Lewis Hamilton has provided an update on his adjustment progress at Ferrari after joining the team at the beginning of the year.
The seven-time champion joined the Maranello outfit after a 12-year stint with the Mercedes Formula 1 team and an 18-year stint working with Mercedes power units. While Hamilton secured the sprint race win in China, he has yet to stand on the podium for a grand prix and has discussed his struggles in adapting to the team and the new power unit.
Ferrari team chief Fred Vasseur previously admitted that both he and Hamilton may have underestimated the difficulties that would come with the change for the British driver. Hamilton has since confirmed that he is still not 100% confident with the brakes but he feels that he is progressing.
“I think there’s still some improvements to make in terms of how aggressive I can be. The car has been quite snappy, so still not 100% confident under braking when I’m attacking on the brakes. In the last race, I was, but in this race, didn’t feel it so much with the setup that we ended up having,” Hamilton explained after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
“It’s kind of crazy, because we’ve been progressing yet we’ve not had results, really in the last few races. But there’s not like no progress so I think we’re able to do a good weekend and a good result.”
Hamilton finished the race at the Baku City Circuit in eighth position after starting from 12th, which was a disappointing end to what had started as a positive weekend for the 40-year-old.
Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images
Both Hamilton and his team-mate Charles Leclerc looked strong during the second practice session, topping the timesheets with a Ferrari 1-2, but after a crash for Leclerc in qualifying and a Q2 exit for Hamilton, the team walked away with an eighth and ninth-place finish.
“Yeah, it was a disappointing result, as I mentioned yesterday, to feeling so optimistic,” he explained to Sky Sports F1. “I think through practice after P2, honestly, I felt so good in the car and I think ultimately in the wrong direction with the car. But our ultimate pace in the race was just not on par with the guys up ahead of us.
“But qualifying clearly is so important if you look at where the Williams was. They did a great job, congratulations to them. What an amazing result for us to give everything.
“I mean I’m happy I moved forwards from 12th but couldn’t really care less for that position.”
