Lewis Hamilton in U-turn as questions raised over Ferrari regret | F1 | Sport

Lewis Hamilton has backtracked on his worrying claim that he is “not looking forward” to next season. That comments was made in the media pen at last weekend’s Las Vegas Grand Prix, when the seven-time Formula 1 champion was in a dismal mood at the end of a wretched few days.

But despite his difficult year, Hamilton insists he does not regret his decision to join Ferrari. And the 40-year-old also dismissed any significance behind his comments about next year, pointing out that they were delivered in the “heat of frustration” and only minutes after the Las Vegas race had finished.

Speaking ahead of this weekend’s Qatar Grand Prix, Hamilton said: “I would be surprised if the other drivers are excited about next year at the end of a season. Usually, you don’t have a lot of energy at the end of the season. It was in the heat of frustration and often there is a lot of frustration at the end of a race when it does not go well. I am excited to see what the team does next year.”

And when asked if he regrets walking away from Mercedes, he added: “That is a hypothetical question and I will not really get into that, but I don’t regret the decision I made, joining this team. I know it takes time to build and grow within an organisation and I expected that.”

Hamilton has found it difficult to adapt to his new surroundings this year but has said previously that he is optimistic about what he can achieve behind the wheel of Ferrari’s 2026 car, having had a significant say in its development. But he made it clear he hopes to see improvement not only to his racing machine’s performance, but also to the team’s operations trackside.

He said: “We’ll analyse the season and there’s lots of improvements we need to make collectively, but no-one is under any illusion in the team that we will have to play our part and I believe that we can. So I’m hoping we implement and make those changes along with hopefully a better package next year.”

And Hamilton is adamant that he is not at all worried about the fact his team-mate Charles Leclerc has been able to get much more out of the Ferrari this year. Specifically, the Monegasque has scored 74 points more to date and has stood on the podium seven times, while the Brit has not finished in the top three of a Grand Prix once.

Nevertheless, Hamilton said: “I am not concerned about that. I have just been focusing on my side during this period. Charles has done a great job. He has been here for seven years and he has a team around him who he has worked with for many years so it is a well-oiled machine.

“On my side, it is a new group of people. It is a new environment that I am still getting used to. We are working as hard as we can to get it to work as well as we can and to compare it to someone who has had it for seven years, you don’t just do it like that. It takes a bit of time.”