1997 F1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve warned Lewis Hamilton that he risks losing his credibility at Ferrari amid his difficult start to the season.

Hamilton’s start to the 2025 F1 season hasn’t gone to plan for Ferrari.

Ferrari have scored just one podium in the opening six races and trail McLaren by over 150 points in the F1 constructors’ championship.

Hamilton has generally been out-classed by teammate Charles Leclerc.

The seven-time world champion has shown flashes of brilliance, particularly in sprint races.

Hamilton won the China sprint and finished third in the Miami sprint race after an inspired strategy call.

However, Saudi Arabia proved to be the low point for Hamilton so far in 2025, leading him to admit it’s likely going to be a “painful season”.

Villeneuve believes Hamilton’s openly downbeat approach could result in Ferrari losing trust in him.

“You can hear that Lewis Hamilton is not happy at all,” Villeneuve told Vision4Sport. “Charles Leclerc has been stepping up more and more. And you can hear it in Lewis’s comments, ‘I’m sorry’. It’s like Norris, once you start doing this, you’re burnt.

“You lose your credibility, and people lose trust in you. They think he’s only there for the ride now.

“That’s not the right image to show to a team like Ferrari, who are so fickle. Ferrari are like a volcano. You need those fireworks. You need the passion, the spark to set things off. If you don’t have the sparks, that’s a problem at Ferrari. There’s not much time.

“At Mercedes, he was allowed to take his time. Not Ferrari. You need to be up there and bang. The sprint race in China seemed to be the spark. But no fire came out after that. There was no dry grass around to catch fire!”

Hamilton “at a loss”
Hamilton’s poor run of results isn’t entirely down to him.

Ferrari were out-paced by Williams across the weekend in Miami.

Alex Albon finished fifth, two places ahead of the lead Ferrari of Leclerc in seventh.

Ferrari’s disappointing start to the year has come as a surprise, given that they narrowly missed out on the 2024 F1 constructors’ championship.

With Ferrari set to introduce upgrades over the coming races, Villeneuve is waiting until Monaco to judge whether Hamilton can get over his current issues.

“The key thing for Lewis was to get to Ferrari with a new family and a new energy,” Villeneuve added.

“Not a carry on of what he had been living at Mercedes, which was relying on him thinking, ‘It will be easy because I’m so good’.

“That’s not how it works at Ferrari. And it’s really odd. The key point is how it will be once they all get back to Europe. They haven’t had time to take a breather. It’s been a gruesome schedule. He seems to be at a loss for why things aren’t working out for him. Let’s wait until Monaco. Then we will see what happens.”