Sebastian Vettel has spoken again about Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari, revealing the one piece of advice he felt he absolutely needed to give him before the start of his new adventure in Maranello. Lewis Hamilton’s decision to join Ferrari for the 2025 Formula 1 season created huge shockwaves throughout the paddock: leaving Mercedes after so many years and so many victories had surprised even several insiders. Expectations were extremely high, especially because the Italian team was coming off a season in which it had come close to winning the 2024 Constructors’ Championship.
Lewis Hamilton, however, arrived after a difficult year, with few satisfactions despite his two race wins. His initial impact in red was not as immediate as many had hoped. The SF-25 did not deliver the performance of a truly competitive, race-winning car and he himself admitted several times that he struggled to adapt to the Ferrari environment. Tough qualifying sessions, including the Las Vegas weekend where he finished only 20th, and a few errors at crucial moments raised questions about his future. Even so, Lewis Hamilton often managed to recover in the race to bring home important points.
The advice from Vettel: “Learn Italian, and learn to really speak it”
Looking back on his own arrival at Ferrari in 2015, Sebastian Vettel acknowledged something he would do differently today. Although he had studied Italian and understood most conversations, he never felt he fully mastered the language. And with hindsight, he considers this a limitation that prevented him from completely integrating into the team’s culture.
For this reason, when Lewis Hamilton informed him of his move to Ferrari, Sebastian Vettel’s advice was clear and direct: The heart of the team is Italian. Even if English is spoken, not everyone understands it well. If you don’t really speak the language, you get by, you understand the basics… but you don’t grasp the people, you don’t capture the culture. That was my mistake. I told Lewis: ‘If I can give you just one piece of advice, it’s this: learn Italian. Learn it very, very well.’
Sebastian Vettel explained that knowing the language is not just about communication, but also about truly entering the environment, the habits, and the mindset of the people who work at Ferrari.
A foundation for Lewis Hamilton’s future in red
With the major technical regulations coming in 2026, Lewis Hamilton could have a fresh opportunity to restart and find his ideal dimension within Ferrari. And the suggestion offered by the former German driver—shaped by his own personal experience—could prove crucial in helping him finally feel “at home” in Maranello.
As the 2025 Formula 1 season enters its closing stages, Lewis Hamilton’s journey in red continues. But if he takes his predecessor’s words to heart and masters the language of Ferrari, the best chapters might still be ahead.
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