“It was a huge change”: Ferrari boss opens up on Lewis Hamilton’s difficult transition

Frederic Vasseur has opened up on Lewis Hamilton’s transition to the Ferrari team. The team principal of the Italian outfit stressed how several individuals underestimate the fact that the 40-year-old is only at the beginning of his stint at the team.

The French motorsports executive, who was integral in Hamilton making the switch from the Mercedes team to Scuderia Ferrari ahead of the start of the 2025 campaign, also detailed how much of a culture change the seven-time champion is having to undergo following his move to Maranello.

Speaking ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend, Vasseur also told the media, including F1’s official website, he remains pleased with Lewis Hamilton despite the mixed results he had recorded at the Ferrari team.

"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,” he said (via Formula 1).

“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," he added.

Lewis Hamilton’s start at the Scuderia Ferrari outfit has indeed unravelled in a manner far from what he would have envisioned when the announcement was made about him joining the Prancing Horse. The British driver is currently on his longest drought of his career — 14 without a podium finish — and will aim to put an end to this unsavoury streak when the season resumes with the Dutch Grand Prix in Zaandvoort.

---

Lewis Hamilton speaks after a challenging Hungarian Grand Prix weekend

Lewis Hamilton also reacted following the challenging weekend he endured at the Hungarian Grand Prix. The British driver was far off the pace of the front-runners through the Budapest race.

Hamilton, who boasts the honour of being the most successful driver at the Hungaroring, suffered a second-round qualifying exit and failed to make up any place through the 70-lap race. Reflecting on the Grand Prix via the Ferrari team's official website, he admitted to how difficult a weekend he had experienced and how he was looking to move forward from it.

Lewis Hamilton also stressed how he has his focus on bouncing back when the F1 season resumes.

“It’s been a challenging weekend and one to move on from. We weren’t able to make the progress we hoped for, but I’m grateful for the effort everyone in the team put in throughout the weekend. Now we head into the break. I’ll be using the time to reset, recharge, and come back stronger. I’m not where I want to be yet, but the fight’s not over - don’t count me out,” he said (via Ferrari).

Lewis Hamilton’s outing at the Hungarian Grand Prix had come off the back of another torrid outing at the Belgian Grand Prix. At the Spa-Francorchamps event, the former Mercedes driver suffered a double first-round elimination in qualifying and largely had to put in a recovery ride to clinch a seventh-place finish.