F1 | Ferrari, Hamilton on the early halt to 2025 development: "I supported the decision 100%"

Lewis Hamilton has supported Ferrari and Frederic Vasseur's decision to halt development of the SF-25 early and focus all their efforts on next year, the season that marks the introduction of the new technical regulations.

2025 was a bitter year, sportingly, for the Prancing Horse team, which took a clear step back in performance compared to 2024, when it had battled for the Constructors' Championship with McLaren. This was in contrast to last season, when Maranello failed to secure a single victory, finishing fourth in the overall standings.

"I was pushing Fred," Hamilton said, quoted by Autosport. "It's like we can't fall behind the others in terms of developing the new car, because it's a steep learning curve for all of us. So I supported it 100%. I still do, I think it was the right decision. Especially considering the situation we were in with the car, we weren't fighting for the championship."

Hamilton, continuing his speech, said: “But that simply meant it was harder to maintain performance, at least some of the performance we had at the start of the year. I can't answer that question for the rest of the team. I think everyone remained really positive, in my experience. So I didn't see any psychological effects.”