Expert feels Lewis Hamilton talking about broken promises is an indication that Ferrari is moving towards Charles Leclerc

Former F1 team owner Gian Carlo Minardi claimed that Lewis Hamilton is talking about broken promises by Ferrari in his recent interviews. He revealed that the Briton's statements suggested that the Maranello-based squad was moving in the direction of Charles Leclerc.

Hamilton had raced with Mercedes-powered cars in his F1 career and decided to make the move away from Brackley to join Ferrari on a multi-year contract. This alliance between the most decorated constructor and driver in F1 was understood to soon bear fruit into something big, but the 40-year-old is having a tough time with the squad currently.

In the 14 race weekends held so far, the seven-time champion has yet to score a podium finish in the Grand Prix format. Moreover, his last race weekend ended in dismay as he finished outside the points, while Leclerc remained the sole flag bearer for the team to bring home 12 points.

Reflecting on the situation at the Prancing Horses and sharing his thoughts, Minardi revealed how Hamilton's comments convey his discontent with the unfilled promises by Ferrari, and the team possibly getting warmer with the Leclerc camp, as he told La Gazzetta dello Sport:

"Ferrari is currently trying to find a better direction for Leclerc. From various interviews, I understand that he's complaining about things that were promised to him, but never arrived. It's difficult to make judgments, in any case." (via FormulaPassion.it)

On the other hand, one of the major figures behind Hamilton's arrival at Ferrari was Fred Vasseur, as the two had previously collaborated during the Briton's title-winning 2006 GP2 campaign.

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Fred Vasseur admits he underestimated the challenge for Lewis Hamilton to adapt to Ferrari

Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton after the qualifying for the 2025 F1 Grand Prix of Hungary - Source: Getty

Though Lewis Hamilton raced under the reigns of Fred Vasseur, it has been almost two decades since their championship-winning partnership in GP2. Moreover, both of them are now focused on F1 and intend to bring back the championship glory to Maranello.

However, Hamilton's performance this year has been shy of his results in the past two decades. Though this subpar performance was not Vasseur's initial expectations, the Frenchman admitted that he underestimated the challenge for his driver to adapt to the new environment, as he said (via F1)

"I think perhaps that we underestimate the challenge for Lewis at the beginning of the season. He spent almost 10 years with McLaren and then 10 years with Mercedes – that’s almost 20 years with Mercedes in the same environment."

"It was a huge change for Lewis in terms of culture, in terms of people around him, in terms of software, in terms of car, in terms of every single topic was a big change perhaps that we underestimate this, Lewis and myself. But I'm very, very pleased because the last four or five races he was back into the pace."

Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton is averaging his lowest average points per race weekend this season since the implementation of the new points system in 2010, showcasing the dismal year he is having so far.