Last Updated on May 17 2025, 7:48 am
As the 2025 Formula One season progresses, the much-anticipated partnership between Lewis Hamilton and Scuderia Ferrari has yet to produce any on-track fireworks. With six Grands Prix completed, questions are being asked about the dynamic between the seven-time world champion and the most storied team in the sport’s history. According to former Haas F1 Team Principal and current RTL expert Guenther Steiner, the pairing is still a work in progress – but one that will take more than patience to succeed.
Speaking exclusively to RTL/ntv and sport.de in Maranello ahead of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola, Steiner offered a frank assessment of the Hamilton-Ferrari alliance, urging observers and fans to give the relationship time to mature, while placing the onus on Hamilton to integrate more fully into Ferrari’s unique team culture.
The need for time in Maranello
Ferrari’s 2025 campaign began with high hopes following the blockbuster announcement last year that Lewis Hamilton would be joining the team from Mercedes. It was a move that sent shockwaves through the paddock and rekindled dreams among the Tifosi that Ferrari could finally return to championship-winning form. So far, however, the results have been modest at best.
“Ferrari has everything it needs to be at the top of Formula One,” Steiner said confidently.
“They just need a bit of patience.”
Steiner stressed that despite Hamilton’s immense pedigree, he needed more time to get to grips with the SF-25 chassis, the engineering team and the Maranello operation.
“You can’t come to a new team, a new car and be at the front from the start,” he explained, defending Hamilton’s current form. “You have to build the relationship, the trust and the understanding that leads to success.”
Hamilton currently sits seventh in the Drivers’ World Championship standings, a full 68 points adrift of the championship leader and trailing teammate Charles Leclerc, who has already claimed a victory this season and has consistently outperformed Hamilton. For a driver of Hamilton’s stature, these figures are underwhelming – but Steiner believes they don’t tell the whole story.
Calls for adaptability amid criticism
While Steiner advocates patience, he also made it clear that the Briton needs to adapt his approach if he is to thrive at Ferrari.
“Lewis needs to be a bit more adaptable,” said Steiner, referring not only to on-track performance but also to Hamilton’s attitude and communication within the team. The comments came in response to recent criticism of Hamilton for his increasingly frustrated radio messages, many of which were laced with sarcasm directed at his race engineer Ricardo Adami.
Hamilton’s radio chatter during recent races – particularly at the Chinese and Miami Grands Prix – has raised eyebrows among fans and analysts alike. In moments of strategic uncertainty or disappointing results, Hamilton’s tone has been perceived as dismissive or irritated, a style of communication that Steiner and others say does not resonate well with Ferrari’s internal culture.
“This is not Mercedes and it’s not McLaren,” Steiner explained.
“Ferrari works differently, and there’s a level of respect and unity that’s expected.”
Cultural clashes: Danner’s perspective on communication
RTL commentator and former F1 driver Christian Danner echoed Steiner’s concerns, suggesting that Hamilton’s British-style bluntness and sometimes acerbic humour could cause friction behind the scenes in Italy.
“This grumbling and sarcastic remarks – you can do that among English mechanics, but not in Italy and not at Ferrari,”
Danner candidly told sport.de. He suggested that Hamilton’s communication style, while perhaps normal in other environments, was ill-suited to the deeply traditional and emotionally charged atmosphere of Ferrari.
According to Danner, the integration challenges aren’t just about performance or data feedback – they are rooted in a fundamental mismatch in communication styles. Despite almost five months with the team, Hamilton still seems to be on a different wavelength to many in the Ferrari inner circle.
“There are communication problems across the board,” said Danner.
“It’s not just about technical feedback – it’s about chemistry, mutual understanding and cultural fluency.”
FIA constitution change to prevent electoral challenge to president Ben Sulayem
Leadership challenge for Vasseur
Much of the responsibility for managing the situation now falls on the shoulders of Scuderia boss Frédéric Vasseur. Brought in by Ferrari at the start of 2023, Vasseur’s tenure has been marked by a steady rise in competitiveness and morale within the team. But overseeing the assimilation of a driver like Lewis Hamilton, with his unique personality and global profile, is a new challenge.
Danner believes that Vasseur will have to take a more active role in bringing Hamilton into line with the team’s operational ethos.
“Vasseur needs to catch Hamilton and say: ‘Look, this is the way we do things here, and this is the way you’re going to do it,'” he said.
Steiner agrees, noting that Vasseur’s ambitions at Ferrari go far beyond simply steering the ship. “He didn’t just come here to be a team boss,” Steiner points out.
“He wants to be world champion – that is his goal.”
According to insiders, Vasseur has already held several private meetings with Hamilton in an attempt to smooth over tensions and reinforce Ferrari’s core principles. However, the coming months will be crucial in determining whether the relationship can develop into a title-winning partnership or one of mutual frustration.
Newey makes fresh demand of Aston Martin
The road ahead: Can Hamilton and Ferrari find harmony?
The question now is whether Lewis Hamilton can adapt quickly enough to become a central pillar in Ferrari’s championship ambitions – or whether the friction that has arisen will prove too difficult to resolve.
F1’s history is littered with examples of legendary drivers joining iconic teams only to fall short due to internal discord. Hamilton’s arrival at Ferrari was heralded as a fairytale in the making, a legendary driver looking to bring glory back to Maranello, but for now it remains more of a complex project than a love story.
Hamilton himself has expressed optimism in recent interviews, stating that he believes the team is heading in the right direction and that “big wins” are on the horizon. But even he has admitted that things haven’t clicked as quickly as he had hoped.
For the Tifosi, known for their passionate support but also for their impatience, the adjustment period is beginning to test their nerves. They’ve seen Leclerc rise to the challenge and prove himself a consistent front-runner in the SF-25. Now all eyes are on Hamilton to show that he can adapt, communicate and ultimately deliver.
If he does, the reward could be immense – a record-equalling eighth world title and the resurrection of Ferrari’s golden age. If not, the 2025 season may be remembered not as the start of a new dynasty, but as a missed opportunity.
With the European leg of the season in full swing and crucial races in Monaco, Spain and Austria on the horizon, the next few weeks will be crucial. Ferrari, Steiner, Vasseur and, most importantly, Hamilton all understand what’s at stake. The question now is whether all parties can come together in time to turn this uneasy partnership into a championship-calibre alliance.
Ocon slams Alpine over Doohan sacking
MORE F1 NEWS – Question marks raised over Ferrari technical director
Since the departure of Adrian Newey was announced, Red Bull Racing have been the Formula One team under there microscope in terms of suffering a ‘brain drain.’ The team not only lost their guru F1 car designer but over the past couple of seasons have seen other key individuals leave the team.
Rob Marshall left and joined McLaren at the start of 2024 and is believed to have been highly influential in turning around their poorly performing car at the start of last season, into one which saw the Woking based F1 team claim their first constructors’ championship since 1998.
Marshall is credited with engineering skills which may be behind the flexing ‘non-flexible’ body work McLaren are repeatedly accused of utilising. Jonathan Wheatley recently joined the Sauber/Audi F1 project as team principal having left his role as Sporting Director at Red Bull and recent poor performances from the pit stop crew have been put down to th loss of Wheatley’s trackside presence…. READ MORE ON THIS STORY
With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
Bulle dust Steiner, there are plenty of examples where drivers arrived in a team and were running in the front.
And none of them were 7 time champions!!!!