Trust and respect take time

Lewis Hamilton is beginning his first Formula 1 season with the Ferrari team in 2025. Coming off a difficult few years at Mercedes with the team unable to consistently fight for podiums since the start of 2022 and the ground-effect era, he now sees himself beside Charles Leclerc in a car he is feeling much more comfortable in.

But after being a part of the Brackley outfit for 12 years, there was a lot of work that had to be done before the seven-time world champion even stepped foot into a car built by the Scuderia. The driver is being challenged with a new culture, processes, and relationships this year, and he expects to spend the first half of the season building this foundation.

On being asked what his objectives were, he revealed the following to the media, including Motorsport.com.

“Joining a new team, the sooner you can get to performing at a high level and get results, the better. But inevitably, there is a transition period and there is a foundation that’s needed to be built.

“I’m sure both of us [he and Carlos Sainz], that’s what we’ve been doing that over the past couple of months, and the first half of the season really is that foundation building – those relationships, the trust you’re building with absolutely every single person within the team that you get to work in. And it’s not something you just step in the door; trust and respect… Whilst respect is given, trust is something that’s built over time.

“I think for me, of course the goal is to win and the goal is to take the team forwards. I’ve had some not-so-spectacular years, and I’m trying to see if I can have a better year than the last three.

“There will be lots of factors which will connect to that.”

Hamilton’s ability to extract performance from the Ferrari SF-25 will ultimately determine the success of his first season with the team. Pre-season testing hinted at something promising from the driver, but more importantly, he enjoyed driving it, unlike the recent cars from Mercedes.

Speaking from Bahrain on the second day of testing, he said the following: 

“I think it’s a bit early to say but I am really enjoying the car. We are slowly bonding I think.

“So far, I really enjoy driving this car.”

His optimism transferred into the final day of testing, but admitted that Ferrari have “got some work to do.”

“McLaren did a great run yesterday, and I think also Max did a decent one today, given the temperatures,” he said. “It’s hard to know what fuel loads everyone is running, as we’re all doing our own different programmes, so you have to take everything with a pinch of salt.

“McLaren won the constructors last year. We expect them to be one of the quickest, if not the quickest, as with Red Bull, who dominated for many, many years.

“We’ve definitely got some work to do to improve.”

Photos from Australian GP – Thursday