When Lewis Hamilton climbed out of his Scuderia Ferrari after the Las Vegas Grand PrixLas Vegas Strip Circuit on November 18, 2023, he didn’t celebrate. He didn’t smile. He didn’t even look at the scoreboard. "I feel terrible," he told Sky Sports F1. "It’s been the worst season ever." And for a man who’s won seven world titles and 103 races, those words carry weight. The 38-year-old British driver, who left Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team after 16 years to join Ferrari in 2023, finished the race in 10th — later upgraded to 8th after two McLaren cars were disqualified. But he called it "zero satisfaction." No positives. No silver linings. Just exhaustion.

The Descent of a Legend

Hamilton’s 2023 season has been a slow unraveling. After qualifying dead last — 19th — in a rain-slicked Q1 session in Las Vegas, he clawed his way through the field. He passed cars. He held his line. He even outperformed his own expectations. But the car? It betrayed him. On the straights, he lost nearly 10 km/h compared to rivals. The DRS activation came too late. The tires — especially the medium compound — turned to mush after just 12 laps. "I felt like it was probably the best race of the season," he admitted, "but you’re just not able to show it in this car."

It’s a stark contrast to his Mercedes years, where he dominated qualifying, controlled races, and turned strategy into art. Now, he’s fighting a machine that doesn’t respond the way he expects. At the previous race in Austin, he finished fourth — one of only four top-five results in 22 races. His season average? 9.3rd place. He’s now 148 points behind Lando Norris, McLaren’s 23-year-old rising star, and officially out of championship contention.

Why the Ferrari Feels Like a Trap

Hamilton didn’t just leave Mercedes for a new team. He left a dynasty. Since 2014, Mercedes had won every Constructors’ Championship. Ferrari, meanwhile, had endured years of mismanagement, technical missteps, and leadership turnover. When Scuderia Ferrari hired Frédéric Vasseur as Team Principal in January 2023, fans hoped for a revival. But the 2023 car — the SF-23 — was slow in a straight line, unstable in high-speed corners, and critically, unresponsive to Hamilton’s driving style.

Analyst Bernie Collins of Sky Sports F1 broke it down: "He had a great first stint on the hard tire. Looked competitive. Then the medium tire went from bad to worse. He lost time to Hulkenberg — a driver Ferrari should be beating by a second a lap. That’s not driver error. That’s car setup. That’s tire management failure. And it’s not isolated to Las Vegas."

At the United States Grand Prix, Hamilton complained about the car’s rear instability. In Singapore, he lost 12 seconds in one lap due to tire degradation. In Japan, he was 0.8 seconds slower than teammate Charles Leclerc in qualifying — a first in his career. The pattern is clear: the Ferrari is fast in bursts, but inconsistent. And Hamilton, who thrives on predictability, is drowning in uncertainty.

Team Radio Tensions and Strategic Confusion

According to F1Oversteer.com, Hamilton’s frustration boiled over during the Las Vegas race. On team radio, he questioned why Ferrari didn’t pit him earlier to undercut Hulkenberg. "We had the pace," he reportedly said. "Why didn’t you make the call?" The team, it seems, was waiting for a gap that never came. When Hamilton finally pitted, the medium tires were already cooked. He lost 3.2 seconds in just six laps. That’s not strategy. That’s chaos.

It’s a far cry from his Mercedes days, where engineers adjusted setups based on his feedback in real time. Now, Hamilton says he’s "trying everything in and out of the car" — from cockpit positioning to pre-race warm-up routines — but nothing changes the outcome. The car doesn’t listen. The team doesn’t adapt. And the pressure? It’s crushing.

What’s Left? Two Races and a Legacy

Hamilton heads to the Qatar Grand PrixLosail International Circuit with only two races remaining. He won the sprint race there in 2021. He knows the track. He knows how to extract performance. But can he extract it from this Ferrari?

His goal now isn’t the championship. It’s dignity. It’s proving he can still win, even in a flawed machine. He’s also fighting for his legacy. A win in Qatar or Abu Dhabi would be his 104th — a record no one else has touched. But more than that, it would signal that his move to Ferrari wasn’t a mistake — just a painful transition.

Meanwhile, Ferrari’s own season is unraveling. Leclerc, their homegrown star, has finished outside the top five in six of the last eight races. The team sits third in the Constructors’ Championship, behind Red Bull and McLaren. Vasseur has publicly admitted they’re "not where we need to be." The question isn’t whether Hamilton will leave Ferrari — it’s when. And whether they’ll ever recover from this.

Why This Matters Beyond the Track

This isn’t just about one driver’s bad season. It’s about the fragility of greatness. Hamilton, at 38, is still physically elite. Mentally, he’s sharper than ever. But Formula One has changed. Cars are more complex. Teams are more bureaucratic. And the margin for error? It’s gone. What Hamilton is experiencing is what happens when a legend joins a team in crisis — and becomes the scapegoat for its failures.

For fans, it’s heartbreaking. For competitors, it’s a warning: even the best can fall. And for Ferrari, it’s a wake-up call. They didn’t just sign a champion. They signed a mirror. And what they’re seeing in it isn’t pretty.