After 'worst season ever', what's next for Hamilton?

Never one to throw in the towel, a clean slate for every team next year means the 40-year-old could enjoy the possibility of one final title challenge in 2026

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Lewis Hamilton, at the conclusion of his 19th and worst season in Formula One, could not have been more unambiguous.

“No one’s going to be able to get hold of me this winter,” he said, after the season finale in Abu Dhabi last Sunday. “I won't have my phone with me and I’m looking forward to it. Just completely unplugged from the matrix. I’ve generally always had it around, but this time it’s going in the fricking bin.”

Whether it be skiing in the Rocky Mountains near his Colorado home or keeping a low profile at his houses in London and New York, Hamilton is clearly planning a period of much-needed inconspicuousness. Even disregarding the lofty, dreamworld ambitions at the start of 2025, it has been a wretched season for the seven-time F1 world champion.

The significant statistics read as follows: 24 races, zero wins, zero podiums. Hamilton was only really in contention for a top-three finish once, at Silverstone, when Sauber driver Nico Hulkenberg pipped him. The 40-year-old also finished sixth in the world championship with 156 points - his lowest total since the current points format was introduced in 2010.

And in qualifying, which has been Hamilton's stark weakness over the last few years, he trailed teammate Charles Leclerc 19-5 (mirroring the “scoreline” from 2024 against his then Mercedes teammate George Russell) and was eliminated in Q1 in his last four qualifying sessions of the season, including the sprint in Qatar. What followed afterwards in the media pen was a man devoid of any hope and belief, almost unable to muster any words at all.