Lewis Hamilton has declared that Ferrari will undoubtedly experience the success that they are chasing, and that in the meantime, he and his team-mates have a duty to ‘protect the team’ from the external speculation and noise. The seven-time world champion’s move to Maranello generated hype and anticipation unrivalled in F1’s modern age, but the on-track performances from the Scuderia have offered fans little to get excited about.
Aside from a breakthrough sprint race victory at the Chinese Grand Prix, Hamilton has struggled to extract performance from the SF-25 and has generally been second-best to team-mate Charles Leclerc throughout all stages of the race weekends. However, the Brit believes that he has found information that will help bridge the gap.
“Yes, I mean, on one side it’s to be expected,” he said ahead of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix when asked whether the situation at Ferrari is being blown out of proportion. “It’s the greatest team in Formula One history, and it’s that special and, of course, there’s more clicks, there’s more stories that are written about it.
“And people have opinions, and it’s not always been smooth sailing. So I think just from my perspective, you can’t work with a team and change things overnight. And we’ve spent this time to really get to know each other.
“There are changes that are short-term that we will do together – keep all the greatness and keep building the areas that we could be stronger in. And some of those could be short-term and some of them are longer-term. There’s so many great things within this team, and so we want to harness the energy and the passion that’s within the team.
“We also have to protect the team, as well, because the spotlight is more on this team than any other team. Everyone in this team really, their heart is so in it. We’re riding the rollercoaster ride up and down together. And I have no doubts that we will get to where we plan to be. It’s just going to take time.”
If Hamilton and Leclerc still plan on delivering a World Championship to the Tifosi in 2025, then performances will need to turn around fast. The double disqualification in Shanghai has left the Italian constructor on the back foot, 94 points behind McLaren at the top of the Constructors’ Championship standings.
In the Drivers’ Championship, the situation is even more concerning. Leclerc is 45 points behind Lando Norris at the top of the standings, while Hamilton is 52 points off the pace. With Oscar Piastri now joining the fight at the sharp end of the order, the Ferrari duo can expect the heat to increase over the coming weeks.
