Two Legendary Drivers Face Uncertain Futures
Rumors and hearsay are not enough evidence on which to base a case. However, at a certain point in one’s career, even rumors carry big weight. Talks in recent weeks have circled the uncertain futures of Mercedes’s Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, two award-winning drivers who have an almost mythic past. Now, their futures are being called into question as the 2025 season unfolds far differently from expectations.
Lewis Hamilton made waves when he announced his move from Mercedes to Ferrari. However, so far, it looks like the most memorable moment was the announcement itself. As Hamilton has taken time to adjust to the Scuderia outfit, his debut for the Italian team has lacked the expected luster. Even accounting for his adjustment time, his consistent lag behind co-driver Charles Leclerc doesn't seem to be getting any tighter during each successive Grand Prix, prompting the driver to predict a ‘painful’ season. While his contract extends through 2026, former driver Jaime Alguersuari suggested that Hamilton’s time in the red livery may be coming to an end during a conversation on the racing podcast, The After Lap Podcast. He continued making the sharp point, saying, “Ferrari is not a winning team. A team is a team that wins races, but it is not a winning team”. Hamilton himself has been similarly pessimistic in his predictions following his seventh-place finish in Jeddah, stating, “Nothing I did would work”. A tone that is becoming more and more common with the former World Champion.
Similarly, Max Verstappen is facing questions about his future with Red Bull. Talks about signing with Mercedes, Hamilton’s former team, have come to the surface in light of Red Bull’s inability to clinch consistent victories. Toto Wolff has expressed obvious interest in the Dutch driver over the 2024 season and has not yet confirmed current drivers George Russell and Kimi Antonelli for next season. The honorable Christian Horner, Red Bull team boss and president of the Max Verstappen fan club has assured the press that, “Max has made it very clear he’s part of the team and we’re all in it together”.
While 2025 saw a serious change in the driver lineup, a shift of this magnitude would completely alter the Formula 1 landscape. With Cadillac joining the circuits in 2026, there is a possibility for the formation of a team that, at the moment, has no perceivable shape. Hamilton has expressed a desire to restate himself as the World Champion and perhaps has a higher likelihood than Verstappen of shifting, yet again, to another team. Verstappen, however, has become as fundamental to the Red Bull institution as Horner; the two have sent a clear and consistent message that they view their relationship as an integral component of their success. While rumors and hearsay confirm nothing, they do provide a direction for our attention, gently notifying us of what we need to keep an eye out for. With the triple header over, the teams have some time to regroup before the next race on May 4th. Perhaps in that time, Hamilton and Verstappen’s uncertainties will resolve themselves.
