'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Paddock veteran and former Alpine team principal, Otmar Szafnauer, feels Lewis Hamilton has had a positive start to life at Ferrari. The 7x F1 champion shocked the world last season when he announced that he was leaving Mercedes for the Italian team. With that move, the driver formed the beginning of a partnership between the most successful driver and the most successful team in F1.
The start to life at Ferrari has not been ideal for Lewis Hamilton. The driver has had his moments of glory in the sprint race weekends, as he won the F1 Chinese GP sprint and got a podium as well in the Miami GP sprint. The races have, however, not been as good.
Lewis Hamilton has only once out-qualified Charles Leclerc in 6 attempts and is yet to finish ahead of him in races. The numbers don't look good in general, but according to former Alpine man Otmar Szafnauer, the Ferrari driver has had a decent start. He told Racingnews365,
Trending
"Well, I mean, it is a start. He was at Mercedes for a long time, and it is a learning curve. I think he is progressing well. He has a pole and a win, albeit in a sprint race, and Charles has been there forever, and he is not slow, right? He's a very competent driver, and surprised isn't the right word, but I'm very happy for Lewis that he is still within striking distance of the points of Charles."
He added,
"Charles isn't that far ahead of Lewis, and Lewis is learning, so by the end [of the season], if you had to ask me who is going to be ahead of whom, I don't know. The thing with Lewis is he never gives up, he is a supreme competitor and works hard, and I think he was stuck behind Esteban Ocon [during the Miami Grand Prix] for a long time, but he didn't get frustrated, didn't make a mistake and ended up passing him."
Otmar on Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton-Charles Leclerc swap in Miami
The race management by Ferrari in the F1 Miami GP also courted some controversy. In the second half of the race, Lewis Hamilton had the faster tire on his car while Charles Leclerc was right ahead of him.
After repeated back and forth, Ferrari finally agreed to a switch of position, but when the driver was unable to catch Kimi Antonelli ahead of him, the position was switched again, leading to a few sharp comments from Hamilton. Otmar, however, felt that the team handled it in the best way possible, and he would have arguably done the same thing. He said,
"[Ferrari] then let him pass Charles, but he couldn't catch Kimi [Antonelli] and then they swapped them again, and this was absolutely the right thing to do. It is exactly what I would have done and exactly the rules we had whenever I was running a team, so Lewis will get stronger as the year goes on."
Lewis Hamilton's deficit at the start of the season was starting to increase during the triple header, but it did appear that the driver had been able to pull that back a bit during the weekend in Miami, something that he would be hoping to capitalize on in the upcoming races.
