Former F1 driver Giedo van der Garde believes that Lewis Hamilton has been given a ‘slap’ since joining Ferrari. The Brit has endured a slow start to life with his new team, with Charles Leclerc outperforming him so far this season.
The Monegasque driver has 47 points to his name currently with Hamilton scoring 31, which Van der Garde will have been a major wake-up call to the latter as he looks to adapt to life with Ferrari following his Mercedes switch.
Speaking to RacingNews365 about how the move has panned out so far, Van der Garde explained: “You just hope that if Hamilton makes such a move to Ferrari it will be a success. But fair’s fair, he has had a slap around the ears from his team-mate – and hard as well.”
He went on to speak about how Hamilton may be suffering due to his low confidence levels, as well as how he no longer has the ‘upper hand’ both on the grid and over his new teammate.
Asked what the 40-year-old’s main issue is at present, Van der Garde replied: “Confidence, that’s the main thing. When he came into Formula 1, he was a cannon, young and eager.
“He came in next to Fernando Alonso and later he knew with Nico Rosberg [at Mercedes] that he actually had the upper hand – he had beaten him fairly easily since karting. He’s facing a different generation now.
“He’s getting older and also took a hit when he didn’t manage to take that eighth world title. Then, for years, he didn’t have the car to compete at the front, although he did show some good races last year. At Silverstone, of course, he did produce a super performance.
“But as I said, he is also facing a younger generation that knows how to handle the driving techniques of the current generation of cars a little better than Hamilton has learned. I think at the moment that’s a problem he can’t get out of.”
Hamilton will hope that his current woes at Ferrari are simply teething problems rather than a sign of what is to come with the Scuderia, and he retains the faith of the higher powers at the team – with team principal Fred Vasseur recently launching an X-rated defence of his new driver after he finished seventh at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.