With the chance of F1 2025 title glory slipping away for Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton will “before too soon” request focus changes to 2026.

That is the announcement which Hamilton made at the Spanish Grand Prix as he sits P6 in the Drivers’ Championship, 23 points behind team-mate Charles Leclerc, and 115 points off McLaren’s Oscar Piastri at the top of the standings. Ferrari meanwhile has fallen 197 points behind runaway leaders McLaren in the Constructors’.

Ferrari to soon focus on F1 2026 at request of Lewis Hamilton?

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

Ferrari were expected to be among the teams fighting for the titles in F1 2025 after pushing McLaren all the way to a Constructors’ title-decider in Abu Dhabi last season, but instead, McLaren has pressed on to become the leading force.

Piastri leads the Drivers’ standings by 10 points over McLaren team-mate Lando Norris, while Red Bull’s Max Verstappen is 49 points off top spot in P3, so all of this has only further brought into focus the question of when teams switch their full and undivided attention to the all-change F1 2026 season.

Smaller, lighter cars armed with active aerodynamics will hit the grid from next season, powered by new engines which will feature an increased reliance on electrical power, and the use of fully-sustainable biofuels for the internal combustion engine.

And Hamilton will “soon” make his desire to concentrate on F1 2026 clear to Ferrari.

“If I’m honest, I don’t know what upgrades we have coming, but we haven’t had an upgrade for some time,” Hamilton told the media, including PlanetF1.com, at the Spanish Grand Prix.

“We’ll keep pushing with what we have, but before too soon, I will just be saying, ‘Let’s focus on next year.’

“So we’re building a foundation this year, learning about the tools, the structures, our processes, and just nailing those, so then when we arrive next year, we will be with the car that we really want.”

Latest F1 2025 head-to-head standings

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

Admitting that “it’s not up to me” when asked if Ferrari would go all-in on F1 2026 now if he called the shots, Hamilton acknowledged that while the door is not fully closed on the 2025 titles, he looks at F1 2026 as the more “open” picture with the sweeping regulation changes coming into force.

“I think we are working on next year’s car,” Hamilton added. “Whether or not we are 100 per cent on next year’s car, I can’t comment on.

“Next year is the championship that’s currently open. This one would be a lot harder to win, but it’s still not closed.”

A potentially crucial race weekend awaits next for Hamilton in what has been a slow start to Ferrari life as he heads for the Canadian Grand Prix, a race which he has won a record-equalling seven times.

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