Lewis Hamilton is going through a difficult period at Ferrari. The Briton is facing far more challenges than he expected at the start of his new adventure with the Prancing Horse. It was bound to happen, considering his very long experience at Mercedes: twelve seasons during which he became one with the Brackley team. Shedding that second “grey skin” was never going to be easy.
Lewis’s past weighs heavily in Maranello
The start with the Italian team was one of the best: a grand unveiling, where at the Maranello factory he was welcomed like a hero. “The legend meets the myth,” read headlines around the world. Yet something broke down much earlier than expected. The blame lies mainly with the competitiveness of the SF-25, certainly below what the team had hoped.
On top of that comes a difficult adaptation, since the number 44 Ferrari has a series of controls quite different from the cars Lewis had driven throughout his career. Add to that a different working methodology and a car based on very different concepts from the wing cars produced by the German team. All of these factors together have thrown the seven-time Formula 1 world champion into confusion.
Charles Leclerc knows the environment perfectly and, above all, in his six seasons in Italy, has developed the resilience to criticism. He has also gained the ability to drive “above the problems” of the car, as the situation currently faced by the historic team is nothing new for the Monegasque, who is well accustomed to gripping the wheel of a car often not competitive enough to meet its goals.
The pressure of the red car suffocates everyone
This is an entirely new context for the British driver. Although he also experienced similar situations at Mercedes, being an integral part of the team made the challenge far less burdensome. In recent races Lewis Hamilton has seemed resigned and subdued. A heavy weight is carried by that allusive remark in which he suggested that certain problems might last the entire season.
But anyone who knows the Briton even a little knows that, even during the most successful years at Mercedes, when things weren’t going well, he was known for making dramatic statements, as if everything were suddenly falling apart. While he’s not as emotional as Sebastian Vettel, he’s shown that he too can succumb to overly negative thoughts.
Beyond that, it’s fair to say that living the Ferrari world isn’t easy, not even for a superstar of his caliber. It’s an environment capable of crushing anyone with intense media pressure, which can flatten even the strongest personalities. That’s more or less the situation the Briton is now experiencing. However, in the one opportunity to make a difference this season, Lewis Hamilton stepped up by winning the Sprint Race in China.
Ferrari’s strategic shift for the Sprint weekend
The special format strongly backed by Liberty Media returns this weekend for the Miami Grand Prix. A competitive setting where the single free practice session can shuffle the deck. Lewis Hamilton referenced it during the presentation of the new livery, a marketing move to “sell” his identity on American soil—historically the most profitable market for the Prancing Horse since the 1960s.
In addition to saying he was honored by the support of fans who cheer for Ferrari every race weekend, Lewis Hamilton also offered a few key thoughts about the Sprint Race. He explained how the Maranello team learned a lot in China, where a promising start to the weekend was followed by a disastrous end, culminating in the double disqualification of the team for two different reasons: underweight and excessive plank wear.
Lewis Hamilton revealed how the working group carefully analyzed the situation, with the clear goal of implementing a different approach to help the team manage the transition from Saturday to Sunday. A small statement, but an important one in terms of team balance, as in Florida they will attempt technical changes to take another step forward while waiting for aerodynamic updates.
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