Lewis Hamilton has admitted he underestimated the power of his move to Ferrari for 2025, as he remained defiant about the team's progress.
Hamilton finally moved to Ferrari in 2025 after years of speculation whether he would team up with the Scuderia or stay at Mercedes, but pulled the plug on a two-year Mercedes deal halfway through to leave after 12 seasons.
Ferrari and Hamilton were expected to challenge for the world championship in 2025, owing to the fact the 2024 machine finished just 14 points behind McLaren in the constructors' championship, but 20 races in, Hamilton is yet to score a grand prix podium.
He has never failed to score a single podium in a season, with a best result of fourth at Imola, in Austria, and at Silverstone and Austin, and was set for a challenge in Mexico, before a 10-second time penalty from the stewards.
Reflecting about the blockbuster move to Maranello, Hamilton insisted that "Rome wasn't built in a day" as he looks to end Ferrari's long drought for championship success, stretching back to the 2008 constructors' title and the 2007 drivers' title for Kimi Raikkonen.
"I knew that aligning our brands would be big, but it still hits you and you’re like: 'This is even more powerful than I imagined,'" Hamilton told Ferrari.
"It’s beautiful, and there have been plenty of positives, although a lot of responsibility and weight come with it. Everyone expects to win straight away, but Rome wasn’t built in a day.
"Only when you’re inside a team can you really, truly understand how it works and how F1 works.
"You can’t imagine how the machine really operates otherwise.
"I’ve been in F1 for so long, but when I came to this team, it really was different again, so I don’t blame people for not knowing.
"All I can do is continue to focus on the things that I can control. How I prepare and work with the team, and how I show up each day and stay positive."
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