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Lewis Hamilton is undergoing a tough season at Ferrari. Photo: RacePictures.
F1 News

Can Hamilton turn Ferrari plight into success? Bottas has his say

16:01, 11 Oct
Updated: 16:24, 11 Oct
1 Comments
Valtteri Bottas hopes Lewis Hamilton turns a corner at Ferrari amid all the difficulties that come from switching teams in Formula One.
“I hope he will bounce back. But time will show if he will.”
- Valtteri Bottas
So far Hamilton is still to clinch his first podium, win or pole in red, save for his Chinese Sprint pole and win successes earlier in the season.
Although he's recently managed to match teammate Charles Leclerc's qualifying and race trim pace, and despite the Scuderia's assertion that the potential in the car is larger than its results show, Hamilton still seems unable to get his first season in scarlet red back on track.
When asked during the Singapore GP about his former teammate's form Bottas told Crash.net: “I hope he will bounce back. But time will show if he will.”
”He's had some good moments, a bit of bad luck as well."
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John Elkann shaking Lewis Hamilton's hand at the Hungarian Grand Prix - Photo: Race Pictures
He then suggested that Hamilton's 12-year-long tenure at Mercedes and the lead role the Briton held there for all those years, hinting at a status quo change at the Scuderia, might be hindering his adaptation process.
He continues: "But it's tricky. It's not easy changing a team after such a long time at Mercedes, being kind of the lead man.
“It's a very different environment that he's working with now. I can't really say much more than say time will show if things go better or not. But I really hope so because I think he deserves still great results in this sport.”
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Lewis Hamilton driving during the Singapore Grand Prix - Photo: Race Pictures
Speaking from his own experience switching F1 teams, which is rather fortunate, since the Finn's adaptation processes have taken place during regulation changes, which means all other drivers must adapt to new cars as well, he nuanced the situation.
Bottas added: "It depends on which team you go to and how different is the car.”
“I've had my experiences, but normally it's been actually during a regulation change. So for me it’s hard to predict."

Hamilton gets handed penalty in Singapore

Despite the promise of better pace, Ferrari failed to materialise it in qualifying leaving both drivers to start from P6 and P7 with Hamilton ahead of Leclerc. However, since the initial phase of the race both Ferrari's suffered from brake related issues.
The reliability woes escalated for Hamilton only, and after an aggressive strategical approach which saw him take P5 from Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Ferrari were force to adjust his pace as his brakes were severely deteriorated.
Losing positions to Antonelli and Leclerc, Hamilton cut the corners in his final lap to try and salvage his P7 result. However, a post-race penalty would see him demoted to P8 in favour of Fernando Alonso who complained heavily of the Briton's actions and presence on track in a car with no brakes.
Wlliams ambassador and current Sky Sports pundit Jamie Chadwick also weighed in on Hamilton's tactics at Marina Bay, suggesting the Singapore GP Stewards had been lenient on Hamilton.

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