Lewis Hamilton has experienced a torrid debut season for Ferrari after so much pre-season hype about what he hoped to achieve in red, and it has become something of a never-ending nightmare for the seven-time champion. It continued at the previous round in Las Vegas and then again in Qatar, with abysmal qualifying performances leaving the 40-year-old understandably very despondent. He’s only won two Grands Prix since 2021 and has as yet failed to achieve a single Grand Prix podium finish for the iconic Italian team, leaving Qatar 78 points behind his teammate, Charles Leclerc, and facing the end of probably his worst ever season in F1 since his debut back in 2007.

Despite the Ferrari team principal, Fred Vasseur, having told his £60m-a-year driver to stop being so pessimistic and to deliver more on track, Hamilton has admitted that he isn’t looking forward to the 2026 season, a comment which has merely increased speculation about whether he might announce his retirement at the end of the current campaign in Abu Dhabi next weekend and avoid the risk of further tarnishing his legacy.

Elsewhere, 2025 has been a very disappointing season for the Silverstone-based Aston Martin outfit, but its highly ambitious owner, Lawrence Stroll, is never afraid to make key personnel changes in his ongoing search for Formula 1 glory. The latest change involves the transfer of the current CEO and team principal, Andy Cowell, to a new job as chief strategy officer, with the legendary designer, Adrian Newey, who is currently the managing technical partner, becoming team principal in addition to his existing responsibilities.

Newey’s technical credentials are beyond doubt, but this move stunned the F1 paddock in Lusail, and it will be fascinating to see how effectively the quietly spoken 66-year-old Brit may perform in a very different additional role. F1 team principals have to be high profile and very public, spending an inordinate amount of time constantly liaising not only with team personnel but also with the media and hosting sponsor and VIP functions throughout every race weekend and beyond.

This is something which is unlikely to come naturally to Newey, and adding such a role to his ongoing technical duties will also be difficult in terms of time too, as it seems he would find it difficult to attend more than half of the 24 rounds on the global calendar. So, it remains open to debate as to whether Newey being the outfit’s new team principal is a permanent or merely a temporary arrangement.

The former Red Bull CEO and team principal, Christian Horner, is keen to return to Formula 1, but only if an appropriate opportunity arises, as he hardly needs the money after his substantial financial settlement from his previous employer. However, Stroll Snr has now killed off persistent rumours that Horner might be joining his team’s senior management structure.

Instead, Horner will simply bide his time and wait to see if other roles arise, particularly once it becomes clear who the winners and losers are in terms of next year’s vastly different new technical regulations. Aston Martin’s chief trackside officer, Mike Krack, is already present at every race weekend and could be a suitable candidate to cover Newey’s team principal role when the latter is absent.


Read my report of yesterday's Grand Prix here: Classy Verstappen Wins In Qatar