Lewis Hamilton takes aim at 'certain individuals' after 2025 horror

Lewis Hamilton has conceded to taking great delight in silencing "certain individuals" who believed his F1 career to be finished as he endured a torrid debut season with Ferrari last year.

After three difficult seasons with Mercedes, following a switch to ground-effect regulations in 2022, Hamilton joined Ferrari in a bid to turn a page and kickstart the twilight of his remarkable time in F1.

But for the first time in the seven-time F1 champion's 19-seasons in the sport, Hamilton failed to score a grand prix podium across a campaign, towards the end of which he cut a bereft figure.

Many pundits and critics suggested it was time for Hamilton to call it a day, but following another regulation change and behind the wheel of a car more suited to his driving style, the 41-year-old has bounced back this year.

In China, Hamilton finally secured a long-awaited podium for Ferrari at the 26th time of asking. Heading into F1's return in Miami at the start of May following the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix, Hamilton is fourth in the drivers' standings, eight points behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.

Although not naming names, taking aim at those who dared to suggest he was on his way out, speaking to F1, Hamilton said: "When you have difficult years, there are a lot of questions all over the place.

"Ultimately, I saw certain individuals who haven't had anywhere near the success that I've had, just talking negatively, as they continue to do.

"And it felt great to be able to come back, to come into this season, and start strong, to be able to show that I still have what it takes to compete at the front. I'll continue to try and show up and deliver in that way."

Nightmare over

For Hamilton, there is natural relief, though, that the four years of the ground-effect rules finally came to an end last year, and that, like himself, Ferrari was also able to turn its full attention to making inroads into the current regulations.

Hamilton is one of the few drivers to have expressed his relative happiness with the rules, which now feature a 50-50 split between combustion and electrical energy.

"It's really nice to have started the season, and we don't have bouncing," said Hamilton. "Obviously, that last generation [of car] was a nightmare for everyone with bouncing, apart from maybe the Red Bulls, so that's one thing out of the way.

"It's then come back down to just pure car performance. Everyone's started from scratch, and it's been a big reset for everybody. So then it's a race to the finish line.

"It's like a race to see who can develop and push the team, to row faster and stronger and with more stamina through the season, to continue to pile on performance to a car, which makes it so much more exciting, and we're seeing development coming through."

Detailing his visits to the factory this season, and his search for performance, and the application of resources to certain areas of the car, he added: "This is exactly what we need.

"Last year we couldn't do that, because there was no point having those meetings for the car that we were in, but at least we got to have those and plan for this year."