Bernie turns the heat on Hamilton–Ferrari: “Embarrassing” and time to stop?
Bernie Ecclestone has never needed an invitation, but he’s taken one anyway. The former F1 ringmaster has weighed in again on Lewis Hamilton’s stuttering first season in red, calling Ferrari’s misfire with the seven-time champion “embarrassing” and suggesting Hamilton should think seriously about walking away.
Speaking to Germany’s Sport.de, the 94-year-old delivered it with his usual blunt edge. In essence: Ferrari believed Hamilton could be the final piece, Hamilton believed Ferrari had the rest, and neither side has delivered. “He should stop,” Ecclestone said, warning that if the struggles drag on, “people will forget him and his achievements.”
The partnership was meant to be the sport’s grand late-career heist. Hamilton’s switch from Mercedes to Ferrari for 2025 carried a simple, intoxicating promise: one last swing at an eighth crown with the team that turned Michael Schumacher into a dynasty. Ferrari had near-miss momentum from last year, and Hamilton brought all the winning muscle memory anyone could ask for.
Instead, it’s been a season of skids and shrugs. Charles Leclerc has set the pace at Maranello and, as it stands, Ferrari is still planted in the sharp end of the Constructors’ fight but remains without a win. Monaco offered a glimpse—Hamilton chased Lando Norris home for second there—but the broader picture has been bumpy. There was a mid-season lull where Hamilton sounded genuinely flat, and while the mood has brightened since, the results haven’t followed. The unthinkable is on the table: a first season without a single podium.
Cue the chorus. You can set your watch by Bernie’s periodic interventions, but he isn’t alone. The chatter has grown louder as Ferrari’s campaign tightens into a narrow path: bank points, keep the floor, and try not to stare at McLaren’s tail lights for too long. Ecclestone’s barb is aimed at both sides. In his view, Ferrari overestimated how quickly a megastar could fix structural issues, and Hamilton underestimated how rugged the climb would be.
For context, Hamilton doesn’t arrive to this with a blank CV. Over 19 seasons he’s started north of 370 races, taken 105 wins and 104 poles, and banked seven world titles with three runner-up finishes. That’s the ledger Ecclestone says risks fading in the public mind if the endgame drifts. It’s a harsh reading of a career that also spans significant off-track work—Hamilton’s pushed diversity initiatives, environmental causes, philanthropy and, more recently, a Hollywood detour with Dawn Apollo Films.
There’s a counter-argument percolating in the paddock too: short memories tend to write long obituaries. Hamilton’s still under contract with Ferrari through at least the end of next year, which puts him squarely in the frame for the 2026 reset. Those regulations will blow up the ground-effect era in favour of flat floors, more electrical deployment and active aero. It’s the kind of reset that’s historically moved mountains and knocked a few off their perch. If you’re Hamilton, you at least hear that siren song before you call time.
Still, the here and now is what stings. Ferrari’s 2025 car has been quick enough to live at the business end without imposing itself there. Operationally, it’s tidy but not ruthless. And for all Hamilton’s experience, he and the team haven’t yet found a setup window that consistently flatters his style. Leclerc, in contrast, knows every creak and corner of this place and has been the more reliable yardstick. That gap—more than any press-conference mood or side project—is what keeps the critics fed.
Ecclestone’s timing isn’t accidental. He’s long cast himself as the sport’s crusty truth-teller, and when Ferrari’s under delivery pressure and Hamilton’s in a dry spell, the take cuts. But let’s be honest: this wasn’t going to be easy. Great drivers have tried the red crusade before—Prost, Alonso, Vettel—and left without the title they wanted. The shirt carries weight. So do expectations.
What happens next? Ferrari will keep tuning and trimming for points, Hamilton will keep fishing for a balance that switches the car on without chewing the tyres, and the outside noise will keep thumping the window. If the podium drought ends, the conversation changes overnight. If it doesn’t, Bernie’s line will keep echoing down the pit lane.
And that’s the uncomfortable juxtapositions of 2025: a legend with nothing left to prove still desperate to prove something; the sport’s most storied team chasing a win they thought would come sooner; a retirement debate that refuses to wait its turn with a regulation revolution just around the corner.
Ecclestone believes the end should come now. Hamilton, by all accounts, isn’t ready to hand in the pass. The clock, and perhaps 2026, will adjudicate.
