Ferrari team boss thought Hamilton would be faster – The marriage between Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari was always going to be one of the most talked-about moves in recent Formula 1 history. After all, the seven-time world champion arrived in Maranello carrying not just his trophy cabinet but also the kind of expectations that could bend the walls of the Gestione Sportiva. The reality, however, has been far more grounded. Aside from a sprint victory in China, the first half of the season has been more a series of awkward dinner conversations than champagne-soaked celebrations.
Hamilton currently finds himself in sixth place in the drivers’ standings, trailing teammate Charles Leclerc by 42 points after fourteen races. The Briton’s frustration has occasionally spilled into public view, particularly after a difficult qualifying in Hungary, followed by a race that did little to lift the mood. For a man who has spent the better part of two decades at the sharp end of the sport, such middling results are not the sort of statistics to frame on the wall.
Ferrari team principal Frédéric Vasseur, who has known Hamilton since their successful Formula 3 days together at ASM back in 2005, has been quick to defend his new recruit. In an unusually candid admission to Formula 1’s official website, Vasseur suggested that both he and Hamilton might have misjudged the scale of the adjustment required.
A leap into the unknown
“I think we may have underestimated the challenge for Lewis at the start of the season,” Vasseur admitted.
“He spent almost ten years at McLaren and then ten years at Mercedes – that’s almost twenty years in the same environment. Switching to Ferrari meant a huge change in culture, people, software, the car… basically in every possible way.”
It is a point that’s easy to overlook in a sport obsessed with numbers, data and lap times. For Hamilton, the move wasn’t just a change of team but an upheaval of the familiar – new engineers to understand, new systems to master, and a car with a temperament that seems to change with the weather.
“Perhaps we underestimated that, both Lewis and myself,” Vasseur reflected. “But I’m very, very happy, because in the last four or five races he was back up to speed.”
Leclerc’s own frustrations
While Hamilton has been working through the teething pains of his Ferrari switch, Charles Leclerc’s season hasn’t exactly been a summer holiday in Monaco either. The Monegasque pulled off a surprise pole position in Hungary, only for a chassis issue to drop him back to a fourth-place finish. In Vasseur’s eyes, this too is a test of character.
“He’s doing well,” Vasseur said. “Of course, the season isn’t easy, not for Charles, and not for the team either. It’s much easier for a driver when the car is performing great, and we had some initial problems. But the response was positive and strong.”
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A season for patience and persistence
Ferrari’s 2025 campaign has been one of high expectations crashing headlong into reality. After coming within touching distance of the constructors’ title last year, many expected the SF-25 to be a title contender straight out of the box. Instead, both drivers have found themselves wrestling with a car that is brilliant on occasion but maddeningly inconsistent.
“In a season like this, where you start with high expectations and then struggle, it’s very easy to lose hope,” Vasseur said.
“But Lewis never gave up. He’s always kept pushing – pushing the team, pushing himself – and the partnership with Charles has been very strong. That’s very positive, because it’s precisely in these kinds of situations that you see how people really react.”
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More brand synergy than title glory
Of course, if one were feeling a little mischievous, it could be said that Ferrari’s big signing has so far been more about brand synergy than title glory.
The Maranello PR machine loves a global superstar, but they might have hoped for a few more first-place trophies to put in the cabinet by now. Instead, the Ferrari garage has occasionally resembled a joint therapy session – one driver lamenting the quirks of a new environment, the other lamenting the quirks of the same old one.
Hamilton’s arrival was meant to be the dawn of a new era, yet the dawn has been more overcast than blazing sunshine. While Vasseur insists the second half of the season will see Hamilton firing on all cylinders, Ferrari fans have been promised these kinds of revivals before, only to find themselves clinging to the hope that next year will be different. It’s a tradition in its own right.
The irony, of course, is that Hamilton’s resilience is beyond question. But the patience of the tifosi is legendary only in its brevity, and Maranello is not the sort of place where a bedding-in period is viewed as a strategic advantage.
Whether Ferrari’s high-profile partnership will blossom into a genuine title-challenging force or become another chapter in the long, occasionally tragicomic history of “what might have been” remains to be seen. For now, all eyes will be on whether Hamilton and Vasseur can turn their mid-season admission into mid-season momentum.
And so, dear jury, the gavel is passed to you – is Hamilton’s slow start a natural part of such a seismic career shift, or should the alarm bells already be ringing in Maranello? Cast your verdict in the comments below.
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Ferrari’s 2025 season has been more sinking gondola than roaring prancing horse, yet in the shadows of Maranello’s glossy press releases, work is intensifying on the next big gamble, the 2026 car that could define Lewis Hamilton’s final act in Formula 1. The whisper emerging from behind the factory gates is a curious one. Hamilton’s future machine might feature a redesigned battery pack, a piece of engineering that promises a jolt of performance… but with a sting in the tail.
In 2024, Ferrari missed out on the Constructors’ crown by just 14 points. Logic suggested they would be charging even harder in 2025. Instead, the Scuderia has stumbled backwards, right in the season they welcomed the seven-time world champion with a red carpet and even redder expectations. This backward step has, perhaps, been the slap of reality Ferrari needed before the sweeping rule changes in 2026. But in the here and now, the SF-25 simply isn’t the fearsome predator it should be…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.
With negative people in the team, willing to place their own predilections ahead of Ferrari results, Hamilton faces an uphill struggle to perform to his potential. They are risking their own futures but such folk won’t see that until it’s too late and are better out of F1.