Lewis Hamilton admits he “didn’t know how tough” Ferrari move would be

Lewis Hamilton has revealed that he “didn’t know how tough it was going to be” to adapt to life at Ferrari during the 2025 Formula 1 campaign.

The seven-time world champion made a surprise, blockbuster move to the Scuderia over the winter after 12 successful seasons with Mercedes, where he won six titles.

But Hamilton has largely struggled at Ferrari, as he is seventh in the championship after six grands prix and suffers a clear deficit to his new team-mate Charles Leclerc. 

“I anticipated it would be very tough, because I’ve joined a team before,” Hamilton said ahead of this weekend’s Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, having driven for McLaren before Mercedes. “I came in with a really open mind. I didn’t know how tough it was going to be. I knew it was going to be challenging. It’s as challenging as it could ever be on all fronts.”

Ferrari was expected to fight for both championships this year after finishing runner-up to current leaders McLaren in the 2024 constructors’ standings.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

But that promise has not materialised with Hamilton conceding that, although the team is “working well together”, there’s still “a lot of work that needs to be done” as he is 90 points behind championship leader Oscar Piastri.

“Championship? There’s still a long, long way to go,” he said. “From all the years of experience, when you’re over 100 points behind at this point in the season, with a car that’s up against a car that’s quite dominant, you have to assume that you’re not necessarily fighting for the win in the championship. 

“But things could turn around. We’ve never seen that happen.”  

Hamilton, who has still shown some pace in 2025 with a win from pole in the Shanghai sprint, added that success could also “depend on what upgrades we end up having through the season”.

Ferrari is understood to have brought some upgrades to Imola this weekend, but they are not thought to be major updates.

Bigger upgrades are instead planned for Barcelona in two grands prix time, where the FIA will also roll out a new technical directive to clamp down on flexible wings in F1.

“At the moment, I can’t tell you whether we’re going to gain full tenths, half a second, a second by the end of the season,” Hamilton said.  

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

Photo by: Ferrari

“We want to get closer to those things. And as I said, at the moment, we can’t shut the door to any idea. We have to keep our eyes and our heads up. We have to stay vigilant. We have to push with the expectation and the goal of winning. 

“That’s still the goal of each weekend. Right now, when I’m sitting with the engineers, it’s how are we going to win this weekend.  

“If we can extract a little bit more from the tyres, if we can extract a little bit more from the floor, if every single one of us is able to pull out half a tenth each. Then, maybe we can just get there.”  

Hamilton conceded that this is an “extra hopeful” way of thinking, but said that approaching every race weekend with a “positive” and “aggressive” attitude is key to turning a team around.  

“You have to believe we’ll find it,” he said. “And that’s where I am. I’m not arriving into the weekend thinking we’re seventh and eighth. And that’s just where we are. And I’m not going to change that.”  

Photos from Emilia Romagna GP – Thursday