Ferrari confirms internal review – Ferrari team principal Frédéric Vasseur has openly reflected on Lewis Hamilton’s challenging first season with the Scuderia. He admitted that he had underestimated the difficulty of the task facing the seven-time world champion following his move from Mercedes. While dismissing any notion of panic, Vasseur confirmed that Ferrari is evaluating all internal options to help Hamilton perform at the expected level, including the possibility of changing his race engineer.

Hamilton’s debut season in red has been the most challenging of his Formula 1 career. For the first time, the British driver finished a season without a single win or podium finish, which is a stark contrast to his highly successful years at Mercedes.

 

 

 

 

Vasseur Accepts Responsibility

Addressing the situation, Vasseur made it clear that the responsibility does not lie solely with the driver. The Ferrari boss acknowledged that the team had underestimated just how profound the transition would be for Hamilton after two decades in the Mercedes environment.

“I underestimated the scale of the change,” Vasseur admitted. “For 20 years, he was part of the Mercedes world. Everything was different for him, the culture, the methods, the software, the components, the people.”

According to Vasseur, the margins in modern Formula 1 are so fine that even small delays in adaptation can have significant consequences. ‘If you are not at the top in every area, you lose tenths. This year, the difference between fifth and fifteenth place was minimal,’ he explained.

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Adaptation challenges at Ferrari

Hamilton’s struggles have been compounded by Ferrari’s highly complex operating environment. Unlike at Mercedes, where he spent most of his career, Ferrari’s internal processes, communication style and technical philosophy require a complete reset.

Vasseur highlighted that, while Charles Leclerc’s side of the garage benefits from years of shared experience, Hamilton is still building those relationships.

“With the other side of the garage, we know each other better. We know what Charles needs and wants,” he said. “With Lewis, we still need to understand each other better, and I also need to understand what he wants.”

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Engineer Change Under Consideration

As part of its evaluation, Ferrari has not ruled out changing Hamilton’s race engineer. Such a move could bring an end to his collaboration with Riccardo Adami, although no final decision has been made officially, this website understands it is highly likely Hamilton will split with the Ferrari engineer in favour of a new one for 2026.

“We need to improve our collaboration. He needs to try to get the most out of his car. Every detail counts,” Vasseur stated. “We are evaluating all the options.” the Frenchman rather ominously concluded with.

Ferrari views the engineer-driver relationship as a critical performance factor, particularly for a driver adapting to a new team later in his career. The aim of a change would be to improve communication, trust and technical alignment, rather than assign blame.

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Focus on long-term improvement

Despite the disappointing results, Ferrari remains committed to supporting Hamilton and maximising his performance going forward. Vasseur’s comments suggest a pragmatic approach, focusing on learning from the past season rather than reacting emotionally to the results.

The goal for Ferrari is clear: to ensure that Hamilton’s second season with the team better reflects his experience, talent, and championship pedigree, even if that requires making difficult internal decisions.

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NEXT ARTICLE – F1 row erupting over 2026 regulation loophole

There was Williams active suspension in the 1990’s, Renault’s electronic gismos in the mid naughties, the double diffuser of the Brawn car and off throttle blowing by Red Bull and Renault. All loopholes in the regulation which a single team managed to exploit to win championships.

Now with the biggest set of technical regulations coming in the history of F1, another loophole is likely to cause a paddock row and a potential protest from certain teams come the season opener in Australia.

The grey area some manufacturers of the powertrains are seeking to exploit is over the new compression ratios for the internal combustion engine specified by the FIA.

 

Maximum compression rate for ICE reduced for 2026

Whilst no formal complaint has yet been made, the finger of suspicion has fallen upon Mercedes – who supply McLaren, Williams and Alpine together with Red Bull powertrains who supply the Racing Bulls and Red bull Racing.

The beef surrounds Article C5.4.3 of the new technical regulations which mandates a reduction in compression rates from 18.0:1 to 16.0;1. The reason behind this was to temper peak performance and deliver more efficient combustion in lines with the sport’s ever increasing green values, but it appears to have created a new complex battle between the manufacturers.

The loophole has been created by the FIA’s decision on how to measure the new ratio. Under the current rules this will…READ MORE ON THIS STORY