Lewis Hamilton hits out at 'uneducated' critics over F1 form

Lewis Hamilton has hit out at people who have made “uneducated” assumptions over his move to Ferrari.

Hamilton opted to end his long-standing partnership with Mercedes at the end of the 2024 season to commence a fresh chapter of his career with the Italian squad.

The seven-time champion endured a difficult opening round at the Australian Grand Prix as he crossed the line in 10th place to bring home a solitary point.

His situation improved in China as a sprint race victory marked a breakthrough moment before he suffered a disqualification blow in the main grand prix for excessive plank wear.

Hamilton highlighted he is looking to build a stable platform at Ferrari over a long-term period as he spoke of the difficulties of the transition period, taking aim at those who have questioned his form.

“It's just that we live in such a strange time in the world,” Hamilton told media including RacingNews365. 

“People just love to be negative at any opportunity, even with the smallest things, they’ll just be negative about it. 

“That's just the difficult time that we're living in. I see certain individuals – and again, I don't read the news, but I see bits here and there – see people that I've admired for years just talking out of turn. 

“Clearly some of them really just making uneducated guesses of what's going on.

“It's just a real lack of appreciation. It's not easy moving to a new team that works completely differently, completely different characteristic of car.

“You don’t just jump in and it's good. I mean, look at – it's true – if you look at Seb [Vettel], you look at Fernando [Alonso', they did a great job when they joined the team in their early phases, but to build long-term success with the team takes time to build. 

“That's what I'm trying to do. I'm not trying to jump-start it, get ahead of myself. I'm just taking my time to build with this great team.”

Hamilton confident over Chinese GP learnings

Although Ferrari was out-paced by some of its rivals during the Chinese Grand Prix, the sprint race offered it an insight into the car's potential.

Hamilton asserted Ferrari will use the experience from Shanghai at future events to unlock potential at layouts that have a similar style.

“There's so much potential in this team, but for us to be at the second race already and have that experience.

“This [in China] is a track I've gone well at for many, many years, so you got to take that a little bit. 

“But in general I've been feeling really good in the car. 

“And as I'm learning more of where the car likes to be set up for a track like this, for example, when I get to another track like the last one, I think I have a better understanding of where to put it.”