Lewis Hamilton explains Ferrari woes with insightful reflection

Lewis Hamilton has highlighted how "tough" his first few months at Mercedes were, as he continues to grapple with life at Ferrari.

The seven-time F1 drivers' champion, who secured six of those titles with the Brackley-based squad, has struggled to get to grips with his new machinery at the Italian team. 

Results have been underwhelming over the first five rounds of the current F1 season, save for a sprint victory in China, with the British driver suggesting it could be a year-long battle to get comfortable with the SF-25.

Team principal Fred Vasseur continues to voice his full-throated support of the 105-time grand prix winner, saying recently he was behind the 40-year-old "2,000 percent", whilst the driver he replaced, Carlos Sainz, revealed he is "not surprised" to see Hamilton encounter difficulties.

Some of the issues he is facing include familiarising himself with and becoming accustomed to Brembo brakes, having used Carbon Industrie models at Mercedes, and engine braking, a technique not utilised by the eight-time constructors' champions.

When addressing the situation, Hamilton pointed out that as well as him getting used to driving a new car, his engineers are also learning to set up the car for a new driver. 

"When I joined Mercedes, the first six months were tough getting attuned to working with new people," he told media including RacingNews365 when it was put to him that he had looked fast in phases in recent rounds.

"Obviously, the engineers I'm working with now are used to setting up a car for a different driver and a different driving style, and I'm used to driving a car with a different driving style. So it’s a combination of a bunch of different things [preventing him from replicating those quick stints more consistently]."

Hamilton has 'no clue' what to expect in Miami

Much of Hamilton's plight has been attributed to him not being able to drive the SF-25 instinctively, as he so often could with Mercedes car, particularly prior to the reintroduction of ground effects in F1 in 2022.

When asked if he is having to drive the Ferrari more consciously, he replied: "You're generally always a mixture of the two, but I’m definitely working hard to adjust to this one for sure."

The British driver and the Scuderia head into the second sprint weekend of the campaign hoping to recover the form it showed in the first, but with no upgrades at the Miami Grand Prix, Hamilton is playing down his chances.

"No clue," he responded to being quizzed on what can be expected of Ferrari in Florida. "We'll do the best we can. We've not got upgrades or anything this weekend, but we continue to try and optimise the car.

"Obviously, Charles in the last race did a fantastic job and showed what the car can do in a race. So the goal is to try to replicate that."