Lewis Hamilton has clarified comments made after his disappointing Las Vegas Grand Prix when he suggested he was "not looking forward" to the 2026 season.
A disappointed Hamilton offered a series of downbeat assessments on his weekend and form after finishing 10th on the road last Sunday (which became eighth after McLaren's disqualifications) from last place on the grid.
In his interviews afterwards he said afterwards that he felt "terrible" and was looking forward to seeing the back of what he admitted stood as the "worst season" of his career, his first at Ferrari. He also suggested he was not "looking forward" to 2026 either.
But asked what he had meant on Thursday ahead of this weekend's Qatar Grand Prix, the season's penultimate event, Hamilton said: "I would be surprised if the other drivers were excited about next year at the end of a season because usually you don't have a lot of energy at the end of the season, looking forward to time with family and stuff.
"But, look, that's just in the heat of frustration.
"Often there's a lot of frustration at the end of races particularly when they haven't gone well.
"I'm excited to see what the team build next year and to continue to build on with them."
Appearing in Thursday's official press conference at the Lusail International Circuit, Hamilton though was not keen to reflect in any great detail on his difficult first year at Ferrari.
After Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz had been asked to look back on their respective seasons, Hamilton replied when asked how he looked back at 2025: "I don't. I just look forwards.
"There's not realty much to say, the results have shown. There are some positives to take from it and you just move forwards.
"Gelled in the team and there's amazing passion within the team."
Hamilton's struggles in Las Vegas represented the latest difficult weekend in the seven-time world champion's first season at Ferrari.
But asked if he would have still signed for the Italian team from Mercedes knowing what he knows now about how his debut season in red has panned out, Hamilton said: "Firstly, that's a hypothetical question so I wouldn't really go into that, but I don't regret the decision I made joining the team.
"I know it takes time to build and grow within an organisation and I expected that."
He also said he was not worried about being outperformed by team-mate Charles Leclerc this season.
With a 74-point lead over his team-mate with two races left, Leclerc is already guaranteed to finish as the higher Ferrari driver in the championship. The Monegasque has claimed all seven of Ferrari's podium finishes this season, while he has also comfortably won his first qualifying head-to-head (17-5) against Hamilton too.
"I am not concerned about that. I have just been focusing on my side during this period," insisted Hamilton.
"Charles has done a great job. He has been here for seven years and he has a team around him who he has worked with for many years so it is a well-oiled machine.
"On my side, it is a new group of people. It is a new environment that I am still getting used to.
"We are working as hard as we can to get it to work as well as we can and to compare it to someone who has had it for seven years, you don't just do it like that. It takes a bit of time."
Friday November 28
11.05am: F2 Practice
1pm: Qatar GP Practice (session starts at 1.30pm)*
3.30pm: Team Bosses' Press Conference
4.05pm: F2 Qualifying*
4.50pm: Qatar GP Sprint Qualifying (session starts at 5.30pm)*
Saturday November 29
1pm: Qatar GP Sprint build-up*
2pm: QATAR GP SPRINT*
3.30pm: Ted's Sprint Notebook*
4.15pm: F2 Sprint
5.15pm: Qatar GP Qualifying build-up
6pm: QATAR GP QUALIFYING
8pm: Ted's Qualifying Notebook
Sunday November 30
11.55am: F2 Feature
2.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Qatar GP build-up
4pm: THE QATAR GRAND PRIX
6pm: Chequered Flag: Qatar GP reaction
7pm: Ted's Notebook
*also on SportNews Main Event
Formula 1's season-ending triple header continues with the Qatar Grand Prix Sprint weekend live on SportNews F1 from Friday.
