Lewis Hamilton’s Transition to Ferrari Still a Work in Progress Ahead of… Read more
MIAMI GARDENS, FL — Lewis Hamilton may be enjoying the perks of Italian cuisine, but his transition to Ferrari hasn’t been as smooth on the racetrack. With five races into the 2025 Formula 1 season, Hamilton’s performance with his new team has been underwhelming, sparking questions about whether the seven-time world champion can return to the top.
Speaking ahead of the Miami Grand Prix, Hamilton joked about his attempts to resist Italy’s culinary temptations. “I’m trying to stay off the pizzas and pasta, which I’m not doing very well with,” he laughed. “I had three pizzas in two days last week.”
But his results in the SF-25 have been anything but amusing. Hamilton began the season with a 10th-place finish in Australia, followed by a fifth in Bahrain, and two seventh-place results in Japan and Saudi Arabia. While he did win the Sprint race in China, he was disqualified from the main event due to a technical infringement.
More concerning for Hamilton is the consistent outperformance by his teammate Charles Leclerc, who has finished ahead of him in four out of five races. Adding to the pressure, both Mercedes drivers — George Russell and rising star Kimi Antonelli — have finished ahead of him in three of those races, raising doubts about Hamilton’s current form and his pursuit of a record-breaking eighth title.
Despite the criticism, Hamilton remains focused. “I try not to focus on the opinions of people who don’t have insight into what’s really going on,” he said. “I just keep my head down and enjoy working with the team.”
Hamilton admitted that adapting to a new car and team environment is challenging. “It takes time to adjust. When I joined Mercedes in 2013, the first six months were tough,” he explained. “Now, the engineers are used to setting up a car for a different driver, and I’m adapting to a different driving style.”
He recently visited Ferrari’s headquarters in Maranello in hopes of speeding up that adjustment, though he acknowledges that there’s no set timeline. “We’re working hard to shorten the adjustment period, but it might take longer. Who knows?”
Hamilton has never placed higher than sixth in Miami and hasn’t won an F1 race since July 2024, when he claimed victories at Silverstone and Belgium. The Belgian win was inherited after the first-place driver was disqualified post-race.
With Max Verstappen dominating the sport and holding the last four championships, Hamilton’s window for an eighth title is narrowing. Still, the veteran insists he remains committed and optimistic about finding his rhythm with Ferrari.
