Lewis Hamilton clarifies Ferrari situation in 'desperate' dismissal

Lewis Hamilton has explained how the situation at Ferrari appears worse on the outside looking in, as he shrugged off the idea he needs a big weekend in F1.

The British driver enters the tenth round of his Ferrari tenure having endured a disappointing start to life with the Maranello-based team.

But, he does not feel he is "in desperate need" of a strong result at the Canadian Grand Prix, where he starts from fifth on the grid.

Despite winning the sprint at the Chinese Grand Prix and finishing third in the shorter race in Miami, he has otherwise had to settle for points finishes in his first year with the Scuderia.

Hamilton is sixth in the drivers' standings on 71 points, 23 adrift of team-mate Charles Leclerc. The Monegasque driver has claimed three podium finishes in the past five rounds.

However, it is a far cry from what was anticipated for the campaign after running McLaren close in the constructors' championship last season. This term, Ferrari is already 197 points behind in those standings.

Combined, it has significantly subverted the high expectations that accompanied Hamilton to the Italian squad when he left Mercedes at the end of last season.

Nonetheless, Hamilton, who has won in Montreal on seven occasions - a joint record with Michael Schumacher - does not believe he particularly needs to send a message with his result in Canada.

"I don’t feel that I’m searching," the seven-time F1 drivers' champion told media, including RacingNews365, when asked if he needs a strong weekend at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

"Of course, a good weekend is always a good thing, but I don’t feel like I’m in desperate need of one. I think it looks a lot worse outside than it probably is on the inside."

Prime example

To illustrate how things are developing behind closed doors at Ferrari, Hamilton explained the gradual process of working with his engineers to refine processes and approach - as well as finding the "sweet spot" of the SF-25.

"Even just coming from engineering now – how they set the car up compared to any other year that I've been here is completely different," the 105-time grand prix winner said.

"And having discussions with engineers to change things… There’s a certain way they like to work ands it's, 'hold on a second – that doesn’t actually make sense'.

"Like, this is what I’ve done for the last 17, 18 years here, and it’s worked in a lot of them. So, getting those things to consistently work with the team and making sure you're working in a constructive way to make changes.

"The car has a real sweet spot, and we're trying to get it working at all those tracks, which everyone's having a struggle with. Yeah. I'm hoping this weekend can be strong."