Hamilton has to drive with different style: 'Don't know when it will click'

15:10, 02 May

byNorberto Mujica

Lewis Hamilton has shown blistering pace at times in his Ferrari this season, however, for some reason he's been unable to be consistently quick. As to why that happens to be the case, like the rest of us, the Briton is at a loss.

Where exactly is it going wrong for the 7-time world champion? In many areas, Hamilton notes during the FIA Drivers press conference ahead of the Miami Grand Prix.

"Many things. Lots of different things. There's not one particular," says the new Ferrari driver regarding the issues preventing him from being consistently fast.

Hamilton's start at Ferrari marred by 'a bunch of different things'

"When I joined Mercedes, the first six months were tough getting attuned to working with new people. 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."

The acclimatisation process Hamilton is undertaking isn't going all that well, apparently, with the gap to teammate Charles Leclerc growing with each race weekend, when it should be, in fact, decreasing.

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Is his adaptation process interfering with his ability to drive the car instinctively? Does that play any kind of a factor in the overall consistency - or lack thereof - that Hamilton is unable to achieve in terms of speed?

"You're generally always [driving] a mixture of the two, but I’m definitely working hard to adjust to this one [Ferrari's SF-25] for sure," Hamilton reveals.

Hamilton unsure of when things will click for him at Ferrari

After predicting in Jeddah that the entire 2025 season would be 'painful', the seven-time world champion doubled down on his claims, taking his six month adjustment period at Mercedes in 2013 as benchmark to compare it to his current Ferrari stint.

Will his integration process at Ferrari last the same as it did at Mercedes? "I really don’t know. We’re working as hard as we can to shorten that, but it could be longer. Who knows?"

However, the 7-time world champion, far from giving up, has spent the off-week trying to find the answers alongside the Italian team.

"[I] spent some good time in Italy. We went through a lot, did some good sim running. There are things that we’ve made adjustments to. We'll see how they work this weekend," the Briton concluded.

Hamilton is currently P7 in the Drivers' standings, 68 points adrift off leader Oscar Piastri, and 16 off teammate Charles Leclerc. Former F1 driver and FIA Steward Johnny Herbert recently pointed out that he expected the Briton to show he was quicker than the Monegasque, but that so far, that had not happened, with Leclerc consistently outperforming Hamilton.