Lewis Hamilton: What is Ferrari Driver Salvage of the first turbulent F1 campaign with the Italian team? | F1 News

As was the case several months ago at the start of his first Formula 1 campaign with Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton will arrive at the first race after the summer break in unknown territory.

The seven times world champion of Ferrari Bow in Australia in March saw him wear new colleagues for the first time in a grand prize environment.

While the 40 -year -old has gradually adapted to the partnership between the driver and the most famous sport team, many elements of his success as Mercedes have not yet played as he would have hoped.

Hamilton will go to the Dutch Grand Prix of this weekend in Zandvoort without having marked a podium of the Grand Prix during his first 14 outings for Ferrari.

The longest sequence without podium to start a season which he had previously known was new, which happened when it was in McLaren in 2009 and Mercedes last year. In each of his 16 other F1 campaigns, he arrived on the podium in the third round of the season.

While Hamilton claimed a Sprint pole and a victory in the second round of the season in China, the happy moments have been lacking since this Saturday in Shanghai, and the situation seemed to be unleashed during the last couple before the summer break.

Disappointing qualified performances in Belgium, then Hungary, led Hamilton to declare himself “useless” and to suggest with casualness that Ferrari should replace him.

Since this has not happened, Sky Sports assesses what Hamilton can still save the last 10 laps of the season.

Go on the podium!

Hamilton’s most obvious target for the rest of the year must be to end the sequence it built in races without ending up on the podium.

It is not as if he had been miles from the realization of the feat. He has three fourth places this season.

This should not require a miracle for him to withdraw it, while it is also worth noting that Ferrari was particularly strong at the time of last year.

Leclerc won in Monza and Austin before the predecessor of Hamilton, Carlos Sainz, was victorious in Mexico City, and this could have been very carried out by four victories in five races for Ferrari while the Monegasque brought little in Azerbaijan.

It remains to be seen if Ferrari can reproduce such a push with the limits of their SF-25, which seems to have fundamental problems which prevent them from operating the car as low on the ground as they would like.

Despite these problems, Leclerc has reached the podium five times, so there is clearly enough performance in the car to do it, even if it is not enough to beat the McLarens.

Hamilton’s key to getting back on the podium is to improve its performance on a Saturday. Leclerc started in the first three in five times, while Hamilton obtained his best qualification post from the Grand Prix of fourth once.

Rediscover some confidence

Marking a podium, or better still a victory, would undoubtedly make wonders for the confidence of Hamilton, which seemed to have reached a historic hollow in Hungary.

His post-qualifying comments in Budapest revealed that the doubt of extreme self-infiltrating his psyche, which for an F1 driver can be a descending spiral.

However, the mental strength of the winner of the race at 105 times cannot be underestimated, and he will undoubtedly return to be revitalized after the summer holidays.

The evidence that we have seen so far in 2025 suggest that it is very unlikely that all this will not go smoothly for Hamilton in the rest of the path, but mixing ups with the stockings will be imperative to ensure that he carries a certain belief in 2026, or even wants to continue.

Whatever happens, most F1 fans would like to see Hamilton smile rather than being allowed to reprimand in post-session interviews.

Continue to establish relations

Although adaptation to Ferrari’s car could have been Hamilton’s biggest challenge, acclimatization to a new environment seems to have been a second second.

Hamilton, a worldly figure, knew that there would be a culture shock when he exchanged the teams based in the United Kingdom in which he had spent the first 18 years of his F1 career for Maranello.

Although he expressed his joy at the quality of the locally available pizza, Hamilton seems to have challenged certain working practices in the team.

He spoke several times publicly about his attempts to change the way some things are done, with a particularly notable interview before the Belgian Grand Prix in July, seeing him reveal details of his efforts.

“Some are structural adjustments that we have to make as a team in order to improve in all areas that we want to improve, then the other concerned the current problems I have with this year’s car,” said Hamilton.

Although his intention is clearly positive – and justified given the drought of the 17 -year title of Ferrari, it is just to wonder if those who work in the team will appreciate his very candid approach.

In the midst of his own frustrations, Hamilton must ensure that he keeps the team aside while he seeks to influence the design of the challenger in 2026 of Ferrari, then, let’s hope, take advantage of it next year.

Push the car 2026 in its direction

While everything mentioned so far could improve Hamilton’s short -term perspectives, the thing that really keeps it is the hope that next year can be very different.

The theory, which maintains the perspective that Hamilton wins a record title of pilots as a reality, is that there is something in the current generation of cars which is not suitable for its driving style, and the massive changes of engine and chassis for next year could restore it as one of the best in sport.

He was painfully clear in the qualifications – this season and the last – that he could not match Leclerc and before that George Russell in Mercedes.

Hamilton could say that he was disturbed by the characteristics of the cars provided to him by Mercedes and Ferrari rather than by the generation as a whole, without knowing what he could have done in the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen in recent years or the dominant of McLaren.

It doesn’t really matter at this stage. To make Hamilton realize his dream of ending the drought of the Ferrari title, he will need a car that is both fast and is suitable for his style, because the SF-25 clearly works better for Leclerc.

On the one hand, it is just to wonder if Hamilton did enough during his first season to convince Ferrari’s design team to act his requests, but on the other hand, it would make sense for them to try something different.

Although Leclerc’s speed cannot be questioned, it has not had the reputation of being a driver who excels in terms of car development assistance. By saying this, it should also be noted that it is paid to drive, not design the car!

Be that as it may, the most important thing that Hamilton can achieve during the rest of the season is to ensure that the 2026 car is as close as possible to the way it wishes.

Formula 1 returns after the summer holidays with the Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort this weekend, live Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with now – no contract, cancel at any time