Hamilton was knocked out in the first part of Sprint Qualifying on Friday and Qualifying on Saturday before claiming 12th in the Grand Prix – his joint-worst finishing position of the season.
The seven-time world champion stated the car felt like a “fight like you couldn’t believe” as he looks set to end his first campaign in red without a podium, having finished at least one race in the top three every year since joining the sport in 2007.
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“It definitely has been the most challenging year both in and out of the car. I’ve got so many notes in terms of things we need to improve on,” Hamilton told Sky Sports F1.
“Time will tell whether or not we act on those things and we keep hold of the things that are good and change the things that are not – and there’s plenty of those.
“There’s literally no reason why we couldn’t fix those if we just put those into action. I’m hopeful for us making progress.”
Hamilton said following November’s Las Vegas Grand Prix that he was “not looking forward” to next year despite new regulations providing an opportunity for teams to move forward in the pecking order.
Team principal Frederic Vasseur said: “This comes 10 minutes after a difficult race and I perfectly understand the frustration.
“When he says he’s ‘not focused on 2026’ it’s because he’s focused on his own race which was a tough one. This frustration, we have to take the positive from it. We take it as a positive reaction. We have to improve, that’s clear.”
Vasseur admits he ‘underestimated’ psychological damage of stopping development
Ferrari stopped development on this year’s car in April when they realised any championship hopes were unlikely after McLaren’s early dominance.
The team and drivers agreed to the decision but Vasseur admits he “underestimated” the psychological impact it would have on Ferrari.
“When you still have 20 races to go, or 18 races to go, and you know that you won’t bring any aero development, it’s quite tough to manage psychologically,” said Vasseur.
“But overall, we continued to push. We brought some mechanical upgrades, and we are trying to do a better job operationally, and this is the DNA of our sport. We have to accept this. It was a call, and I’m still confident with the call that we made.”
Charles Leclerc snuck into SQ3 and Q3 in Qatar then finished eighth in the race after “pushing like hell” since Friday practice according to Vasseur, who thinks the track layout and conditions did not suit Ferrari.
“In Qatar, keep in mind that we have all the same cars as two weeks ago, it means that it’s more related to the track and the conditions than something else [for the lack of pace],” he explained.
“If you compare to Sao Paulo when we were in good shape and this weekend, it’s a matter of setup. It means that it’s part of the game, part of the life of the team, that sometimes you are struggling a bit more to find the right window.
“I think the window is quite narrow, and the fact that the field is much tighter – you lose two or three tenths, you are at the back. It’s like this from mid-season, and it will be like this also in Abu Dhabi.
“If we don’t do a good job, it was true for Max in Sao Paulo, that you can be out in Q1 for a setup issue.”
The 2025 F1 season concludes with the title-deciding Abu Dhabi Grand Prix live on Sky Sports F1 from Friday. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime
