Maranello misalignment: inside Lewis Hamilton’s difficult start with Ferrari. Lewis Hamilton continues to struggle with Ferrari as integration issues and communication gaps hinder his adaptation.

Lewis Hamilton is struggling with Ferrari in this first part of the 2025 season. In Formula 1, this is nothing new, as even other highly decorated drivers have encountered numerous difficulties when changing teams. Nico Rosberg identifies the nature of Lewis Hamilton’s challenges, or at least attempts to share his perspective. In fact, one of the sore points of Ferrari’s troubled season, according to the German, is Lewis Hamilton’s integration process within the Maranello team.

The seven-time Formula 1 world champion was fully aware that he needed to adapt to the biggest change of his career in the shortest time possible. The new Ferrari driver has always raced for British teams, even though Mercedes is officially entered in the championship as a German constructor. However, Lewis Hamilton’s struggles don’t seem to stem solely from natural learning curves or the process of getting to know all the team members.

A key example is the relationship with his race engineer Riccardo Adami. The team radio exchanges between Riccardo Adami and the Briton have already fueled many speculations in this early part of the 2025 Formula 1 season. Yet it was unrealistic to expect the same kind of symbiosis to emerge in just a few months as the long-standing bond he had with Bonnington. Riccardo Adami is a respected professional, and only time will help both of them improve communication.

The decision-making processes at Mercedes are undoubtedly very different from those at the Italian team. At least, that is the view of Nico Rosberg, who raced for Williams before tying his professional fate to the Silver Arrows. According to the 2016 world champion, Lewis Hamilton’s current discomfort isn’t simply due to results falling far short of expectations. Rather, the results are a logical consequence of a deeper unease. The German driver recently admitted that the level of excellence at Ferrari does not match that of British-based teams like Mercedes, McLaren, or Red Bull. He said this based in part on having visited the Maranello factory. To clarify, Nico Rosberg recalled the way things worked back in Brackley.

When Lewis Hamilton had a problem, he would speak directly with team boss Toto Wolff, who would make swift decisions without needing to consult others or go through additional layers within the team. According to Keke’s son, Lewis Hamilton is completely disoriented at Maranello, as the decision-making process is not centralized in someone equivalent to the Vienna-born manager.

With all due respect to Nico Rosberg, who may simply be sharing a personal impression, it is hard to imagine that the British champion has confided his frustrations to him, given that they have virtually no personal relationship. Certainly, the seven-time Formula 1 world champion is learning new methods and adapting to processes different from his past professional experiences.

Everything can improve, particularly in light of this season’s disappointing results. In terms of mindset, one of the cornerstones of Mercedes’s winning era, coined by Toto Wolff, was the motto: “You blame the error, not a person.” At Ferrari, failures have often led to avoiding risky decisions for fear of being blamed in the event of a mistake.

That is precisely the main reason why aerodynamic updates for the SF-25 have been delayed. Postponing corrections during the final year of regulatory continuity is paradoxical, but Frederic Vasseur’s team is well aware that the sweeping changes to the 677 project must turn the season around. This does not necessarily mean a Ferrari capable of entering the fight for world titles, but at least one that can compete against its direct rivals.

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