Lewis Hamilton '100% Confident' Ferrari Will Turn Season Around

Forbes

03-04-2025

SUZUKA, JAPAN - APRIL 03: Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and Scuderia Ferrari is interviewed during ... More previews ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Japan at Suzuka Circuit on April 03, 2025 in Suzuka, Japan. (Photo by Mark Sutton - Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)
Lewis Hamilton retains full confidence in Ferrari, despite a difficult start to the season.
The Briton's first year with the Scuderia has been a mixed bag so far, as he finished 10th on debut in Australia and sixth in China, before being disqualified for a technical infringement.
Hamilton won the sprint race after taking pole-position in Shanghai, but is already 35 points behind championship leaders Lando Norris.
His teammate Charles Leclerc, meanwhile, finished eighth in Melbourne and was also disqualified in China after his car was found to be underweight.
As a result, Ferrari has just 17 points after two races and it's already 61 points behind McLaren in the constructors' championship.
But the seven-time world champion has backed the Italian team to put its struggles behind it.
'I saw someone said something about whether I'm losing faith in the team, which is complete rubbish,' Hamilton said in Suzuka, where the third weekend of the season begins on Friday.
'I have absolute 100% faith in this team.'
Hamilton acknowledged his shock move to Ferrari increased the pressure on both him and the team, but insisted he did not expect to hit the ground running.
'There was obviously a huge amount of hype at the beginning of the year,' he continued.
"I don't know if everyone was expecting us to be winning from race one and winning the championship in our first year.
"That wasn't my expectation. I know that I'm coming into a new culture, a new team and it's going to take time."
Hamilton joined Ferrari in January after 12 years with Mercedes delivered six world titles and one of the most dominant eras in the history of the sport.
The Maranello-based team finished last season as the second-fastest on the grid behind McLaren, who won a first constructors' championship in 26 years by 14 points.
SHANGHAI, CHINA - MARCH 21: Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain driving the (44) Scuderia Ferrari SF-25 ... More on track during practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of China at Shanghai International Circuit on March 21, 2025 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by)
Ferrari last won the constructors' title in 2008, while its last drivers' championship came the previous season as Kimi Raikkonen beat Hamilton by a point.
And the Briton acknowledged getting acquainted with a new car was not a simple process, particular in terms of learning the finer technicalities of his SF-25.
In his 18-year career in Formula 1, the seven-time world champion has only ever driven cars fitted with Mercedes engines - first at McLaren and then at Mercedes.
While Ferrari uses the same 1.6-litre V6 turbo hybrids engines as their competitors, the controls that manage the complicated recovery systems are slightly different for each team.
"I was actually quite happy with how I've adapted in just those two races," he said.
"I've definitely got a lot of work to do to make sure that it's better moving forward.
'It's just understanding the technical side of this thing, understanding all the tools that I have. It likes to be driven differently.'
Hamilton's settling in process has also been complicated by a series of external factors.
The 40-year-old was forced to miss a test in Abu Dhabi at the end of last year when drivers tried the new tyre designs in use this year.
He then carried out private tests at Fiorano - Ferrari's private track in January - when he drove the SF-23, before driving this year's SF-25 in official pre-season testing in Bahrain in February.
TOPSHOT - Ferrari's British driver Lewis Hamilton celebrates winning the sprint race of the Formula ... More One Chinese Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit in Shanghai on March 22, 2025. (Photo by GREG BAKER / AFP) (Photo by GREG BAKER/AFP via Getty Images)
The latter testing session, however, was cut short due to technical issues.
'Every other driver here [in Japan] got to do Abu Dhabi tests and try the 2025 tyre,' he continued.
"I didn't. When we went into the race run in Bahrain, the car broke down, so I didn't actually get to do a long run on any of the tyres.
"So, the sprint race [in China] was the first time I'd actually done a 20-lap stint on the tyre.
"And then, in the race, it was the first time I'd ever tried the C2 [compound]. So, I was just learning that through the race.
"You don't just put the tyre on and know what it's going to do. I definitely feel like I was starting to feel the onward effect of not being able to do the test at the end of the year."