Verstappen backs Hamilton to rebound in 2026 after bruising first year at Ferrari
Max Verstappen has offered a dose of empathy for Lewis Hamilton after the seven-time champion’s first season in red turned into something no one saw coming: a year without a single podium. The Red Bull driver, who sparred with Hamilton at the peak of their 2021 rivalry, says it’s been painful to watch — but he’s adamant the Ferrari recruit isn’t going anywhere.
“It hasn’t been a good season for him, of course,” Verstappen told Viaplay while reflecting on 2025. “You can tell from everything, like the onboard radio… I don’t like seeing that.” Asked if Hamilton could call it a day before the new regulations arrive, Verstappen didn’t hesitate: “He won’t give up, so he’ll definitely be there.”
Hamilton’s headline-grabbing switch from Mercedes to Ferrari was supposed to re-ignite his title chase. Instead, 2025 delivered a harsh reset. He finished the campaign without a podium and well behind Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari points race — 242 to 156 — in a season that never properly clicked. The frustration bled through team radio all year and culminated in another sting: a Q1 exit at the Abu Dhabi finale before salvaging eighth.
The pair even split on one of the season’s flashpoints. Hamilton slammed his Mexican Grand Prix penalty as “double standards.” Verstappen didn’t agree with that take — but he still sounded more sympathetic than sharp, a reminder that the sport’s fiercest competitors also know exactly what the other is living through when the car isn’t there.
Hamilton, contracted at Maranello through 2026, has already made clear his own stance on the retirement chatter — and on the chorus of opinions that followed. “I won’t say anything to them,” he said when told Nico Rosberg was among those weighing in. “None of them have done what I’ve done. They’re not even on my level.”
If anything, he wants silence — literally. After Abu Dhabi, Hamilton said he plans a hard reset over the winter. No calls, no messages, no phone. “I’m looking forward to this complete unplug,” he said. “This time, it’s going in the freaking bin.”
Ferrari will hope the switch flips back the right way in 2026, when new chassis and power unit regulations drop and the field gets another shake. That reset is the bet Hamilton made when he walked into Maranello. It’s also what keeps Verstappen convinced his old rival will be on the grid and reloaded. And it sets up an intriguing dynamic inside Ferrari, where Leclerc carried the points this year but knows better than anyone how quickly the picture can change when the rulebook does.
For now, Hamilton ends 2025 with bruises and blunt truths. Verstappen, from the opposite end of the competitive spectrum, offers a rare nod across the divide. The results were rough. The resolve, he insists, isn’t going anywhere.
