Lewis Hamilton revealed details of his struggle to get up to speed in a Ferrari, which meant he was stuck in his ways after years of driving for Mercedes.
Hamilton joined Ferrari after 12 seasons with Mercedes, where he bagged six Formula 1 titles, but the situation has gone downhill for the Briton ever since he was beaten to the 2021 title by Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Ferrari represented a fresh challenge for Hamilton, but his start to his career in Red has been far from smooth despite winning the Sprint Race in China.
Hamilton explained the factors affecting his acclimatization process at Ferrari. He said: "What’s clear is that, as humans, we really get stuck in our ways.
"And I feel like I’ve been driving a car with the same team for such a long time… and I’ve move to a new car and it requires such different driving style and settings.
"I’ve been using engine braking, which I’ve never used in my previous years. Much different brakes – we’re on Brembos, I’ve been on CIs [Carbone Industrie] for the past 15 years or so.
"The car requires a much different driving style. So I’m adjusting to that, and I think I’m slowly getting it into my head, and getting the balance right," he added.
Hamilton: I’ve figured out how the car likes to drive
After finishing fifth in last weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix, Hamilton revealed he has finally made a breakthrough as to how he needs to drive his Ferrari SF-25.
He also took some hints from what his teammate, Charles Leclerc, is doing. He explained: "What Charles does is he starts with a set-up, and he stays with it pretty much all weekend.
"Last week [Japan] and this weekend I was a long way away from him, then just before qualifying I got close to him but then the settings were all off. I’ve got to do a better job through the weekend and I will.
"I’ve got to make it easy for myself – I’m doing it all the hard way at the moment. I’ll try next week to start in a better place and not deviate too much.
"As I said, I think I’ve figured out how the car likes to drive so if I apply that next week, if I can qualify better I’ll have a much better weekend," Hamilton concluded.
Hamilton, a winner of 105 grands prix is currently seventh in the 2025 F1 drivers' championship with 25 points to his name.
(Quotes from Sky Sports F1)
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