, maybe I could have scored one extra.’”

City, meanwhile, is seeking a domestic cup double after beating Arsenal in the English League Cup final on March 22. Pep Guardiola's team is also chasing Arsenal in the Premier League, which takes a break this weekend to give the FA Cup its own space in the calendar.

The other FA Cup quarterfinals take place across Saturday and Sunday.

After City-Liverpool in the early kickoff on Saturday, Chelsea hosts third-tier Port Vale — the lowest-ranked team left in the competition — before Arsenal visits second-tier Southampton.

On Sunday, West Ham hosts Leeds in an all-Premier League matchup.

Manchester City midfielder Phil Foden has less than two months to persuade England coach Thomas Thomas he is worthy of a place in the World Cup squad.

Foden started both of England’s recent friendly games — a draw with Uruguay and a loss to Japan — but failed to impress either in the No. 10 role or as a “false nine," prompting Tuchel to say it's “ not a guarantee ” that Foden will be at the World Cup.

Foden was English soccer's player of the year in the 2023-24 season but has not maintained his top form and has rarely started for City in recent months.

Arsenal's team sheet for the Southampton game will be heavily scrutinized, given 10 players missed games for their national team over the international break because of various issues.

Eberechi Eze, Jurrien Timber and Martin Odegaard already had injuries that caused them to miss the League Cup final, before Piero Hincapie, Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes and Leandro Trossard all pulled out of international duty.

England's Noni Madueke and Spain's Martin Zubimendi missed the second games for their respective countries after reporting injuries.

There might be growing disharmony at Chelsea, going off recent comments by two of the team's best players.

Enzo Fernandez said after elimination in the Champions League that he couldn't guarantee being at Chelsea next season, while Marc Cucurella told The Athletic during this international break that the team was “more stable” under coach Enzo Maresca, who was fired in January, and, "If you asked me, I would not have made this decision.”

Liam Rosenior, the current Chelsea coach, is under big pressure after four straight defeats.

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England's Phil Foden holds the ball during the international friendly soccer match between England and Uruguay in London, Friday, March 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

FILE - Liverpool's manager Arne Slot talks to Mohamed Salah during the Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Tottenham in Liverpool, England, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Jon Super, File)