Lewis Hamilton issues firm denial over impact of major Ferrari decision

Lewis Hamilton has given a firm denial that Ferrari's decision to stop aerodynamic development on its car earlier had any "psychological" impact on the team.

Boss Fred Vasseur revealed toward the end of the season that the Scuderia had elected to switch off development of the SF-25 from as early as April so full attention could be placed on the major changes coming in for 2026.

Ferrari's rivals did not follow this philosophy, with McLaren, Red Bull, and Mercedes all bringing major upgrades as the team slipped to fourth place in the constructors'.

For the first time in his career, Hamilton failed to score a grand prix podium in a season he branded a "nightmare" and himself as "useless" following a particularly galling qualifying in Hungary, but the seven-time champion has given his emphatic backing of the decision to stop developing the 2025 machine.

"It didn't have a psychological effect on me, personally," Hamilton told media, including RacingNews365. 

"I didn't know at the end of the year that we would be where we are; no one anticipated it, but it felt worse naturally.

"But I was pushing for it, it was like: 'We can't fall behind the others in terms of development for the new car,' because it is a steep learning curve for all of us.

"So I supported it 100%, and I still think it was the right decision, particularly with where we were with the car, we weren't fighting for the championship.

"That just meant it's been harder to maintain the performance that we have, and I can't answer the question for the rest of the team, but everyone has stayed really positive in my experience, so I've not seen a psychological impact."