Five years on from his last serious title tilt, Lewis Hamilton finds himself at a crossroads with Ferrari. The seven-time world champion might turn 42 in February but he has shown this season he is still capable of holding his own against far younger rivals. There’s an uncomfortable question to be reckoned with, though, just two years into his time with the storied team. If Hamilton wants to enjoy the twilight of his career, can he afford to remain with the Italian team?

In Mexico City on Sunday, the Brit and his team-mate Charles Leclerc failed to take advantage of a favourable situation which they could have used to their advantage. Leclerc’s behaviour on the opening lap saw both Ferraris leave the track, making it easier for Max Verstappen to overtake Hamilton and ultimately come out on top as the veteran had to settle for second. "Ultimately, that lost us the win today," Hamilton claimed, reflecting on that first lap drama. "We have to have some serious talks behind closed doors."

Team principal Fred Vasseur was similarly irritated, saying: “It's a lot of frustration for me, but I'm not the most important. I think it's a lot of frustration for the 2,000 people working for the project – and this I will need time to digest.”

Even Verstappen sympathised. "Ferrari were really fast, I do think they made it a little bit difficult for themselves fighting each other and that's why I was able to capitalise on that,” he said.

Hamilton has one race win to his name this season, all the way back in June in Barcelona. His team-mate’s sole victory came the following month at Silverstone.

That’s still more than 2025, when neither got the champagne out. Hamilton now needs to take stock of the direction Ferrari are headed and decide if he wants to be part of that.

“I’m getting the biggest buzz every time just putting my kit on,” Hamilton said in 2025 as he prepared for his first Ferrari season. “I walk out and there’s the Ferrari sign, and I’m like ‘I’m actually really here’. I’m in this beautiful old building that Enzo had his office in.

“Each day, I’m reminded that it’s really happening. I’m really proud of the shield. And I just want to work as hard as I can with the great people to elevate them and the brand as high as possible.”

Given the prestige of the team and its rich history, you can’t really blame Hamilton for taking the opportunity to join the Scuderia when the opportunity to arose. For different reasons, though, it might be hard to criticise him for walking away before his contract is up.

The 41-year-old is one of the men who has repeatedly pushed back against the idea that F1 is solely a young man’s game. Five of his seven titles came after the age of 30 and he was 36 when Verstappen cruelly denied him glory in 2021.

He has spoken plenty of times about feeling he can stay competitive longer than some of his predecessors. However, he wouldn’t be the first to decide it’s important to enjoy this stage of his career rather than being left frustrated by the little things week on week.

The latest drama in Mexico City wasn’t the first example this season, either. There was also the frustration in Singapore when Hamilton felt he should have been let through, and the failure of the team to sanction it is just another thing to add to the list of evidence of Ferrari not being the serious organisation he may have thought he was joining.

It might be that a move away from Ferrari is what Hamilton needs to get the right things out of his twilight years from a mental perspective. And who knows, maybe the calm could also transfer into some enjoyable and memorable weekends on the track as well.