Lewis Hamilton Faces Challenges at Ferrari in 2025 Formula 1 Campaign

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton has admitted that he underestimated the difficulty of adapting to life at Ferrari during the 2025 Formula 1 season. After a surprise move from Mercedes, where he won six titles over 12 seasons, Hamilton is currently seventh in the championship and trails teammate Charles Leclerc.

Struggles at Ferrari

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. “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. However, the team has yet to deliver on that promise, with Hamilton conceding that there’s still “a lot of work that needs to be done.

Championship Hopes Fade

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 has shown some pace in 2025, with a win from pole in the Shanghai sprint, but success may depend on upgrades throughout the season. Ferrari is expected to bring some upgrades to Imola this weekend, but major updates are planned for Barcelona in two grands prix time.

Upcoming Upgrades and Technical Directive

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.“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.”

Positive Attitude Key to Turning Things Around

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.”