Lewis Hamilton receives emphatic backing to snap Ferrari streak

Lewis Hamilton has been tipped to snap out of his slow start at Ferrari by former F1 team principal Otmar Szafnauer.

Hamilton's time at Ferrari has got off to a slow start, with 41 points from six races, although this does not count the eight he lost for being disqualified in China for excessive plank wear.

Hamilton also trails team-mate Charles Leclerc 6-2 across every qualifying session thus far, including sprints, and has an average deficit of 0.216s to the Monegasque, although he did win the Shanghai Sprint - Ferrari's only victory so far.

After a poor weekend in Saudi Arabia, Hamilton declared that he expected the "pain" to last the full season as he battles to adjust to the Ferrari systems, including engine braking, something he seldom used in 12 seasons at Mercedes.

The seven-time champion felt better in the car in Miami, but was engulfed in a team orders flare-up with Leclerc as they finished seventh and eighth, but former Force India, Racing Point, Aston Martin, and Alpine boss Szafnauer believes Hamilton will be able to bounce back into form.

"Well, I mean, it is a start," Szafnauer explained on the RacingNews365 podcast, with the full episode to be released later today (May 12th).

"He was at Mercedes for a long time, and it is a learning curve. I think he is progressing well. He has a pole and a win, albeit in a sprint race, and Charles has been there forever, and he is not slow, right?

"He's a very competent driver, and surprised isn't the right word, but I'm very happy for Lewis that he is still within striking distance of the points of Charles.

"Charles isn't that far ahead of Lewis, and Lewis is learning, so by the end [of the season], if you had to ask me who is going to be ahead of whom, I don't know.

"The thing with Lewis is he never gives up, he is a supreme competitor and works hard, and I think he was stuck behind Esteban Ocon [during the Miami Grand Prix] for a long time, but he didn't get frustrated, didn't make a mistake and ended up passing him. 

"[Ferrari] then let him pass Charles, but he couldn't catch Kimi [Antonelli] and then they swapped them again, and this was absolutely the right thing to do. 

"It is exactly what I would have done and exactly the rules we had whenever I was running a team, so Lewis will get stronger as the year goes on."

The full interview with Otmar Szafnauer will be released on Monday, May 12 on YouTube and all of your podcast players!